Samsung today announced the Galaxy S21 series, its first flagship lineup of 2021. As the company has done in the past, the Korean smartphone maker has followed Apple’s footsteps and stopped bundling a power adapter in the box of the Galaxy S21 series.
The Galaxy S21 series is Samsung’s first major flagship to launch without a power adapter in the box. Samsung has also done away with bundled earphones in the box. The company previously used to bundle AKG-branded USB-C earphones with its flagship phones. This has allowed the company to drastically reduce the size of the box of the Galaxy S21 series. Like Apple, Samsung is also claiming major environmental benefits and reduced carbon footprint with this change.
Ironically, Samsung had first mocked Apple for removing the power adapter from the iPhone 12 series before deleting the post a few months later.
Below is Samsung’s explanation for removing the charger from the Galaxy S21 box.
We discovered that more and more Galaxy users are reusing accessories they already have and making sustainable choices in their daily lives to promote better recycling habits. To support our Galaxy community in this journey, we are transitioning to removal of the charger plug and earphones in our latest line of Galaxy smartphones.
We believe that the gradual removal of charger plugs and earphones from our in-box device packaging can help address sustainable consumption issues and remove any pressure that consumers may feel towards continually receiving unnecessary charger accessories with new phones.
We’ve also been implementing standardized USB-C type charging ports since 2017, so older chargers can still be compatible with our newest Galaxy models.
Xiaomi had also launched its Mi 11 flagship phone late last month and did not bundle a charger in the box. However, the company was kind enough to offer customers an option to get the charger for free if required. Samsung, however, is not doing anything similar.
Interestingly, Samsung has also removed the microSD card slot from the Galaxy S21 series. The company has used the inclusion of a microSD card slot on its flagship devices as a marketing point against iPhones over the years as it allows users to expand the storage on their devices for cheap. However, with the Galaxy S21 series, the company has done away with the microSD card slot. The base variant of all three Galaxy S21 variants ship with 128GB of storage, with the S21 Ultra available with up to 512GB storage.
We Want to Hear From You
What do you think about Samsung removing the power adapter and earphones from the box of the Galaxy S21 series? Do you think the company is doing the right thing by following in the footsteps of Apple here? Drop a comment and let us know!
