[ UPDATE 28/12/2020 22:30 ]: The Xiaomi Mi 11 is now official and you can get a 55W GaN charger bundle at no extra cost. More details here.
===
It looks like Apple is having the last laugh. After its bold move to exclude the power adapter for its new iPhone, it appears that its competitors are doing the same thing for their next flagship smartphones.
A couple of hours earlier, Xiaomi posted on their Weibo page that they are announcing a “major decision” for the Mi 11. As hinted by the picture above, Xiaomi is finally ditching the charger for their upcoming device.
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun later revealed the packaging of the new Mi 11 which comes in a light and thin box. The box looks the same as the new iPhone 12 and other existing iPhone models that are still in production. He explained that his company has made an important decision not to include a charger in response to the call of environmental protection.
Lei Jun added that almost everyone has a couple of unused chargers which not only are redundant but ended up as waste. He understands that not everyone will be happy about this and he will explain more during the Mi 11 launch event that’s taking place on 28th December 2020.
So it looks like you’re only getting just the phone and a USB-C cable in the box. Earphones are never bundled with Xiaomi phones but they do offer a variety of wireless and wired options which you can buy separately.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 is set to be the world’s first smartphone to launch with a 5nm Snapdragon 888 processor. Looking at the fine print on the box, the Mi 11 will get a 108MP main camera and a Super AMOLED display with HDR10+. The audio is tuned by Harman Kardon and we reckon that it would retain a stereo speaker setup like its current Mi 10 series.
Similar to Samsung, Xiaomi had also poked fun at Apple for not including a charger for their new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro series. Xiaomi even posted a short video to show off that its Mi 10T Pro still comes with a charger. This isn’t the first time competitors had made fun of Apple and then ended up doing the same thing. Remember the notch and 3.5mm headphone jack?
It’s also worth highlighting that Xiaomi had considered removing the charger for new phones back in 2015. Lei Jun had asked the question on Weibo about not bundling a charger as most people can still use their power adapter from their previous devices. He said some might accuse the company for trying to cut cost but he believes the move is good for the environment. Since Apple has made the first move, it looks like Xiaomi has gained enough confidence to exclude a charger starting next year.
For the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S21, serial leakster Roland Quandt has confirmed that the charger and earphones will not be included at least for the European market. A Brazilian certification of the device has also indicated the same thing and this looks like a new trend for 2021 smartphones.
However, there’s a concern about fast charging standards. Unlike Apple and Samsung which adopted the USB Power Delivery charging protocol, Xiaomi still has its own proprietary charging tech to push fast charging up to 120W. This means if you want the fastest charging potential, you’ll have no choice but to buy one of Xiaomi’s own power adapters.
