The Pros and Cons of Removing Chargers from Smartphone Boxes

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Mariyan Slavov
Mariyan Slavov
Phonearena team
Original poster
• 1y ago

Welcome to another controversial topic: smartphone retail boxes. Do we need a charging brick inside? What about a cable? We all know that Apple started it back in 2020 when the company removed the charger from the retail box of the iPhone 12 family, but almost everyone has since followed suit. Some companies (looking at you, Sony!) have also removed the cable and now sell just a paper box with a phone inside. Do you believe all the eco-reasons, or do you think it's just snake oil, smoke, and mirrors?

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pimpin83z
pimpin83z
Arena Legend
• 1y ago

The only pro is if these OEM's are really doing it for the environment. Otherwise I feel it's a ploy to get more money out of consumers. There are still tons of people who hold onto their phones for 3+ years so whenever they finally do upgrade the cables & charging bricks have changed. Why should they have to pay for something that's essential to their phone?


My mom rented a 2023 Toyota that has all USB-C ports, but her Lightning cable is Type-A so now she can't charge her phone in the rental. I think it's sh¡tty of Toyota to assume that everyone who gets their 2023 vehicles has Type-C cables & feel like this no cable/brick in the box has played a part in that.

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stferrari
stferrari
Arena Apprentice
• 1y ago

In the early days of of cellular phones, I think it was nessasary to have chargers in the boxes because most people did not have USB chargers. However, after the many years the vast majority of people have had several cellular phones and have chargers from their previous phones. Given that chargers don't, in the practical sense, wear out getting new chargers in every box results in a drawer full of chargers or chargers ending up in the trash. An argument can be made that phones that have new high wattage charging specs might require a new charger to get the fastest charging speed. What might be a good compromise would be for phones to come with coupons for free chargers in the box so that people who need a chargers could get one for free. The cost to manufacturer's would be insignificant. If you preorder directly from the manufacturer maybe you could also have the option of ordering the charger for free also. Just a thought.

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Mariyan Slavov
Mariyan Slavov
Phonearena team
Original poster
• 1y ago
↵stferrari said:

In the early days of of cellular phones, I think it was nessasary to have chargers in the boxes because most people did not have USB chargers. However, after the many years the vast majority of people have had several cellular phones and have chargers from their previous phones. Given that chargers don't, in the practical sense, wear out getting new chargers in every box results in a drawer full of chargers or chargers ending up in the trash. An argument can be made that phones that have new high wattage charging specs might require a new charger to get the fastest charging speed. What might be a good compromise would be for phones to come with coupons for free chargers in the box so that people who need a chargers could get one for free. The cost to manufacturer's would be insignificant. If you preorder directly from the manufacturer maybe you could also have the option of ordering the charger for free also. Just a thought.

That's a valid point; what about cables, though? The coupon for a free charger idea is something I've been peddling here in the office; it's brilliant. Might end up being abused and all those free chargers sold subsequently.


Don't get me started on headphones. Phones used to come with a pair, remember? But now we have to buy them separately and pour more money into the system. There are models that cost less than $100; why not bundle those with the phone?

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Mariyan Slavov
Mariyan Slavov
Phonearena team
Original poster
• 1y ago
↵pimpin83z said:

The only pro is if these OEM's are really doing it for the environment. Otherwise I feel it's a ploy to get more money out of consumers. There are still tons of people who hold onto their phones for 3+ years so whenever they finally do upgrade the cables & charging bricks have changed. Why should they have to pay for something that's essential to their phone?


My mom rented a 2023 Toyota that has all USB-C ports, but her Lightning cable is Type-A so now she can't charge her phone in the rental. I think it's sh¡tty of Toyota to assume that everyone who gets their 2023 vehicles has Type-C cables & feel like this no cable/brick in the box has played a part in that.

The rental company should've included adapters, at least. But with Type-C being forced as a standard, things will get better on that front eventually...

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Brewski
Brewski
Arena Master
• 1y ago

"...a drawer full of chargers or chargers ending up in the trash."


I've been using smart phones for about 13 years, and feature phones for another 10 before that. I have a charger on my desk at home, one in the car, one by the couch, one near my bed, one at the office, one in a bag I keep just for traveling. I'm at the point now when I buy a new phone, if I don't need the charger it stays in the box to maintain resell value so the next person can have a charger. That, combined with the fact that all phones I've bought in the last 4-5 years come with super fast chargers (and it's faster every year which incentivizes me to keep them), I have never once put a charger in a drawer and certainly never thrown one away. If your argument that companies include a charger and that results in waste is on you, not them.

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pimpin83z
pimpin83z
Arena Legend
• 1y ago
↵Brewski said:

"...a drawer full of chargers or chargers ending up in the trash."


I've been using smart phones for about 13 years, and feature phones for another 10 before that. I have a charger on my desk at home, one in the car, one by the couch, one near my bed, one at the office, one in a bag I keep just for traveling. I'm at the point now when I buy a new phone, if I don't need the charger it stays in the box to maintain resell value so the next person can have a charger. That, combined with the fact that all phones I've bought in the last 4-5 years come with super fast chargers (and it's faster every year which incentivizes me to keep them), I have never once put a charger in a drawer and certainly never thrown one away. If your argument that companies include a charger and that results in waste is on you, not them.

"I have a charger on my desk at home, one in the car, one by the couch, one near my bed, one at the office, one in a bag I keep just for traveling."


Sounds a lot like me. We have Type-C chargers in each car (my wife & I), both sides of the couch, her side of the bed, my side of the bed plus a trio charging pad, the multipurpose room (office/sons' playroom/guest bedroom) & a travel charger bag with 2 dual charging blocks, 4 Type-C cables & my Watch 4 Classic cable. I also have a Lightning charger on my side of the couch & the MPR (getting the 15 Pro Max would've eliminated those 2, but unless I pick it for my work phone I'll wait for the 16 Pro Max).


Between my wife & I's S22+/Ultra, the boys' iPad, my iPhone, my mother-in-laws' iPhone when she visits, my parents iPhones when they visit & going on vacation 3x a year, all of those chargers get used on a regular basis. The last charger I threw away was a one piece micro-USB charger 10 years ago.


"if I don't need the charger it stays in the box to maintain resell value so the next person can have a charger."


That's a great idea.

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pimpin83z
pimpin83z
Arena Legend
• 1y ago
↵MariyanSlavov said:

The rental company should've included adapters, at least. But with Type-C being forced as a standard, things will get better on that front eventually...

I mean my mom could update as she's in an iPhone 12 (I think), but it's easier to upgrade her charger to a Type-C/Lightning combo than upgrade her phone since she travels so much.

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Mariyan Slavov
Mariyan Slavov
Phonearena team
Original poster
• 1y ago
↵pimpin83z said:

"I have a charger on my desk at home, one in the car, one by the couch, one near my bed, one at the office, one in a bag I keep just for traveling."


Sounds a lot like me. We have Type-C chargers in each car (my wife & I), both sides of the couch, her side of the bed, my side of the bed plus a trio charging pad, the multipurpose room (office/sons' playroom/guest bedroom) & a travel charger bag with 2 dual charging blocks, 4 Type-C cables & my Watch 4 Classic cable. I also have a Lightning charger on my side of the couch & the MPR (getting the 15 Pro Max would've eliminated those 2, but unless I pick it for my work phone I'll wait for the 16 Pro Max).


Between my wife & I's S22+/Ultra, the boys' iPad, my iPhone, my mother-in-laws' iPhone when she visits, my parents iPhones when they visit & going on vacation 3x a year, all of those chargers get used on a regular basis. The last charger I threw away was a one piece micro-USB charger 10 years ago.


"if I don't need the charger it stays in the box to maintain resell value so the next person can have a charger."


That's a great idea.

Guys, that sounds like a lot of chargers, honestly! I can't imagine the passive draw from the grid and the amount of lost energy in heat and other losses, might be hundreds of dollars a year...

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pimpin83z
pimpin83z
Arena Legend
• 1y ago
↵MariyanSlavov said:

Guys, that sounds like a lot of chargers, honestly! I can't imagine the passive draw from the grid and the amount of lost energy in heat and other losses, might be hundreds of dollars a year...

It's not.

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