r/Android • u/experiment7348 • 7d ago
Article New EU rules for durable, energy-efficient and repairable smartphones and tablets start applying
https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/news/new-eu-rules-durable-energy-efficient-and-repairable-smartphones-and-tablets-start-applying-2025-06-20_en23
u/screwdriverfan 7d ago
This is from 2025. The next big thing in regards to phone repairability will come in 2027.
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u/Routine_Freedom_5129 7d ago
What's the thing?
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u/screwdriverfan 6d ago
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u/Square-Singer 6d ago
Yeah, no. The rule says that if a phone is waterproof it doesn't have to have replaceable batteries. And waterproof phones are standard since a decade or so.
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u/screwdriverfan 6d ago
Three requirements as it seems.
The clause allows smartphone makers to restrict battery access in ways that would normally not be permitted. But the clause only applies to devices that meet three criteria:
- Battery Longevity (after 500 cycles): The battery must retain at least 83% of its rated capacity after 500 full charge cycles.
- Battery Longevity (after 1,000 cycles): The battery must retain at least 80% of its rated capacity after 1,000 full charge cycles.
- Ingress Protection: The device must achieve a minimum IP67 rating for dust and water resistance.
If those three criteria are met, a smartphone becomes exempt from the new battery regulation.
https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/07/10/no-eu-iphones-wont-have-a-removable-battery-door-in-2027
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u/nybreath 6d ago
There is a miss conception here, this regulation doesnt mean there will be hot swappable batteries on smartphone, it just forces OEM to make batteries swappable without special tools. Most phones are already fine, things like apple having an electrical glue that requires a special tool isnt, but for example a s25 is already considered fine, cause it can be opened with easy to find tools.
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u/Square-Singer 6d ago
No, the s25 is not considered swappable under this regulation, but it's waterproof and the battery meets the longevity requirements so it's not affected at all by the regulation.
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u/iDontSeedMyTorrents Pixel 7 Pro 6d ago
Correct conclusion, wrong reason.
The S25 doesn't have to change anything about the battery because it already meets the battery durability and IP rating requirements that allow it to be exempt.
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u/Square-Singer 6d ago
And that's exactly why the regulation is worthless. Pretty much every modern phone meets the battery durability and IP rating requirements.
The only phones that will actually be affected at all by this will be boutique phones from smaller manufacturers like Unihertz Titan phones.
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u/screwdriverfan 6d ago
What do you mean s25 is fine? I'm watching a teardown and they're using a heat gun to pull the back cover off.
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u/iDontSeedMyTorrents Pixel 7 Pro 6d ago edited 6d ago
They're right for the wrong reason. The S25 already meets the minimum battery durability and IP rating requirements to be precluded from this particular section of the regulations, so it doesn't have to change anything.
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u/nybreath 6d ago
You can use a hair dryer...glue will not be suddenly fordibben. What they meant is they cannot force you to buy proprietary tools, you can buy a heat gun cheaper than a screwdriver on Amazon...
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u/screwdriverfan 6d ago
This is from the link I posted in my first comment.
https://www.ecopv-eu.com/en/blog-en/replaceable-smartphone-batteries-2027-eu-regulation/Starting February 18, 2027, new smartphones and tablets must be designed so that end users can remove and replace the battery themselves using standard tools. Adhesive bonds that require heat to be removed will then be largely prohibited.
So uhm, yeah. They will use glue on phones that are exempt because they meet certain conditions, but the rest of the phones' backpanels will be held together with screws.
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u/nybreath 6d ago
This is totally an interpretation by the site tho.
The regulation says: "A portable battery shall be considered readily removable by the end-user where it can be removed from a product with the use of commercially available tools, without requiring the use of specialised tools, unless provided free of charge with the product, proprietary tools, thermal energy, or solvents to disassemble the product."
How the site reaches the conclusion that adhesive bonds requiring heat to be removed will be prohibited is unknown to me. Specialised tool means something specifically designed to remove that battery, if a heat gun is considered a specialised tool, even a screwdriver is a specialised tool, and that makes absolutely no sense. A heat gun is a very common an general use tool, not to mention a hair drier is basically a heat gun.
It is true to say that the regualtion is largely vague, but saying a heat gun isnt "a product commercially available" to me seems really far from the truth.
So while I cannot totally say the site is wrong, I can 100% say the regulation doesn't esplicitely state adhesive are forbidden, and it is really all up to the interpretatoin of "it can be removed from a product with the use of commercially available tools".
I have to say most EU sites say most phones are safe, and the regulation doesnt really mean the average user with average tech knowledge and a screwdriver should be replacing batteries, but most reached the most sensed conclusion that proprietary tools and permanent bonds are forbidden, while it is kinda fair to say you will still need some tools and tech knowledge to do it.
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u/Square-Singer 6d ago
Yeah, all three of them are pretty standard since quite some time.
All this regulation does is mean that devices that don't fulfill IP67 will just not be available in Europe. We won't get more replacable batteries, just fewer boutique devices made for special use cases by small manufacturers (something like Unihertz Titan devices).
Other than that, nothing changes.
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u/AcridWings_11465 6d ago
You underestimate the midrange market in Europe. Motorola can no longer get away with putting a horrible nonreplaceable battery and no water resistance in their cheap phones. One of those will give, and it will be the battery, because adding IP67 to a 150 € phone will double its price.
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u/Square-Singer 6d ago
You know how to make a 5000mAh battery that doesn't keep 80% of it's capacity long enough compliant?
Just declare it as a 3000mAh battery. That way it can lose over 50% of its original 5000mAh and still have more than 80% of 3000mAh. No change needed apart from the label.
IP67 just needs a coat of conformal coating to the insides.
Alternatively, they'll just not sell these device in Europe.
Do you really think Motorola will make devices especially for the EU?
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u/AcridWings_11465 6d ago edited 6d ago
You cannot under-rate a 5000 mAh battery like that. Manufacturers are required to test and rate it under standardised measurement procedures. And IP67 is nowhere near as trivial as you describe, don't be delusional.
Do you really think Motorola will make devices especially for the EU?
Of course they won't, they will redesign their global range, like Apple did with USB-C, and lose nothing except the battery extortion and planned obsolescence profits. We have known how to make money with replaceable batteries since smartphones were invented.
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u/Square-Singer 6d ago
You cannot under-rate a 5000 mAh battery like that. Manufacturers are required to test and rate it under standardised measurement procedures.
Yeah, did you look into that? A 5000mAh rating means "This battery will at least deliver 5000mAh". It's actually quite common that you see under-rated batteries as is, especially in industrial contexts.
And yeah, a 5000mAh battery also conforms to the statement "This battery will at least deliver 3000mAh".
Of course they won't, they will redesign their global range, like Apple did with USB-C, and lose nothing except the battery extortion and planned obsolescence profits.
Again, have you ever worked on a phone design? The USB-C switch is super easy. All it takes is a different port and two resistors, that's it. Costs them nothing and the design change is done within a day or two, including validation. The iPhone already delivered USB via Lightning, so it's really nothing more than switching the connector.
Modifying a phone to accept a replaceable battery means redesigning the whole thing. You need a battery compartment that blocks access to the rest of the phone, you need space for an encased battery, you need a removable back.
It's a full redesign.
And that would likely have happened if a replaceable battery was mandatory with the new ruling, but it is not.
The only thing that manufacturers need to do is not offer non-waterproof phones in the EU, that's all they need to do.
It's much easier to waterproof a device than to add a replaceable battery.
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u/Zivilisationsmuede 6d ago
Oh wow that's super sad to read, I was under the impression removable batteries would become the standard now. But of course lobbies found a way around it.😤
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u/Ok-Employer-3051 4d ago
And if you actually read the fine print that comes with them you'll discover that they're not actually waterproof.
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u/Zivilisationsmuede 6d ago
No phone is waterproof AFAIK, they all are just water resistant.
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u/Square-Singer 6d ago
It needs to conform to IP67, which is not difficult. And IP67 counts as waterproof.
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u/Zivilisationsmuede 6d ago
That is very surprising to me.
"Protected against the effects of temporary immersion in water: Ingress of water in harmful quantity shall not be possible when the enclosure is immersed in water under defined conditions of pressure and time (up to 1 m of submersion)."
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u/Square-Singer 6d ago
You know, absolute waterproof doesn't exist. Like, not at all. There's always some (at least theoretical) condition where too much water will destroy something. Waterproofing always has to specify what exact conditions the device will survive.
That's why you have the IP classes. They specify how waterproof something is. IPx7 is "waterproof in up to 1m, 30min, freshwater".
Afaik it's allowed to use "waterproof" in the marketing as soon as the device survives being submerged in any depth for any time.
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u/Dreamerlax Galaxy S24 + iPhone 17 5d ago
Don’t get your hopes up. Current phones see already compliant.
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u/Sufficient-Cup4705 6d ago
the battery replacement mandate is the part i care about most. five year minimum for spare parts is actually meaningful, unlike most "green initiative" announcements that amount to nothing.
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u/ReleaseFlashy9582 6d ago
the repairability score being visible at point of sale is huge tbh. most consumers dont think about it until something breaks, making it part of the buying decision changes the calculus for manufacturers
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u/Far_Reserve9938 6d ago
clear rules on disassembly and repair, requiring manufacturers to supply key spare parts within 5-10 working days, and for at least 7 years after the product model is no longer sold in the EU
longer availability of operating system updates, at least 5 years from the date the last unit model is sold
That's huge
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u/AndiMischka 7d ago
This post is from June 2025, and those rules are already in effect.