You told us: You wouldn't buy a budget phone without a bundled charger

Samsung was the first major Android OEM to drop the bundled charger from its smartphones, doing so for its flagship devices. Unfortunately, we saw the company also drop the bundled charger from its budget Galaxy A13 earlier this year.

A recent rumor also pointed to Samsung ditching the in-box charger from its entire Galaxy A series and Galaxy M family. We wanted to know whether you’d still buy a budget phone without a bundled charger, and here’s what you said.

Would you buy a budget phone without a charger?

Results

Over 1,200 votes were counted after we posted the poll last week, and it turns out that just over half of polled readers say they simply wouldn’t buy a budget phone without an in-box charger. This isn’t surprising, as you’d expect to have the essentials when buying a budget handset. After all, this could be someone’s first smartphone or their first smartphone with USB-C charging or fast charging.

Meanwhile, ~25% of respondents say that it depends on the phone. This suggests that some people are willing to overlook the lack of a bundled charger if the rest of the phone provides a great experience or good value for money.

Otherwise, ~23% of polled readers say they would buy a budget phone without an in-box charger. Presumably, these readers are happy to use their old chargers.

Comments

• Patrick Mac: So much hypocrisy in the name of saving the environment. If they wanted to save the environment they’d use phone materials that are more resistant to wear and offer software update policies that don’t force customers to buy a new phone every two years. They’d also manufacture batteries that last longer. Every phone they release is fragile enough to require a case. People buy and throw away more cases than chargers which are a big menace compared to chargers. I still own and use a charger from 2015 but I’ve disposed quite a number of cases in that period of time. If they allowed people to have the option to order a charger with no additional cost may be we would believe their BS about saving the environment.
• Dogeanimupower: How long before they ship phones in paper bags, or without displays attached to the frame, or ask you to buy a license to run their OS just like you have to pay for a Windows License
• Sandeep: Samsung : “iTs foR enVirOnmEnT”