What you need to know
- Samsung is slashing the price of its 25W power brick in the wake of the Galaxy S21's launch.
- This is to make the now-mandatory purchase more palatable for potential buyers.
- While the new pricing isn't live yet, it'll be reduced from $35 to $19.
Samsung isn't shipping the Galaxy S21 with a charger in the box as rumors indicated. Instead, the new flagship will only have a USB-C cable in the box with buyers needing to purchase a power brick separately if they don't already have one. It'll be a jarring change for those who are used to getting a complete charger with their phones, but the company says it'll help reduce the amount of e-waste.
Whether chargers in the box are good for the environment or not is a separate discussion. If you're interested in picking up a power brick either for your new S21 or just for an older Samsung phone that just needs a charger — the company has just made it cheaper to do so. It will be substantially lowering the pricing of all its current 25W power bricks. This will more or less slash the prices in half, taking the $35 asking price down to a more palatable $19. The price cut isn't live yet, but it should happen sooner rather than later (via XDA Developers).
Samsung has been criticised for this move, one seen as especially hypocritical since the company attacked Apple for doing just that less than half a year ago. Despite the environmental angle, it's not hard to see this as a cynical cash grab by larger tech companies. And when rivals such as Xiaomi offer the charger as a free optional accessory, Samsung's price cut starts looking a little stingy.
More phone, less money
The Galaxy S21 series has arrived, and for a lot of shoppers, the baseline S21 will be the go-to choice. It has a compact and user-friendly size, incredible performance with the Snapdragon 888, capable cameras, and a large battery. You get all of this for just $800, making it a seriously great deal.
