Understanding the EU’s fight for user-replaceable smartphone batteries

If you’ve been online this past week, you’ve probably seen a headline or two about the European Union voting in favor of easily replaceable batteries in smartphones by 2027. it is based on a voting on 14 june In favor of which the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly an agreement Which will radically change the rules related to batteries in the block.

The good news is that those headlines are fundamentally accurate; The European Union is moving forward with a regulation that requires batteries in smartphones to be easy to replace, both for the environment and for the benefit of end users. But this being the European Union, there is much more going on behind the scenes. And it is these details that can have a significant impact on how and when manufacturers will actually have to comply.

For starters, the widely cited 2027 deadline for introducing smartphones with more easily replaceable batteries isn’t the whole story, according to Right to Repair Europe coordinator Cristina Gnapini. this is because there is one more piece of legislation Currently working its way through the EU legislation process called EcoDesign for smartphones and tablets. It includes similar rules on making it easier to replace smartphone batteries and is expected to come into force in June or early July 2025. So by the time 2027 comes around, some smartphone makers may already be selling devices with user-replaceable batteries in the EU. for over a year.

According to a draft version of the EcoDesign Regulation on the EU website, batteries may be replaced “without any tools, equipment or set of tools supplied with the product or spare part, or with basic tools.” It also states that spare parts should be available for seven years after the phone’s release, and, perhaps most importantly, that “the replacement process should be performed by a layman.” The legislation is currently under scrutiny by the European Parliament and Council, and Ganpini expects it to be passed into law in September this year, with its smartphone battery replenishment requirements coming into effect a year and a half later.

Despite the overlap between the two pieces of legislation, the battery regulation voted on by the European Parliament this month is still important. This is because the battery regulation is more stringent than the EcoDesign regulation in one important way: it does not introduce a loophole that would allow smartphone makers to avoid making their batteries easier to replace if they were to enable them to last longer. are able to instead. Specifically, they would need to retain 83 percent of their capacity after 500 cycles and 80 percent after 1,000 cycles to qualify. According to EcoDesign regulations, such devices “must be protected from dust and withstand submersion in water to a depth of one meter for at least 30 minutes” – capabilities often achieved with glue.

“We would have looked at repair requirements as well as longevity requirements, rather than leaving the compromises up to the manufacturers,” says Thomas Opsomer, repair policy engineer at iFixit. “That said, 83 percent capacity after 500 cycles and 80 percent capacity after 1000 cycles is a fairly ambitious requirement; It can probably be used for at least five years.

It’s not clear exactly how many manufacturers’ smartphone batteries can meet the requirements of this longevity drawback. For example, an Apple support page notes that a “normal battery” generally remains intact. up to 80 percent Its original capacity after 500 full charge cycles. But other manufacturers are already providing longer-lasting batteries. Fairphone spokeswoman Anna Jopp told me that the (fully replaceable) battery in its Fairphone 4 already meets these longevity requirements, while Oppo recently claimed that some of its batteries can retain up to 80 percent charge. Keeps up to 1,600 charge cycles,

In addition to not offering a longevity loophole, Opsomer also points out that battery regulation covers All products with portable batteries; This is much more broad-reaching than the phone and tablet-focused EcoDesign regulation.

So what exactly does it mean for a smartphone battery to be easy to replace? Most definitions of EU depend on what equipment is needed for the process. Although “removable” is reminiscent of one of the feature phone era or Fairphone’s devices that only required a fingernail to pry open, the definition used in the battery regulation voted on this month doesn’t go quite that far. Rather than requiring removal without tools, battery regulation imposes limits on the type of tools required to replace a battery. is here relevant section,

“A portable battery should be considered removable by the end-user when it can be removed with the use of commercially available tools and without requiring the use of specialized tools, unless they are available free of charge, or proprietary tools , thermal energy is not provided. or solvents to separate it.

Rather than calling for completely tool-free battery replacement, the regulation’s wording focuses on preventing end users from using proprietary tools or finicky processes. So the EU isn’t aiming to turn every phone into a Fairphone 4, whose battery you can take out with your bare hands in seconds, and like the recent HMD Nokia G22Whose iFixit Battery Replacement Guide Still requires the use of one or two basic tools. In other words, the G22’s battery can be changed using commercially available tools that don’t seem very specialized and don’t require proprietary tools, solvents, or thermal energy such as heat guns or thermal energy. ifixit eyeopener, which are designed to melt the glue some manufacturers use to hold components together. Simple, right?

Opsomers at iFixit say not so fast. He points out that while EU law only defines “basic equipment, product group specific equipment, other commercially available equipment and proprietary equipment”. Not there Define “special equipment”. Opsomer says, “This current specification could easily lead to a situation where in order to replace the battery, the user would have to purchase a device that is actually specified but not officially defined,” which could easily cost Could exceed the cost of a replacement battery.

That’s why iFixit is pressing lawmakers to count a device as user-repairable under battery regulation if it can be repaired using “basic tools.” This range includes common screwdriver styles such as flat-head, Phillips and Torx, although Opsomer admits it is likely to include some specialized tools such as iFixit Opening Picks,

Another potential point of contention is how user-replaceable batteries can coexist with waterproofing. Battery regulation included a discount For equipment “that are specifically designed for use in an environment that is regularly subjected to splashes of water, streams of water, or immersion in water, for most of the active service of the equipment.” Opponents of such regulations often bring up waterproofing as a feature that could be affected if an appliance is designed to be easily opened.

In a statement, Opsomer said the EU exemption is based on “unfounded safety claims” and cited the underwater flashlight as an example of a device that has waterproof construction as well as user-replaceable batteries. able to offer. In a YouTube video, the repair technician louis rossman quotes Samsung Galaxy S5 (IP67 – so it can be submerged in relatively shallow water for up to 30 minutes) and Sonim XP10 (IP68 – which can be immersed in deep water for a long time) as phones with good water resistance that also offer removable batteries, although other recent repairable phones such as the Fairphone 4 (IP54 – providing protection against water splashes) do) and the Nokia G22 (IP52 – protected against dripping water) fared less well.

Leaving aside concerns about exclusivity, the outcome of this month’s vote on new battery regulation was widely welcomed by rights-to-repair campaigners. Right to Repair Europe’s Ganpini called it “a major breakthrough for the right to repair”, while Ana-Maria Madzurova, legal counsel for Fairphone, said the regulation would “empower consumers by ensuring that batteries across industries are more durable, sustainable and affordable”. repairable.”

Despite this month’s successful vote, the EU’s user-replaceable battery rules still have a long way to go. Battery regulation will need to be formally endorsed by the Council of the European Union while the EcoDesign rules are still being scrutinized by the European Parliament. Although passage of both sets of rules seems likely given their current progress, discussions have been going on behind the scenes between various groups competing for a looser or stricter interpretation of the written rules.

But, in the coming years, it looks like it’s going to be a lot easier for smartphone buyers in Europe to keep their devices running and out of landfills after batteries naturally degrade over time. And, unless manufacturers want to produce devices with user-replaceable batteries that are only sold in Europe, it looks like the rest of the world will benefit as well.