Among the many changes, the new rules would require batteries in consumer devices like smartphones to be easily removable and replaceable. That's far from the case today...
The Galaxy S5 from almost a decade ago had little issues with waterproofing IIRC, and it had a replaceable battery
I’m pretty confident the manufacturers can hit the ground running with a sleek waterproof device with a replaceable battery - they can even do what LG did and make the battery slide out the bottom, if they want to keep a solid glass back.
Gigaset GX are MIL-STD-810H and IP68, quite a lot more than the Fairphone which isn’t rugged as such. I don’t think Gigaset even produces phones without replaceable battery.
I wonder if the ability to easily unscrew a backplate with regular screws (like PH00) and replace the battery underneath would still be enough for the regulation.
Jack and charger ports can be controlled by the phone to turn off if there is low resistance (ie water) between contacts.
A battery is harder, as it’s what provides the power to the thing that decides whether to turn off the port. Not that it’s impossible to put some smarts into a battery, to decide when to power the output. But it’s going to add a lot of complexity and bulk to do it (switching circuit, logic circuits, etc)
A small o-ring and something to clamp the battery/battery case down would be more than enough to make these phones as water resistant as current phones. If they lose water resistance, it’s because the company’s trying to be shitty
I wonder how something like this could affect waterproofing.
It typically does impact waterproofing, but the majority of use cases won’t encounter an issue.
In saying that, though, the Fairphone 4 has pulled off an IP54 rating, so there’s still hope!
There are plenty of devices with removable batteries that are water proof. A gasket and some screws should do the trick.
The Galaxy S5 from almost a decade ago had little issues with waterproofing IIRC, and it had a replaceable battery
I’m pretty confident the manufacturers can hit the ground running with a sleek waterproof device with a replaceable battery - they can even do what LG did and make the battery slide out the bottom, if they want to keep a solid glass back.
Hell it even had a headphone jack
The Fairphone 4 is splash-rated.
Gigaset GX are MIL-STD-810H and IP68, quite a lot more than the Fairphone which isn’t rugged as such. I don’t think Gigaset even produces phones without replaceable battery.
I wonder if the ability to easily unscrew a backplate with regular screws (like PH00) and replace the battery underneath would still be enough for the regulation.
I don’t know. But for instance for the jack port, charger port, mic and speakers this hasn’t been an issue, so I’d wager it will be fine.
Jack and charger ports can be controlled by the phone to turn off if there is low resistance (ie water) between contacts.
A battery is harder, as it’s what provides the power to the thing that decides whether to turn off the port. Not that it’s impossible to put some smarts into a battery, to decide when to power the output. But it’s going to add a lot of complexity and bulk to do it (switching circuit, logic circuits, etc)
Same, this is by far my number one concern. I use my phone as a GPS on my motorcycle which is my primary vehicle so I ride in the rain a lot too.
A small o-ring and something to clamp the battery/battery case down would be more than enough to make these phones as water resistant as current phones. If they lose water resistance, it’s because the company’s trying to be shitty
XCover 1 & 2 had gasket and a screw and those were IP67 certified. And personally, I prefer phones that are bit more thicc ;)