One positive for me about the included earphones is they are great utility earphones for when I'm mixing/mastering music. They have a pretty flat and even response so it's one of the devices I use to test my music on "regular" sound systems to make sure they sound good on all types of equipment.

Mostly true, yeah. The "AKG" ones that came with my S8 were honestly pretty damn nice though.

I've always been lambasted for this opinion, but I feel the same way about the charging cable and charger.

I do not want yet another 1 metre (if they're even that, most likely 3 foot) USB-C cable that barely reaches from the charger on the floor to the bedside table - and largely precludes actually using the phone while in bed - nor particularly the included charger. So many things need to be plugged in these days that single-output chargers are also basically e-waste.

Of course because some business genius had the idea that making the USB cable 0.9 instead of 1.8m saved them $0.06 per unit shipped, we all got lumped with those useless cables.

Now of course there will always be people for whom it's their first phone (or whatever situation), who do need those accessories. But all that requires is there to be a retail bundle with the now-accessory charger and cable. Preferably that bundle costs the same as the phone with them included does today and you get a token discount for the phone without them, although we all know it would never work that way :(