What you need to know
- Samsung has confirmed that some of its future phones will not come with chargers or earphones in the box.
- Samsung believes the gradual removal of chargers and earphones from its in-box device packaging will help address sustainable consumption issues.
- Its existing phones, however, will continue to ship with chargers in the box.
Samsung's highly-anticipated Galaxy S21 series phones are finally official, and just as expected, they do not come with a charger or earphones in the box. The company has confirmed that it plans to gradually remove the charger and earphones from the in-box packaging of its Galaxy smartphones.
Just like Apple, Samsung has cited environmental concerns behind its decision to remove wired headphones and the in-box chargers:
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.
Samsung added that it has been implementing standardized USB-C type charging ports on its Galaxy devices since 2017, so the older chargers can be used with Samsung's best phones of 2021. While Samsung has gone the Apple way with its latest flagship phones, it will still continue to bundle a charger with its existing Galaxy phones. As noted by the folks over at The Verge, the listings for the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and Note 10 on the company's website show they still include a charger in the box.
Samsung Galaxy S21
Samsung's all-new Galaxy S21 is its most affordable full-featured flagship phone in a long time. The phone has Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 888 chipset, capable cameras, and a large battery.
- From $800 at Samsung (opens in new tab)
- From $800 at Amazon (opens in new tab)
