Samsung’s $1,800 Galaxy Z Fold 3 doesn’t even come with a charging brick

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In the midst of promises of becoming eco-friendly in one of the most consumerist sections of the market, many smartphone manufacturers have stopped including USB charging bricks in their phone packaging. The latest phones that no longer come with an expected accessory? The $1,800 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and $1,000 Galaxy Z Flip 3.

It’s perhaps expected, as Samsung also didn’t include a charging brick in the Samsung Galaxy S21 range when that was released earlier this year. The other thing not included in the ultra-premium foldables? One of Samsung’s S Pen styli, which just got support on the foldables. Before now, you had to buy a Galaxy Note or one of Samsung’s tablets to use the handy S Pen.

It kinda feels like Samsung is banking on accessory income this year. Yes, it did reduce the MSRP of both the Galaxy Z Fold and Galaxy Z Flip from their eye-watering prices from the first two generations, but that’s to be expected as the technology matures.

What’s not expected is to buy any electronic device and not get every accessory you need to use it. You’d expect a laptop to come with a power cable and charging brick, so why not your smartphone, especially one that costs more than any midrange laptop?

Adding insult to injury, Samsung also likes to say that you might lose warranty service if you use unlicensed third-party accessories with its devices. That’s just a kick in the wallet, making you think twice before you buy that cheaper charger that doesn’t have Samsung-approved marks on it.

Other manufacturers, like Apple and Xiaomi, have also decided to omit the charging brick from smartphone packages, citing the same litany of being more environmentally friendly. I’m sure this business decision has nothing to do with the chip shortage brought on by the pandemic, and everything to do with wanting to be less of a drain on the earth’s resources.

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Editors’ Recommendations:

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.