Remember when Apple shipped the iPhone 12 without a charging brick and everyone lost their mind? Well, get ready for a repeat of the same conversation, as Sony is now the first manufacturer shipping a smartphone without including a USB cable in the box.
Sony Xperia 10 VII ships without a USB cable in the box
Five years after the demise of the included charging brick, Sony is killing the bundled USB cable. Like almost all other smartphones, the mid-ranger Xperia 10 VII comes without a charger in the box, but unlike any other, it also lacks a charging cable.
A Reddit user shared a photo of the packaging of a new Sony Xperia 10 VII, which includes only printed user manuals. An icon on the back of the phone’s box confirms that there’s no cable included, so that’s not a mistake.
That was predictable
The Xperia 10 VII packaging. | Image Credit – u/Brick_Fish on Reddit
Sony is far from being a major smartphone manufacturer, but the company is still popular enough to make an impression, and that move is not exactly surprising. Just like with the charging bricks before, brands will like us to think that omitting the cable will save resources on shipping and reduce e-waste. What they’d like us to forget is that it also saves them money on the millions of cables that won’t enter our phone’s boxes.
Do you think removing the USB cable from the box is a good idea?
Yes, I already have many cables
48%
Yes, but only on accessories like earbuds
8%
Maybe only from the cheap phones, but not from flagships
8%
No, people need cables to charge their phones
36%
While no other phone has shipped without a cable before, Apple has paved the way for that already. The company’s AirPods Pro 3 and AirPods 4 both ship without a USB-C cable. It won’t be surprising for the Galaxy S26 and iPhone 18 to follow suit.
Is that such a big deal?
My only issue with brands ditching the cables is that the USB-C cables are a mess. Despite looking the same, some cables support high-speed data transfer and charging, but others don’t. That makes buying the correct cable a little more complicated than just using what was in the box.
Putting that inconvenience aside, I don’t think people will be as mad about that move as they were about the removal of the charging brick. I already have dozens of USB-C cables, and I genuinely don’t need another one. I know that’s also true for most of my friends and family, so it should be true for many others, right?
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Ilia, a tech journalist at PhoneArena, has been covering the mobile industry since 2011, with experience at outlets like Forbes Bulgaria. Passionate about smartphones, tablets, and consumer tech, he blends deep industry knowledge with a personal fascination that began with his first Nokia and Sony Ericsson devices. Originally from Bulgaria and now based in Lima, Peru, Ilia balances his tech obsessions with walking his dog, training at the gym, and slowly mastering Spanish.
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