Monkey See, Monkey Do – 3 Powerful New Smartphones to Be Released Without 3.5mm Headphone Jacks

We’ve known for quite a while now, as suggested by numerous rumors, that Apple’s forthcoming iPhone handsets will be thinner — and thus, will almost certainly lack the traditional 3.5mm headphone jacks that have been a staple of most smartphones since, well, the dawn 0f smartphones .

What you likely don’t know, however, is that a well-known, Chinese tech-company by the name of LeEco has already introduced several devices that intentionally omit the good old 3.5mm headphone jacks — in addition to boasting a slew of advanced, forward thinking technologies.

Aside from being a staunch, outspoken Apple-critic, LeEco currently has three smartphones in its line-up — the LeTV One, One Pro, and LeTV Max, all of which boast a number of industry first features, including first-dibs on Qualcomm’s powerful Snapdragon 820 CPU, USB Type C data ports, and more.

In any event, LeEco held on Wednesday, a huge annual product expo in Beijing, China, where it officially took the wraps off some brand-new products. These products include three more smartphones — the Le 2, Le Pro 2, and Le Max 2. And, believe it or not, the device’s specifications are actually quite impressive — perhaps even more so considering how LeEco ultimately hopes to bring these handsets to the US market.

Starting from the bottom up, we have the Le 2 and Le Pro 2 — both of which feature 5.5-inch, 1080p HD displays, 32 GB of onboard memory, and huge 3,000 mAh battery packs. As far as CPUs go, the Le 2 boasts Mediatek’s Helio X20 deca-core (10-core) SoC, complemented by 3 GB of RAM; while the Le Pro 2 ups the ante to Mediatek’s 2nd generation X25 deca-core CPU, coupled with 4 GB of RAM.

Both devices also feature impressive optical capabilities — with the Le 2 boasting a 16 MP camera and an 8 MP selfie camera, and, as the name alludes, the Le Pro 2 features the same 8 MP selfie camera, coupled with an even better 21 MP Sony IMX230 sensor.

Last, but certainly not least, the Le Max 2 boasts a marginally larger, 5.7-inch display @ QHD resolution (1,440 x 2,560), is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 SoC with a whopping 6 GB of RAM, a 3,100 mAh battery pack, in addition to the same, impressive optics as the Le Pro 2.

Perhaps most interesting of all, however, these devices are but the latest contenders of the “headphone jack-free” smartphone movement. The world’s first smartphone to go without the standard 3.5mm jack was Oppo’s R5, and it’s widely expected that many other devices will soon emerge from the woodwork not featuring the industry standard, either — including Apple’s iPhone 7, 7 Plus, and 7 Pro, which should be unveiled by the Cupertino-company later on this fall.

This could be a major shifting of tides moving forward, as smartphone manufacturers continue to whip up thinner, more sleek-looking devices that, in light of their thinness, wouldn’t be able to accommodate the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack anyways.

But that’s all well and good, because most headphone manufacturers are preparing for the change — as they currently rush to bring wireless and Lightning-enabled headphones to market ahead of the iPhone 7’s launch.

Learn More: Is This What the iPhone 7’s Wireless Headphones Will Look Like?

What do you think about these devices? Will the lack of a headphone jack on Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 7 be a good or bad transition? Let us know what you think in the comments!