The Samsung Galaxy S21 doesn’t feature a charger or headphones in the box — here’s why.
The removal of the charger from smartphone boxes has been one of the most contentious topics in phones over the last year, and now Samsung has confirmed it won’t include many accessories you may expect in its packaging when you buy a new phone. Following Apple’s move to ditch the charger and in-box headphones with the iPhone 12, the Samsung Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus and Galaxy S21 Ultra will also come without some key accessories in the box. Why has Samsung dropped these? Officially, it’s to cut down on e-waste by supplying you with a charger that the company believes it’s unlikely you’ll need. There’s very little in the box alongside the phone – just a USB-C to USB-C cable, the phone’s Quick Start guide and an ejector pin so you can insert your SIM. There’s also a pre-applied screen protector, but that’s it. That’s a lot less than you’d currently expect from a smartphone box. It means you’ll have to use a pre-purchased phone charger and another pair of headphones with your device rather than rely on the ones included. TechRadar spoke to Paul Scott, Samsung Mobile’s Head of Product Management in the UK, who said, “It’s a really bold but really important step at the same time. Listening to our consumers they’re making far more, as we are, sustainable choices in their daily lives, and what we need to do is make sure that we support that. “We do not want to be sending a consumer yet another charger when they’ve possibly got a charger from, say,2018 or going all the way back to 2017.
