A lot of smartphone manufacturers are not including chargers with the smartphones they sell. Those companies include two largest smartphone OEMs in the world, Apple and Samsung, amongst others. Well, Xiaomi seems to be the latest company to ditch in-box chargers.
Xiaomi seems to be the latest company to ditch in-box chargers
Just to be clear, Xiaomi did not officially announce this is happening. However, the company’s new Redmi 13 phones are shipping without a charger in the retail box, at least in Europe.
That is a clear sign Xiaomi is up to something. If we had to guess, we’d say that other Xiaomi smartphones will start shipping without a charger too, at least in Europe. Xiaomi may make an exception for its flagship offerings, though, it remains to be seen.
Xiaomi does note that using its 33W charging combo (Type-A) is recommended to charge the Redmi 13, as this phone does support 33W charging. Still, you’ll have to buy it separately.
Consumers don’t like this trend, of course. Everyone likes having everything they need to use a smartphone included in the box. Sure, some people have an extra charger lying around, but not everyone.
People usually sell their chargers with their phones, so this creates a problem
When reselling their smartphones, people usually sell them with chargers they came with. Therefore they don’t have extra ones lying around. Techie people are a different story, of course.
Still, this creates a hurdle for the vast majority of people. Some could argue that users are already used to it, though, as a number of well-known companies have been doing this for years. Companies usually say that the main reason for this move is to reduce e-waste, though that’s arguable.
It remains to be seen if Xiaomi will start doing this with all of its devices, or just some of them. This could also be a test of sorts, we’ll see.
2024-06-24 15:06:13