A couple of years ago, Xiaomi and Samsung made fun of Apple for not including a charger in the iPhone 12 box. However, in the end, both companies (and others) ended up jumping through hoops and doing exactly the same thing with their phones. range tops.
The story seemed like it would just stop there, but it was not like that and there are already several companies that have taken this policy to the mid-range. The last to do it? Nothing more and nothing less than Xiaomi, because it seems that the Redmi will stop including a power adapter in the box when you buy them.
Redmi joins the fashion of eliminating power adapters in new mobiles
As if it were déjà vu, Xiaomi is preparing to eliminate the chargers on its mid-range mobiles, starting with the Redmi. The first smartphone to suffer the consequences will be the Redmi Note 11 SE , which will be launched in India in a few days.
In normal situations, the launch of this device would not have made almost any noise in the market, as it will apparently be a renowned Redmi Note 10S. However, the official page of Xiaomi India was the one that put it in everyone’s sights .
When reading the list with the contents of the box, there is no mention of the charger that until now was included in the mid-range. There’s the phone, a USB-C cable, the manuals, a plastic case, and the SIM removal tool, but not the power adapter.
This only points in one direction: buyers will have to purchase the charger separately, if they don’t already have one at home. We do not know if it is something that will be repeated in all the new Redmi that the company launches worldwide from now on, or if it is something exclusive to the Indian market. Likewise, we also do not know if it is a decision that will be extended to the mid-range POCOs, Xiaomi’s other sub-brand.
However, this decision does not take us totally by surprise, because Xiaomi is not the first to do so . The Samsung Galaxy A33 was the first mid-range that dared not include this part, and it is known that Samsung will repeat history with other devices. Also, Realme followed suit soon after, so it’s no surprise that Xiaomi does as well.
Why do chargers continue to be removed from new mobiles? Will it ever touch the low end?
The argument behind the decision not to include chargers in new mobiles is that it is an ecological measure. In addition, it is based on the idea that we all have at least one charger at home , so we should not need another.
This is something that is quite true in most cases, especially on Android that adopted the USB-C standard a few years ago. However, it is a reality that begins to change as you go down the range .
Yes, a user with enough money to buy a high-end mobile most likely already has a charger at home (from a previous high-end or from another simpler mobile). And if you don’t have it or want a more powerful one, you will surely have no problem going to the store to buy it.
However, buyers of mid-range and low-end phones are a completely different market : first, they tend to save the most or may have a very tight budget, so a difference of 10 or 20 euros can mean a lot; second, some come from very old mobiles that they used for years, with chargers that are not compatible; Third, many others are just acquiring their first smartphone, as it may be in the case of a child or adolescent whose parents give them to them.
Seen this way, the idea of eliminating chargers in the mid-range doesn’t seem so good anymore, right? However, we all know that the environmental argument is nothing more than an excuse, because the benefits of not including a charger in the box are many :
- They save the manufacture of the charger.
- Transportation costs are reduced by using smaller and lighter boxes.
- Chargers that they manufacture to sell individually report excellent profits, because they are not cheap.
Thus, it is very likely that this measure will continue to advance towards other ranges and that other manufacturers will also apply it later. Will it ever touch the low end? Surely yes. Especially after the mandatory use of USB-C as the connection and charging interface for all mobiles in Europe comes into force in 2024.
Source | Xiaomi
