By 2027, all phones released in the EU must have a battery the user can easily replace with no tools or expertise.
The no tools part seems a bit extreme. So a manufacturer can’t use a few standard screws to keep things in place?
Was hoping it wouldn’t be phrased that way. That’s going to make phones less waterproof and significantly reduce the battery capacity or increase the size.
I’d be much more happy with a screwdriver and sliding the lid off, disconnecting a connector that’s made available for end user fiddling, swapping in the new battery and then putting it back in.
On the other hand I hope manufacturers find a way. This might open up for bigger batteries where the battery is basically the outside of the phone and you just wrap it in a case.
Actually, thinking about it - external batteries might be the solution to waterproofness.
This will likely also see a rise in cheap knockoff batteries catching fire. It’s not unprecedented, and people are like “a battery is a battery”. Well, they aren’t.
Will be interesting to see how this is handled.
The last time I heard phone batteries catching fire was the Samsung Note 7 and those weren’t user replacable. There’s a lot of fearmongering on what you wrote, it almost sounds like a script the manufacturers’ lobby would write to avoid this legislation. Are you really assuming the EU doesn’t have laws and safety regulations for Li-ion batteries et al.?
I don’t think Ali express does. Not trying to “fear monger”, but it’s an issue today, it’s just not interesting to report on due to Note 7 and people got used to reading about it so it doesn’t generate clicks anymore.
I honestly just feel like I was stating the obvious ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Not seeing it as a huge problem, just that it’s going to increase.
This will likely also see a rise in cheap knockoff batteries catching fire. It’s not unprecedented, and people are like “a battery is a battery”. Well, they aren’t.
If those batteries are being sold in the EU they would still have to meet EU requirements. This might be an issue if people go to buy them from places like aliexpress or something like that though.
That said, phones were available for years and years with replaceable batteries. Don’t think I ever really heard of any of them catching fire before the Note 7 issues, and those were related to the phone not giving the batteries enough room to expand/contract, wasn’t it?
Plenty of cases before the note 7, just that it feels like they stopped reporting on it since the note 7.
The note 7 batteries had manufacturing defects so they short circuited internally. Having been given more room they would still have caught fire.
My galaxy s5 was waterproof and had a removable battery by popping off the back case. They can manage.
This article is clickbait. There are exceptions for devices that are “waterproof” or have batteries that last a certain number of cycles.
This isn’t going to change a thing (especially it EU judges allow IP68 to be considered “waterproof.”)
IP68 is defined as:
suitable for continuous immersion in water under conditions which the manufacturer shall specify
The Apple “conditions” include this choice quote:
resistant to accidental spills from common liquids
And this one:
Splash, water and dust resistance are not permanent conditions and resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear. Liquid damage is not covered under warranty
I think it would be hard for Apple to argue handling “accidental spills” meets the EU requirement for the device to be “regularly subject to splashing water”. Especially when “normal wear” can decrease the water resistance and it’s not covered under warranty.
If, on the other hand, Apple actually makes a phone I can use to record my kids swimming underwater… heck yeah that sounds awesome. I’d totally sacrifice a user replaceable battery. Bring it on.
Guess I’ll have to make my phone survive to 2027
That should be doable of you’ve got a recent model.
This phone is an S23 bought earlier this year. With care and poss a new battery fitted by Samsung or in a shop, it should do that.
My last phone had to have a new screen, fitted by Samsung mobile unit. They replaced the battery as part of the process.
We never needed phones as thin and light as possible that we can use in a shower or the pool.
They became fashion items rather than tools.
I wonder if I can get my Pixel 3 to last that long. I need a battery replacement but it also needs to be waterproof as my motorcycle GPS.
I have an S21 and even I think I should be able to last that long as long as I get an official battery replacement done in a year or two. I’ve had it 2 1/2 years and still haven’t really noticed any degredation in battery performance. Wondering if todays batteries hold up better than the older models. My S7 battery became unusable after a couple of years.
That’s what I was thinking 🤣. I’ve had mine 2 1/2 years now. Another 4 years might be pushing my luck, but if I get an official batter replacement in a year or two, it should be able to survive.
