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Kudos to O2 for dumping chargers from mobile packaging

It’s about time, isn’t it?

I’ve got ton of Micro USB chargers everywhere. So have you, if you’ve bought a few phones across the last few years.

So why not dump them from the box? Here’s the overview from Pocket-Lint:

O2 and HTC will begin selling a new, as yet unannounced, phone before the end of the year without a charger in the box as part of a pilot scheme to reduce the number of “wasted” chargers in circulation.

According to O2, 70 per cent of customers who buy one of the 30 million new handsets sold in the UK each year already have the relevant charger.

via O2 and HTC to sell phone without a charger, in deliberate ploy to be more green – Pocket-lint.

Now then I’ve one more point on this one: I’d like to see O2 stock a standard generic yet high quality Micro USB charger in their stores. One that doesn’t retail for £24.99 (like the one I bought from Carphone Warehouse a few years ago!)

Right now there’s a £14.99 charger available on their online store. I’m doing a fake smile at that one. £15 for a piece of plastic that must cost less than £1 is quite annoying.

Still, I like the leadership being demonstrated by Ronan Dunne and the team at O2. Nice work.

5 COMMENTS

  1. It’s a good idea, but the problem is not all micro USB chargers are the same.

    I’ve got a Galaxy S III and a Nexus 7 and they both charge at different speeds, or not at all, depending on which cable I’m using. In both cases the official charger seems to give the best results. It’s the same as trying to charge an iPad with an old iPod charger.

  2. This is great but if you need a charger you should not be charged for one. This is not about being green or helpful and about increasing the bottom line while appearing to be a good environmental player.

  3. I will say I also have a ton of micro USB chargers and the one I return to for all my devices is the Nokia cable that came with the N900; real quality and has outlasted my N900 unfortunately.

  4. A bold attempt at imitating Apple’s accessory policy. If only these chargers were worth it in terms of quality. I don’t think I’ve seen a USB charger that I actually like yet. My galaxy nexus charger buzzes, my Motorola charger is big and ugly…

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