Samsung Galaxy S21 to skip microSD card slot as well, new rumour claims

Some markets may still get SIM+microSD hybrid version of Samsung Galaxy S21.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. (HT Tech)

Samsung Galaxy S21 is the next major flagship smartphone to watch out for. The new flagship series is set to bring upgrades over the predecessor, especially in design, specifications, and camera departments. There is also a lot of chatter around Samsung skipping the charger in the retail box. According to a new rumour, Samsung will indeed not bundle charger in select markets. The rumour also adds that the company will skip microSD card slot in the S21 series.

S21 spec sheets say:
memory card reader: "No"

Some markets might still get a charger in the box though, while others don't.

— Roland Quandt (@rquandt) December 31, 2020

As Gizchina points out, Samsung has offered microSD card slots on its flagship Galaxy S series for quite some time. The current S20 series comes with a hybrid setup (SIM+microSD). With users moving to cloud storage (via Google Photos etc.) and built-in storage being relatively higher than phones in older times, OEMs are gradually omitting the memory card slot.

The report adds that Samsung will offer multiple variants of Galaxy S21 series. Some markets may still get the phones with the current hybrid setup and have Type-C cable.

That said, smartphone companies are likely to skip bundling chargers in the retail box of select handsets. Apple kicked off the trend with the iPhone 12. It also removed the earbuds. Xiaomi too followed suit with Mi 11 series. Samsung appears to be the next major brand to join the trend. Interestingly, both Samsung and Xiaomi had mocked Apple for removing charger in the retail box.

Removing power adapters is apparently aimed at tackling the growing problem of e-waste. According to Global E-Waste Monitor 2020, the world produced 53.6 million metric tones of electronic waste in 2019.