[mytailorisrich]

Re. mobile phones it is because it allows sleeker and thinner design, and IMHO it wasn't that common to replace batteries, anyway.

But, really this is a non-issue because if you need a new battery for you phone, including iphone and samsung, just get it replaced. That's not super common to need it (again) but there is no issue having it done. I had it done before.

So overall I am skeptical that it will make a difference or that people will keep devices like phones longer because of this new mandate. I also doubt that the EU Parliament has data on this because many of those new regulations seem very hand-wavy to me and usually presented as obvious.

[Greenpants]

People choose the path of least resistance.

If you can quickly swap out an old phone battery with one you can purchase in a store, it's as easy as doing groceries.

If on the other hand you need to hand off your phone to a third party for repairs, and require people to make a backup of important data, maybe factory reset just in case, get a replacement device for the time without it, tell people you'll be unavailable for a bit... It's a big enough hurdle for people to think "well, guess it's a good enough excuse to upgrade to a new model". I've heard the latter too many times in my surroundings purely due to battery life issues.

[linohh]

The point being made is that if batteries can be replaced without specialized tools and training, the chances of that being done could be higher, potentially leading to longer usage time and reduced e-waste.

[peterfirefly]

Consider that modern Li-ion batteries are better than older Li-ion batteries (and much better than nickel-metal-hydrides). The need for user-replaceable batteries in modern phones is on par with (or realistically a lot lower) than the need for user-replaceable screens.

[mytailorisrich]

Obviously. I understand the stated aim.

My point is that things are rarely obvious. As you say, it "could". It is not obvious that it will make a difference and it might also increase the materials needed on both phones and battery.

I think the EU and European countries have much bigger fish to fry, including with regards to the environment.

[vanviegen]

> I think the EU and European countries have much bigger fish to fry, including with regards to the environment.

Yes. And they should fry those too.

[michaelt]

> IMHO it wasn't that common to replace batteries, anyway.

Different phone users have very different usage patterns, in my experience.

I don't use my smartphone at home (I have a PC), at work (I have a PC, and a sense of professionalism), in between (can't use a phone while driving or cycling), while exercising or while socialising (it'd defeat the purpose). I'm basically checking public transit schedules, calling taxis, making payments, and occasionally taking a photo or sending a message.

My phone's still at 80% when I put it to charge while I sleep.

On the other hand, a person who spends a load of time on public transit, streaming netflix the whole time? A person who listens to music all day while they work? A delivery/uber driver? A teenager without a computer of their own, who uses their phone for games and social media? And maybe they're on a budget so they have an older device and/or a smaller battery?

These folks are cycling their battery twice a day. Buying portable power banks. Getting fast chargers, for an early evening battery top-up.

It's these people who need to replace their batteries.

[peterfirefly]

> On the other hand, a person who spends a load of time on public transit, streaming netflix the whole time? A person who listens to music all day while they work?

That could be me. I am amazed at the battery life of my iPhone 16e. I have no need for daily battery swaps.

(Apple claims something like 21 hours of video streaming on a full charge -- that's on Apple's own streaming service but it is still many hours on Netflix and Youtube.)

The "fast charger" is a tiny 20W USB-C charger that I no longer remember if I bought separately or not. It's nice and fast.

Modern phones are really good at not using much power. Modern batteries are remarkably energy dense. They also degrade slower than older batteries, among other reasons because we have better (and cheaper and greener) additives now. Thank you, Dalhousie and Tesla!

This is legislation that would have made a lot of sense 10-15-20 years ago. It is symbolic now (and likely to be slightly worse for the environment).

[dvfjsdhgfv]

> IMHO it wasn't that common to replace batteries, anyway.

Well, it was the most common thing to do for me - after a couple of years, you notice the battery performs worse, so you order a new one and enjoy brand new performance. Now it's hard to do even for laptops, especially some brands.

[SkiFire13]

> But, really this is a non-issue because if you need a new battery for you phone, including iphone and samsung, just get it replaced.

There's a big difference between buying a new battery for swapping it yourself and having to pay someone else to do the same for you.

[1718627440]

Replaceable batteries mean that you can just buy two or more and just carry them around so you can charge them less often. Alternatively you can charge the battery at home while you are away with the phone and have no down time for charging. (Down time meaning you can't carry the phone around.)

[Reason077]

> ”Replaceable batteries mean that you can just buy two or more and just carry them around so you can charge them less often.”

If you think this is what the EU battery regulation means, I’ve got some bad news for you.

Besides, as others pointed out, encouraging people to carry around multiple batteries for their devices would just lead to more e-waste, not less.

Also, carrying “naked” Li-ion batteries that are not installed in a device is prohibited on airlines - another reason why it shouldn’t be encouraged!

[mytailorisrich]

Interestingly if people start to buy extra batteries as you suggest then this will completely defeat the stated purpose of having replaceable batteries!

That being said, now they buy external power banks...

[hermanzegerman]

No it won't. It's about reducing eWaste from the devices itself. Throwing away a whole device just because the battery is bad is much worse than just throwing away a worn out battery.

My 9 year old ThinkPad T470 is doing well with his 3rd or 4rd battery (and a new SSD and more RAM).

Also external powerbanks are pretty unpractical compared to a fresh new internal battery.

[mytailorisrich]

This is indeed a policy aimed at reducing e-waste, including resources and harmful substances from batteries.

So allow to find that "yay I can buy more batteries!" is a highly ironic response.

And again, all the statements that it this "obviously" better than possibly buying a new phone seem to lack any references to actual data...

[hermanzegerman]

I can't believe you're arguing in good faith. Obviously just replacing the battery is better than replacing the whole device and all it's components just because the battery is bad.

The User above also said he bought two or three batteries, so he can swap them out when the battery is empty (I've also done this with my laptop) and distributing the charging cycles between the batteries, so they will all last longer.

If he wasn't a power user, he wouldn't drop money on two or three batteries in the beginning, and just buy a new one when the old goes bad.

[1718627440]

The mistake in your argument is thinking that buying batteries results directly in e-waste. It first results in more working batteries being used over the lifetime of a device. Whether that results in more or less waste batteries in wallclock time depends on how that affects the time the device is used. If batteries are also standardized and thus device independent, the device becoming waste also doesn't mean the battery becoming waste automatically.

But yeah, I can see the irony in my comment.

[Someone]

> My 9 year old ThinkPad T470 is doing well with his 3rd or 4rd battery (and a new SSD and more RAM).

But would it be doing well with only a new battery? Chances are a regulation that only regulates batteries won’t do much for tech that still is improving at a fairly decent rate.

[hermanzegerman]

It's running now with Fedora Linux, but it's still doing everything with 32GB RAM, and it's 2TB SSD what I need. (Editing Documents, doing some light coding, Python, R and browsing the Internet) I also still get 10hrs battery life out of it.

I've thought already about replacing it, but it doesn't make any sense for me. Especially that new ThinkPads in the T-Series have worse battery Life than I get right know due to their batteries being smaller and not anymore hot swappable.

[toyg]

Buying an extra battery is very different from buying an entire new phone and in no way it would offset the environmental gain of not buying an entire new phone.

Please don't engage in argument for argument's sake.

[bmicraft]

The Galaxy S5 was only 8.1mm including camera bump, removable battery and IP67 rating.

[hermanzegerman]

Oh yeah, because paying Apple 120$ for a 30$ part is totally the same Vs just doing it on your own with no tools.

Also, your phone must be in pristine condition because otherwise you will need to "repair" tons of stuff you don't need repaired/replaced.

[stefanfisk]

You can just use a third party shop.

[hermanzegerman]

Pre-Regulation you couldn't even buy a genuine spare part, and they even did part pairing with batteries. Bothering you with stupid Nags when you went with the 3rd party shop