Samsung’s Earth Day 2022 efforts are all about making your existing hardware last longer
Tomorrow is Earth Day and thus a day for companies big and small to announce how eco-friendly they and their products are. It’s a day to reconsider eco-friendly gear likeNimble’s power banksand the easy-to-repairFairphone 4, and take stock of how much of our own tech we should recycle at the end of its lifespan.
Samsung,like Google, has been touting its push towards less e-waste and sustainable materials for its packaging and accessories. It even announced earlier this month thatfactory-certified used partswould allow users to repair phones for less and keep more smartphone parts from ending up in landfills. For Earth Day itself, though, Samsung has partnered with Sean Wotherspoon for a trio of cases and watch bands.
The Samsung Galaxy x Sean Wotherspoon Sustainable Accessories Collection goes on sale tomorrow, April 22 at 10 AM ET, featuring 100% biodegradable and recyclable cases for the Galaxy S21 and watch bands for the Galaxy Watch4, as well as matching watch faces that are free to download on Google Play. Both the case and band come in three matching colorways: a bright, eye-grabbing pink, a softer, pale lily yellow, and a minty mojito green, which are then covered by peace signs, “love the planet” slogans, and doodles of planet earth, flowers, the sun, bumblebees, and, on the green case, tuxedo-clad alligators.
Source: Samsung
If you’re wondering why these cases are designed for theGalaxy S21rather than the Galaxy S22, the Galaxy S21 is also joining the Samsung Certified Re-Newed program. Currently, the only way to buy the Galaxy S21 is to settle for third-party refurbished models or buy a used but not refurbished model through sites like Swappa. Samsung’s Certified Re-Newed program will allow you to buy a Galaxy S21 with 100% Samsung parts, a new battery and IMEI, and a full one-year warranty just like any brand-new Samsung phone.
Given that the Certain Re-Newed S21 starts at $675 and the Galaxy S22 (one of thebest Android phoneson the market) still has enhanced trade-in, there might not be much financial incentive to go with the Galaxy S21. However, theGalaxy S21 is just as powerful, has a bigger battery, and frankly, offers better color options than the S22. The S21 will be getting five years of security updates — so it still has four years left at this point — and there’s a much wider array of cases and accessories to choose from, and most are discounted now that the phone has been out for a year.
So, if you don’t have a good phone to trade in, the Re-Newed Galaxy S21 might not be such a bad idea after all.
From faster storage to better speakers
Pixel 10 Pro XL charges faster wirelessly
Things get red hot for Magenta
Google’s made several improvements over the years
Carriers get the upper hand
Your new browser chrome-panion
