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Samsung Headquarters in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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When Apple announced that it would no longer ship the charger with the iPhone, Samsung more than quickly pissed off the competitor, only to shortly later do the same thing with the Galaxy S and (the late) Note lines. Until then, it was thought that the company would maintain the strategy only with high-end cell phones and tablets, but this is not the case.
The Galaxy F23, an intermediate model initially launched in India, does not have the charger in the box, and according to information leaked by commercial partners, the same will apply to models of the Galaxy A line
. In fact, Samsung is getting ready to stop offering the accessory in its entire mobile line.
The change was disclosed by insider Yogesh Brar, and the information published by the website Onsitego. The Galaxy F23 is a cell phone equipped with a Snapdragon 750G processor, 4 or 6 GB of RAM, 128 GB of internal space, a triple set of cameras on the back, a 5,000 mAh battery and Android 12. falls into the intermediate category.
It has a suggested price from 17,499 rupees in the model with 4 GB of RAM, about R$ 1,100 in direct conversion, but according to Brar, when checking the product packaging, it was found that the Galaxy F23 will not be sold with the charger, leaving users the option of either using old accessories, or buying a new one on their own.
Samsung’s move is not entirely isolated, in fact the Galaxy A13 5G, launched in December 2021 and a product considered to be a premium intermediate, from a line slightly above the Galaxy F line and below the Galaxy S, already comes without a charger and headphones. heard in the box.
Until then, the policy of not including the charger was restricted to the Galaxy S, Z Fold and Z Flip lines, changes that were adopted in 2021, months after Apple started the movement with the iPhone 12 line, while also removing the accessory from the older models. old ones that still sell.
In fact, today no new iPhone comes out of the box with a charger; it continues for the time being to ship it with the iPads, which Samsung has already advanced in this regard.
Until the Galaxy A13 5G, it was believed that Samsung would restrict not sending chargers to its more expensive cell phone models, but the inclusion of a premium intermediary in the list of contemplated devices showed that the plan is to stop sending the accessory in totality, regardless of the gadget category and for which consumer range it is dedicated.
Apple used its “commitment to the environment” as an excuse in an effort to reduce the generation of e-waste, for which several tech companies have come under pressure. In the European Union, the requirement is linked to the adoption of USB-C as the standard port for all electronic devices, even though Apple vehemently refuses to relinquish control over the Lightning port.
At the same time, Apple declared that it believed that the mobile market would follow its example, which in fact happened. Even though Samsung made fun of the competitor and then did the same thing, it is worth remembering that with the headphone port it was the same thing.
The Galaxy F23 will be the first Samsung device aimed at lower-income users not to offer the charger in the box, which most likely also doesn’t have the headphone jack, if we use the example of the Galaxy A13 5G, but it doesn’t stop there.
According to listings of future releases from a European retailer, both the Galaxy M23 and Galaxy M33, which make up the South Korean manufacturer’s current entry line, will also not come with the charger in the box. Samsung has not confirmed the rumors, but if the latest releases serve as a reference, very soon, none of the company’s cell phones will come with the accessory.
Samsung is, for now, the only one, after Apple, to adopt a strategy to no longer offer free chargers with cell phones, and the first to extend the rule to tablets. At least for now, competitors on the Android platform such as Motorola, Realme, Xiaomi, Redmi and others continue to offer the component, but it is unknown if this will last.
If it depends on Apple, Samsung and outside pressures, and if the trend expands in the future, consumers will have to make do with an approved and powerful general charger to charge all their gadgets, and when it fails, buy another one out of their own pocket.
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