Galaxy S21: Samsung copies Apple again and Android and iPhone fans suffer

Samsung Galaxy S21 line has a lot going for it. The screens have been improved, the processor has become faster and the cameras have been updated to take clearer photos and videos. And in a Starting price $ 200 cheaper than the Galaxy S20, they are again an attractive alternative to the latest Apple iPhones.

Read More: Check out CNET’s Galaxy S21 review and Review of the Galaxy S21 Ultra

But, apparently taking a page from the Apple manual, Samsung is reducing some things. There’s one more time without headset, the microSD card slot is missing it is a quick charger is no longer included in the box. For some, it’s as if Samsung is copying Apple in all the wrong ways.

Of course, some of these changes should no longer be a surprise. Last years Galaxy S20 line didn’t have a headphone jack, and most of the more expensive phones said goodbye to the port while companies launched Bluetooth headsets and headsets. (Unsurprisingly, Samsung revealed its latest $ 200 Galaxy Buds Pro Headphones at the same event as the S21.) This year Samsung, like Apple with the iPhone 12, took it a step further and also removed the included wired headsets, which makes sense, as he clearly wants people to buy his wireless buttons.

However, it is giving up to $ 200 in Samsung credit to those who are purchasing their new phones directly from Samsung.com. The credit can be used to buy a pair of Pro Buds or other accessories, easing the blow for at least the first users.

The microSD card slot was also apparently on borrowed time. Samsung has already abandoned the option of expandable storage on its foldable phones, and several other manufacturers have rejected or ignored the capacity. Apple and Google have never supported expanding microSD storage for their phones, while OnePlus only has the option available for its more affordable Nord series.

“Over time, SD card usage has decreased significantly on smartphones because we have expanded the storage options available to consumers,” the South Korean electronics giant said in a statement. The company notes that its phones come with at least 128 GB of storage, while supporting 5G and Wi-Fi 6E for faster wireless transfers to and from cloud storage platforms like Microsoft’s OneDrive and Google Drive .

While I can understand why this is frustrating for some advanced users, the idea of ​​losing the microSD card slot has never bothered me much. I also appreciate that the basic storage option is 128 GB across the board, not 64 GB as in Apple’s iPhone 12 and 12 Mini.

See you soon, quick charger included

What I will really miss, however, is the power adapter.

Apple started this “trend” last year when it announced that will no longer include a loading block on your most recent iPhones. Lisa Jackson, Apple’s vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives, said at the time that removing products from the box would be better for the environment because it reduces waste (although, as some analysts have pointed out, there may have been a good benefit to profit from accessory sales).

Apple’s 5-watt USB chargers that have been included in most iPhones for years will be a big waste in 2021, ending up in a drawer or staying in the box. It would have been great for Apple to include a faster USB-C charger, as it did with the iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max, but by discarding the slow charger, the company could easily claim to be helping the environment because many people have the same charger in several other Apple products they have purchased over the years.

Read More: Updates to Samsung’s Galaxy S21 are unlikely to mean the end of the Galaxy FE or Note lines. Still

Samsung, like Apple, says it is discarding the included power supply to help the environment. Federico Casalegno, Samsung’s senior vice president of experience planning and its design innovation center, explained during Thursday’s virtual press conference that “many of our users prefer to reuse their current chargers and headphones and leave the new in the box, unused. ” Like Apple, Samsung is shrinking its packaging for the S21 line in an attempt to reduce its footprint.

Unlike Apple chargers, however, Samsung chargers have become more useful to me over time, as the power bricks included in the company can charge devices quickly via USB-C. For the Galaxy S20, Samsung included a 25-watt fast charger that, well, is actually pretty good.

The company says in its S21 Ultra 5G website that using the same type of power adapter can recharge the Ultra 5000mAh battery in “about an hour”.

Any effort to help the environment and solve the growing problem of electronic waste is to be commended, but instead of discarding resources, it would have been great to see Samsung take the lead and embrace new technologies, such as gallium nitride for its chargers. This technology not only offers a quick way to charge, but is also more energy efficient, wasting less heat compared to traditional silicone chargers.

If it combined the offer of newer and faster chargers with the S21, with an incentive of a few extra dollars for people to exchange their older chargers with their phones, that could have changed the conversation. By recycling many older chargers and offering users a more energy-efficient way to power their new sophisticated phones, Samsung would still be helping the environment without taking away a useful resource from consumers.

And it’s not as if these new gallium nitride carriers are too expensive. One new AmazonBasics 30 watt USB-C GaN charger is available for less than $ 20, approximately same price as Samsung charges for a new 25 watt power adapter on your website.