Charger aside, here's another accessory the Galaxy S21 FE doesn't have

The Galaxy S21 FE is one of Samsung's latest victims to drop almost every accessory from the retail box. Samsung began shipping the phone to customers last week, and by this point, not many people were surprised that the Galaxy S21 FE doesn't ship with a wall charger or a pair of wired earbuds in the box. It's not the first Galaxy phone to have done this, and it won't be the last. However, there's one additional accessory that Samsung omitted from the Galaxy S21 FE retail box, and this one you might not expect. More specifically, Samsung's done away with the pre-installed screen protector.

Samsung is offering the Galaxy S21 FE with a USB-C cable and the usual documentation, but not much else. Samsung (and other OEMs) figured out that most smartphone users already own a wall charger and a pair of earbuds, so rather than adding to the landfill and contributing to this growing environmental problem, the company decided to remove these extras from Galaxy smartphone retail boxes.

Nobody has a leftover screen protector, though

With the release of the Galaxy S21 FE, the Korean tech giant appears to have gone one step further with streamlining the contents of the retail box. Perhaps one step too far. It went ahead and removed the pre-installed screen protector that usually ships with most Galaxy phones, so the only thing protecting the Galaxy S21 FE is the sheet of Gorilla Glass Victus covering the screen.

Samsung previously explained why it removed wall chargers and earbuds from retail boxes, and although disappointing, the decision made a certain amount of sense. After all, it is true that many Samsung customers already have leftover accessories from previous Galaxy models, so they could use a price reduction instead of yet another set of accessories. Plus the whole eco-friendly angle.

But here's what customers don't have prior to purchasing a brand-new phone: a screen protector.

A screen protector is a one-use accessory tailored for each phone's size and shape — in this case, the Galaxy S21 FE. In other words, the Galaxy S21 FE is brand new, and virtually no customer has a leftover, unused screen protector that would fit the new device perfectly. Should they need one, they'll have to buy it separately.

With the launch of the Galaxy S21 FE, Samsung didn't just remove another ‘extra' accessory from the retail box. It went one step further, and arguably, one step too far — especially given that the Galaxy S21 FE isn't any cheaper than the previous model. And it's a shame too, because, on the face of it, the Galaxy S21 FE is more than a decent upper mid-range phone. Check our review linked below for more on that.

Time will tell if more Galaxy phones will ship without a screen protector moving forward and if we'll have to add this inexpensive accessory to the growing tomb of lost Samsung features.

Galaxy S21 FE review

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