Thanks Apple, now Samsung’s ditching the charger too

Samsung will follow in the footsteps of Apple by providing fewer in-the-box goodies with its flagship Galaxy S21 device, despite charging eye-watering prices.

According to an official certification in Brazil, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S21 will be sold without a charger or earphones in the box. This disappointing news, reported by GSM Arena, comes in the wake of Apple having done the same with the iPhone 12.  The move was heavily criticised at the time – but it seems that regardless of the reaction, whatever Apple does will be copied on the tech market as sure as night follows day.

Now that’s not always a bad thing, by any means. You could argue the whole concept of a smartphone – or at least its current iteration – is owed to Apple and its charismatic co-founder Steve Jobs. But in recent years, the rush to copy the tech giant has gone from being a good thing to being fairly tedious, and now it’s just downright irritating.

Starting with the loss of the 3.5mm headphone jack, which was widely mocked by companies and consumers (not the least Samsung), before being emulated across the premium smartphone market, the brand is now hellbent on selling both chargers and earphones separately, with the inevitable knock-on effect of industry copycats jumping on the bandwagon too.

The decision was taken ostensibly in aid of the environment, with Apple having a stated aim of carbon neutrality by 2030. Nonetheless it still presents an inconvenience for customers, and I note that we’re yet to see any significant reduction in price being passed on at the checkout either; the iPhone 12 has a starting price of £799.

But it’s worth asking ourselves how necessary it is to have a charger and earphones bundled in the box. My annoyance comes from the psychological effect of receiving these items with each purchase and then suddenly being without – the change feels like I’ve been cheated, even though I guiltily confess that I do indeed have drawers stuffed with chargers and earphones that I no longer use.

Are you enraged by skinflint Samsung’s copycat hijinks, or do you think it’s an important step against electronic waste? Let us know in the poll below.