Xiaomi today announced the Mi 11, its latest flagship smartphone for 2021. Following in Apple’s footsteps, Xiaomi has also not bundled a charger with the Mi 11 citing “environmental” reasons. The company had already confirmed this before the announcement of the Mi 11 which led to the company being mocked by many since Xiaomi had earlier taken a jibe at Apple for removing the power adapter from the iPhone 12 box.

However, unlike Apple, Xiaomi is also offering a power adapter to Mi 11 customers who want one, and the company is not charging anything extra for it. The pricing for both retail variants is priced at 3999 yuan ($610). What’s even better is that Xiaomi is bundling a 55W Gallium Nitride charger with the Mi 11. This means that apart from charging the Mi 11, the same charger can also be used to fast charge other USB-C devices including iPad Pro, MacBooks, and more.

As for specs, the Mi 11 sports a 6.81-inch 2K QHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display, Snapdragon 888 chipset, up to 12GB RAM, 4600mAh battery, 55W fast charging support, 50W wireless charging, 108MP primary camera, stereo speakers tuned by Harman Kardon, IR blaster, and more.

Our Take

Apple might have started the trend of removing the power adapter from smartphone boxes for ‘environmental’ reasons, but it was clear that it was a half-hearted attempt with the secondary aim being to increase profit margins. Going forward, it is only going to be more common for smartphone OEMs to remove the charger from the box citing environmental reasons. However, they should also follow Xiaomi’s steps and offer users a power adapter for free for users who really need it.

Apple too should have offered a power adapter for free to customers buying an iPhone 12 instead of pointing them to its $19 USB-C power adapter.