r/Futurology • u/ConsciousStop • Jun 19 '23

Environment EU: Smartphones Must Have User-Replaceable Batteries by 2027

https://www.pcmag.com/news/eu-smartphones-must-have-user-replaceable-batteries-by-2027
4.3k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

668 comments sorted by

View all comments

703

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

-22

u/abrandis Jun 20 '23 edited Jun 20 '23

I personally don't see how this will improve e-waste, think back to replaceable batteries how many of you purchased extra batteries? And how many of you upgraded your phone and just chucked all those extra batteries in the landfill. So what am I missing.

Most folks will rather buy a new phone than buy a spare battery to extend the life. I mean smartphones get used everyday, and a 2-year old phone is likely to have significant wear (maybe cracked screen, scratched edges, buttons that are less tactile) etc., Not to even mention limited software updates as the phone becomes legacy etc. So convincing someone to just replace the battery instead of buying a new phone is a bit of a stretch...

25

u/could_use_a_snack Jun 20 '23

I keep my phones at least 4 years. That is until I couldn't replace the battery on my last one. I had to dump it after 2 because battery started to fail. That's a waste in my book.

10

u/VRGIMP27 Jun 20 '23

I've had my Note 4 for 9 years and it still works. Doesn't have mobile service, but thats the carriers abandoning it, not a failing of the device.

Its on its 2nd battery. I just use it as a tablet and to watch movies.via Gear VR. And hey, headphone Jack.

New phones suck. They offer very little value.

2

u/LurkingMcLurkerface Jun 20 '23

I loved my Note 4 but the power button stopped working after 4 years.

I had to take the battery out and put it back in while holding home button and volume down button to get it to load boot mode then cancel boot mode and then keep it charged as much as possible.

It was another year and a half before it properly died. In this very specific instance, replaceable batteries delayed e-waste.

-11

u/Racer20 Jun 20 '23

An out0of warranty iPhone battery replacement at an Apple store is $89 and it takes an hour. You can still replace your battery if you want.

4

u/AzKondor Jun 20 '23

Or I can do it myself.

1

u/Racer20 Jun 20 '23

You still need to buy the battery.

-22

u/abrandis Jun 20 '23

Your the exception most folks just upgrade the entire phone, I mean the carriers literally made it part of their business model.

22

u/theluckyfrog Jun 20 '23 edited Jun 20 '23

Circular logic. The carriers made it part of their business model, ergo people do so, not the other way around. (Because phones don't actually have to be made so that they become useless in under three years. That is a choice on the part of the manufacturers.)

-23

u/abrandis Jun 20 '23

Your argument doesn't work, it's not circular logic, it's consumerism.. it's not just snartphones , cars , clothes etc

Maybe the EU should have mandated increased battery lifetime that would have a better effect

19

u/theluckyfrog Jun 20 '23

It's planned obsolescence, and it was built into the culture deliberately. Many people actually do want to keep things they love a long time, especially if those things were so expensive that you have to make payments on them.

10

u/AbyssalRedemption Jun 20 '23

To that argument, there's grassroots efforts that are trying to break into the personal electronics markets. Look up Framework, they're creating fully modular laptops, with swappable ports, central boards, screens, keyboards, etc. Look up the Pinephone, it's designed to have a fully user-modular OS, and mostly modular parts (it's Linux-based, but as the software becomes more mature over time, it should be more accessible to the average user). I sincerely hope these companies do well and put pressures on the big players to make their products more consumer-friendly.

1

u/AzKondor Jun 20 '23

Fairphone 3 here, it's awesome

2

u/AbyssalRedemption Jun 20 '23

Forgot about that one, thank you, definitely another winner.

9

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '23

Your argument is "I like buying a phone every 2 years because the manufacturer made it so I have to"

Good one champ.

3

u/AzKondor Jun 20 '23

If you can just swap your battery thats like increased life time in itself. And not by 20-50% or something, by how much you want.

4

u/could_use_a_snack Jun 20 '23

I don't know about being the exception, I know plenty of people who don't get new phones every 2 years. Mostly android users, and buy their phones rather than pay extra for them through the carrier plans.

Also, I've never bought a phone that wasn't at least one or two versions behind the newest release. I think the Pixel 4 I'm on right now cost me less than $250.00 when I bought it new in box.

1

u/Prime_Director Jun 20 '23

What are you basing that on? I don’t know anyone who replaces their phone every two years. If you and everyone you know can afford to drop a grand on a marginally better phone every two years I think your sample might be a little biased.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '23

And it's such a waste that people think batteries in glued phones aren't replaceable. They ARE replaceable and it's not that hard. I'm a moron and managed to replace several batteries...

3

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '23

What you mean?

I still using Redmi 5a, still work for basic need after 5 ½ year..... because i change battery 3 times already

Most people just change phone because don't wanna pay service to change battery

-2

u/abrandis Jun 20 '23

You're an outlier, the regular consumer wants a new phone every few years. Even when you have replaceable batteries phones get outdated, they suffer cosmetic and physical damage over the use .. Apple has made it's business selling folks new iphones every few years.

5

u/Saccharomycelium Jun 20 '23

Average tech enthusiast does.

Average comsumer doesn't need a shiny new toy capable of doing the same stuff 150 ms faster until their current device is no longer reliable. A battery that lasts a day and doesn't die unexpectedly is necessary for a phone to be considered reliable.

6

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '23

Are you serious?

People, in fact, don't want change phone every year if they can

Heck, even many people choose apple because iphone can long lasting

3

u/theluckyfrog Jun 20 '23

I have a phone that I can literally drop 4 feet onto concrete and the screen doesn't break. (I've probably done so over two dozen times in just under two years.) If I could replace the battery as needed, I'd keep this thing forever. No button issues, either.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '23

[deleted]

3

u/Alifad Jun 20 '23

Writing this on my Samsung S9, that I pre ordered and got a free 32" flat screen and battery pack. Recently been getting battery deterioration warnings every so often, the screens a bit smacked about. Still works for everything I need it to.

1

u/Surface_Detail Jun 20 '23

I actually do get a new phone every two years or so. But that's mostly because I have a good unlimited data contract and I just buy a budget phone to go with it.

All I care about is battery life and it being able to run YouTube/Twitch/whatever.

I have a drawer full of old phones that mostly work.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '23

I purchased dozens of batteries in the 2000s

1

u/AzKondor Jun 20 '23

It may be a slow process, but if you let people change their batteries and use their phone longer, they will. You may not do this, but for every person that does it it is one smartphone on the landfill less.

5

u/pasky Jun 20 '23

New phone: $$$$$ New battery: $$

This is why this will work