In what smartphone manufacturers claim to be a bid to promote sustainable consumption, Samsung dropped the in-box charger and earphones with its new Galaxy S21 series. In October 2020, iPhone 12 series were the first to drop the in-box charger claiming it an attempt to reduce carbon footprint. Though Samsung and Xiaomi made jibes at Apple's decision then, a few weeks later in December 2020, Xiaomi launched its Mi 11 series with no in-box chargers.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 series box shall only have a USB-C to USB-C cable for free. However, the South Korean smartphone manufacturer has assured that its new phones shall sport the USB-C charging ports which have been employed in their phones since 2017 enabling old users to reuse chargers.
"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," reads Samsung's statement.
"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 the removal of the charger plug and earphones in our latest line of Galaxy smartphones," it added.
The new S21 series includes the Galaxy S21, S21 Plus and S21 Ultra which shall be available from January 29th through Samsung.com.