The HTC One X5, the next big HTC smartphone, will be sold without an AC adapter in the UK in a bid to reduce electronic waste. With the widespread adoption of the micro-USB standard, network operators O2 have estimated that 70% of their customers buying a new phone will already own an appropriate AC adapter from a previous phone.
That means a lot of those new AC adapters included in the box with every phone are somewhat unnecessary, and when totalled up among all of the phones sold in the UK constitute a large amount of waste. Of course, you’ll still get a means of charging the phone in the box – a micro USB cable that you can plug into your computer.
A purported render of the new HTC One X5 flagship.
O2’s CEO Ronan Dunne made a statement on the matter: “Right now, O2 with HTC has to go it alone on this matter – we both believe in it passionately enough that we can’t wait for the industry as a whole to join us in this crusade. The environmental cost of multiple and redundant chargers is enormous and I believe that, as the mobile phone has become more prevalent, we as retailers and manufacturers have an ever-greater responsibility to be a more sustainable industry.”
While Nokia, LG and Samsung have all experimented with wireless charging on their most recent flagship phones, the capabilities of the medium are still widely unexplored and it seems we’ll be using wired chargers for some time to come. Honestly, the move seems like a good idea to me, although there is the potential that you’ll be using the wrong AC adapter for your new phone – don’t just plug in your HTC X5 with your Kindle charger!
What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!