Samsung plans to remove charger and earphones from upcoming smartphones

Without the inclusion of the charging brick and a pair of wired earphones, the Galaxy S21 box is visibly smaller. It comes with a SIM ejection unit, a USB Type-C data and charging cord, and a fast start guide. Samsung said doing so would help Samsung consumers “promote better recycling habits.” This was first started by Apple with the iPhone 12 series and the attachments for its older iPhones were also withdrawn. Moving ahead, for its upcoming smartphones, Samsung also aims to pursue this path.

“We believe that the gradual removal from our in-box device packaging of charger adapters and earphones can help address sustainable consumption problems and eliminate any pressure that consumers may feel to continually receive unnecessary charger accessories with new phones,” said Samsung in a statement.

However, it did not mention if this charger and earphones elimination would extend to the entire lineup of Galaxy smartphones. Samsung has affordable, mid-range, luxury and super-premium categories catering to the Galaxy phones that cost almost 2 lakhs. It’s just the Galaxy S21 series at present that doesn’t sell these in-box accessories. For individuals who don’t need an extra accessory and minimize e-waste, this move could play well.
Almost immediately after releasing the iPhone 12 series, Apple began withdrawing these accessories from the older iPhones. For Samsung, that’s not yet the case since it’s still marketing its older phones with the charger and earphones.