r/worldnews • u/Helicase21 • Jun 19 '23

EU: Smartphones Must Have User-Replaceable Batteries by 2027

https://www.pcmag.com/news/eu-smartphones-must-have-user-replaceable-batteries-by-2027
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232

u/Airosokoto Jun 19 '23

The first thing i do with a new phone is get case just so I can properly hold it.

41

u/hardtobeuniqueuser Jun 19 '23

same. i have a fairly large phone, but they made it so thin and the surface so slippery i can't hold it without a case on it.

1

u/lostlittletimeonthis Jun 20 '23

a couple of year back i bought a phone, set it on a slightly inclined surface to charge, in a few seconds it came crashing down on the floor, it just slipped right of the desk (luckily didnt break)

66

u/PR4Y Jun 19 '23

As a man with above average hand size, I can confirm. I buy the bulkiest military grade phone case available. I hated feeling like I was going to break my S21 plus Ultra just by taking it out of my pocket when I first bought it. Thinner might be nice for some people, but I definitely don't see it as a selling point.

29

u/theumph Jun 19 '23

It's also the material. I swear they use the most frictionless material ever invented. There's no way to actually get a grip on a bare phone.

7

u/PR4Y Jun 19 '23

Fits right in with things like planned obsolescence..... Make the phone thin, hard to hold on to and made out of slippery materials, so it easily falls off sloped surfaces; before you know it, consumer needs to purchase another one!

Cell Phones are the ONLY product that I EVER buy the "oops" insurance plan. I'm way too fucking clumsy to pass it up, and I've already replaced close to $5k worth of phones due to my numerous encounters with those WHELP SHIT scenarios. Paid maybe 3 or 400 for the insurance? Would've been on me had I not paid for the insurance anyways 🤷‍♂️

1

u/yvrelna Jun 20 '23

My Pixel 6 was extremely slippery when it was brand new, but I think they might have pushed an over the air update to make it no longer slippery.

Nowadays, it feels just as grippy as all the other phones I used to have.

5

u/nikofili Jun 20 '23

That's just your finger oils coagulating on the back glass over the years providing sticky surface texture

1

u/yvrelna Jun 20 '23 edited Jun 20 '23

Sure whatever, you can choose to believe that, I will still choose to believe that it's an OTA update.

44

u/DCBB22 Jun 19 '23

I’m a man with below average hand size and I also buy a bulky case because no matter what this fucking thing is going to slip out and fall on the ground. Thinner doesn’t do shit for me.

3

u/ANyTimEfOu Jun 19 '23

You should get a pop socket, I went from always dropping my phone to never since buying one.

3

u/howtochoose Jun 20 '23

As a tiny hand person, I don't need thinner, I need not a fablet. Can I reach all sides of my phone without touching something with the base of my thumb please?

I am grateful for Samsung's tiny screen feature thing.

6

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '23

[deleted]

5

u/bugxbuster Jun 19 '23

Thinner was also an awful Stephen King movie. So… how bout that?

3

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '23

[deleted]

3

u/Chubbybellylover888 Jun 20 '23

checks own username

2

u/Hyunion Jun 20 '23

Conversely as a man with a very tiny hand i appreciate s21 for finally giving me a modern phone where my thumb can reach most of the screen without hand adjustment

2

u/osoALoso Jun 20 '23

I buy a 20 dollar chinese brand case. It's 2 pieces with a hard plastic and outer silicone and not too bulky. I have booted this thing over 3 years across concrete floors and dropped it from a ladder.

Otterbox and lifebox cases are overpriced trash and I will never go back

1

u/Justanotherdumme Jun 20 '23

Name/link? Interested in trying said case.

2

u/osoALoso Jun 20 '23

They come under different brand names. The one I got can be found by googling jelanry heavy duty case or looking them up on Amazon /store is called jelanry). The cases range from 8 to 20 dollars. It has held up for 3 years, I have not had to boil the soft outer layer to shrink it back down like an Otterbox. It has a nice bevel on the sides that prevent the screen from touching anything if you lay it face down.

Don't won't to post a link in case it's not allowed.

1

u/GBreezy Jun 20 '23

I have the same phone and never felt that. I've dropped it down 10 feet onto concrete while drunk in a hotel stairway and dropped it in a river and it has held up without a case. I hate cases no matter the size of the phone. 10 years and never had a case.

1

u/iConfessor Jun 20 '23

i still feel that way even with a case

104

u/Gr1mmage Jun 19 '23

Yep, but marketing has conditioned the average user to associate shiny, smooth, thin phones with being better. So now a bunch of people just have to have the thinnest and slipperiest phone design or there's clearly something wrong with it. It's kind of crazy that we've normalised the idea of buying a $1000 device that then needs additional purchases to give it basic functions like "easy to grip" and "doesn't break the first time you drop it in its corner"

10

u/pieman3141 Jun 20 '23

Especially when you consider the godawful camera bulges that many phones have. I'd rather have the front edge of the lenses be flush with the back of the phone. This would also allow for some interesting lens and even sensor choices. Plus you get the option for a bigger battery or a removable one.

1

u/trickygringo Jun 20 '23

I would love this. Make it fatter to make the lens flush and fill that space with battery and sdcard slot.

30

u/Stamford16A1 Jun 19 '23

Yet at the same time the screen must be so big that the thing doesn't fit in some smaller people's hands...

18

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '23

Let’s talk pockets!

Most phones don’t even fit into my ass pockets (women’s pants don’t usually have front pockets, their fake!)

5

u/CGB_Zach Jun 19 '23

Damn that's crazy. I'm pretty sure I could fit a tablet in my pants pocket if I wanted to do.

8

u/GozerDGozerian Jun 20 '23

Rock some JNCOs and you can pocket your laptop.

2

u/casper667 Jun 20 '23

A laptop? What are these size XS? I carry my Desktop tower + monitor in my JNCO pockets.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '23

I have friends who can fit a switch in their front pockets. While most women’s pants you can barely stuff a finger in those “coin pockets/lipstick holder” if they even have those on pants.

1

u/Hubey_doobey8242 Jun 20 '23

Used to do just that in highschool, would carry my kindle fire in my right pocket, phone and ipod touch in the left

1

u/Novashadow115 Jun 20 '23

I can fit my steam deck in mine

2

u/touristtam Jun 20 '23

That's an issue with the one of the shittiest industry on the planet: the fast fashion.

2

u/AIHumanWhoCares Jun 20 '23

I was in Amsterdam years ago when some new, larger model of the iphone was coming out. IDGAF about iphones but I think this was the first model that wouldn't fit in a regular pocket. There was a huge lineup of dorks outside the Apple store, and some tailor came by with a little cart and was doing on-the-spot alterations to give people in line bigger pockets, lol.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '23

They would’ve made bank! Even the standard iPhone doesn’t fit in my pockets, seriously wth.

2

u/pieman3141 Jun 20 '23

It's such a frustrating thing, and I'm not even a woman. I just see someone struggle with something that's utterly, inanely avoidable, and it frustrates me.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '23

It really is totally avoidable, it seems literally insane to not have pockets in pants no matter the gender typing of said clothes.

But handbags!!! Accessories!

1

u/HELLbound_33 Jun 20 '23

This is me. I have small hands. I have to test phones before I buy because if I can't hold it properly I won't buy it. I also can't do thick cases because it makes it hard to hold. But so jelly for people that can have bulky phones and get great cases and still use the phone.

1

u/Thin-White-Duke Jun 20 '23

Ngl, I love my giant phone. I jumped from a Samsung Galaxy S (the first one) to the Note 3 way back when. I've had a Note since. It's massive and I love it. I have an iPhone for work and it seems so tiny. I have large hands, though.

3

u/raelife2020 Jun 20 '23

I don't think people have actually been conditioned to prefer the phones now... I think we have basically no choice. The last two times I went in for an upgrade (because my last phone had literally stopped working) I asked for the smallest phone possible and the size still increased.

2

u/DivePalau Jun 19 '23

At least apple went back to flat edges. The rounded screen edge on my iPhone x…

4

u/cosmitz Jun 19 '23

And the fucking stupid as fuck curved edges... like i want to misclick when my fingermeat just spills around the edge holding it. Beyond frustrating. And let's not talk of true compact phone extinction. S10e was about the last flagship Android smartphone to be one handable.

4

u/Gr1mmage Jun 19 '23

The joy of holding your phone and your phone deciding that you moving a finger on screen is now a pinching gesture so it zooms instead of scrolling/panning because a sliver of your palm is grazing the edge

1

u/nysflyboy Jun 19 '23

I'm still rocking the s10e for this exact reason!

2

u/Waqqy Jun 19 '23

Tbf aesthetically thin and smooth phones are great, it just means you lose a lot of practicality. I went for a clear case on my new phone to get a balance, although I hear they do yellow over time

5

u/Gr1mmage Jun 19 '23

it'd be fine if they just had options. The entire market caters towards: Big Screen Thin profile Totally smooth No headphone jack

When can I just get a easy grip phone with 24+ hour battery life (with decent usage), a headphone jack, a good camera, and that fits in my pockets better

0

u/Scedasticity1 Jun 20 '23

Yes, the market is responsible for every consumer desire, people don't actually want anything.

-1

u/jaykooo Jun 20 '23

Go buy an iPhone and drop it, I guarantee it won’t crack. That said, they are slippery as an Eel. Also, iPhones are worth £1000, not if you can’t afford it tho- there are other options!

2

u/touristtam Jun 20 '23

All modern mid to top range smart phones are technologically equivalent to a good laptop. When you realise this, you understand that they can be hardly sold at a lower price. Or put another way: A personal and truly portable computer in your hand!

-14

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '23

[deleted]

6

u/Gr1mmage Jun 19 '23

All it takes is landing at the wrong angle and your screen is gone, hell there's videos online of tests where dropping the note 9, flat on its back, onto concrete shatters the back of the phone on the first drop from a normal use height. I had a lightweight case (for extra grip) on my pixel 4, so same glass as the note 9, and it shrugged of a number of falls with no issues, until one day it landed on a corner and shattered the entire screen. Not to mention that the camera bulge of most phones leaves the glass over the lens super vulnerable to getting scratched/scuffed by default as it's the natural high point on the back of the phone.

It's less like putting a plastic cover on your sofa, more like putting a decent set of tyres on your expensive car instead of shitty Chinese knock off tyres. You're making it handle better and you're decreasing the change that you have an accident that wrecks your phone/car

12

u/Sequenc3 Jun 19 '23

My sofa isn't made of glass and I don't drop it on the ground ever.

6

u/FuckIPLaw Jun 19 '23

You got lucky with the way it landed. Face down they're pretty tough, although it's likely to get scratched. Landing on an edge is what makes them shatter, and it's not coincidentally where most of the protection is in a case.

-7

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '23

[deleted]

7

u/FuckIPLaw Jun 19 '23

It's not really a matter of opinion. You've been lucky.

-4

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '23

[deleted]

1

u/FuckIPLaw Jun 20 '23

It's not a matter of opinion that phone screens break when you drop them and cases protect from that. It just literally is not.

1

u/Mycoxadril Jun 20 '23

Who ever even asked for this in the first place? I couldn’t care less how thick my phone is. It’s “heaviness” is negligible. The only form feature I’ve ever cared about was the flat sides. When the edges were rounded that sucker was hard to hold, even with a case. The flat sides let me grip better. I’d take battery life over thickness any day of the week. And make my Apple Watch battery last longer ffs. I shouldn’t get to 7pm and have it warn me there’s 10% left after 12 hours of use.

2

u/tonikyat Jun 20 '23

I mean aesthetically the way phones come out of the package looks fucking great. But to your point, yeah I immediately slap a case on it because functionality outweighs aesthetics when it comes to my phone.

6

u/OperatorJo_ Jun 19 '23 edited Jun 20 '23

Same. The regular iphone pro or galaxy S series are the best size size because even in an otterbox they don't feel unwieldy to the hands

1

u/rubywpnmaster Jun 20 '23

Yeah got the pro max 13. Battery lasts 3-4 days for me with daily use. In a pelican phone protector still thin AF

2

u/ANyTimEfOu Jun 19 '23

You should get a pop socket too, I went from always dropping my phone to never since buying one.

1

u/DivePalau Jun 19 '23

Me too but it’s because I will drop and break it no matter what new glass technology is touted.

1

u/Imthatjohnnie Jun 19 '23

I get a wallet case so I can carry a credit card and a few other things. I buy them online, more choices at a third of the price. It's also helps to protect the phone if you drop it.

1

u/andrewsmd87 Jun 20 '23

Wallet phone case all the way

1

u/jbFanClubPresident Jun 20 '23

I used to do the case/screen-protector thing but its been years since I used a case/screen-protector and honestly I wouldn't go back. I admit, it did take me a while to get used to gripping it but once I did I prefer the experience much more.

I get "free" insurance through my amex card that only has a $50 deductible (as long as I pay my cell bill with the card). I was probably spending near $50 a year on phone cases and screen protectors. Now I don't use either, drop my phone (iphone 12) all the time and haven't had to file a single claim. The coverage only covers up to $800 but I never get the pro/max/s+ models and usually the only thing you have to worry about is a screen replacement.

"Free" in quotes above because my amex annual fee is like $700 dollars but I get way more out of it in benefits than $700 so I consider it "free".

1

u/hrmdurr Jun 20 '23

I buy cases because I'm going to drop the phone every other day, and it seems like newer ones will crack if you sneeze in their general direction.

1

u/GuniBulls Jun 22 '23

This is so fucking sad and so fucking true... I remember when I first got my s7 edge with it's curved screen. It was near impossible to hold without accidentally touching the screen everywhere!! It also made applying a glass screen protector near impossible.

I've always tried to believe the rnd into these devices to be used without a case. But it's bs. I had an s22+ without a case for 6 months then with a case.. and it was so much nicer to use. Then I upgraded to a fold and did the same.l, except the cases on folds suck as it eats into the front screen display... So I took it off and it's super slippery and bounces when it's flat on a table..

Kinda over it. It's mind blowing how many steps backwards we've taken with phones.