That would be great if we weren’t past the point of phones having unremovable batteries… Too little too fucking late as always, Google.
The EU would like to have a talk with manufacturers about this… Much like USB C for iPhones, removable batteries are in the works again thanks to the EU.
Bear in mind the law isn’t for replaceable batteries in the way you describe, it just has to be easy enough for a person or a repair shop to do without too much risk of damage.
It’s unlikely we’ll see every phone having a back we can just pop off and pull the battery out.
Even then, there are exceptions. If the phone still retains 84% of battery capacity by year 3, and I think 80% by year 4, it doesn’t have to be user-servicable.
I hope these changes affect the global supply chain, but I’m very skeptical that it’s going to have any repercussions outside of the EU.
These changes tend to be global because it’s cheaper to make the change for everyone than have two different designs and manufacturing (one for EU and other for the rest of the world). And more often than not EU is too big of a market to ignore.
Maintaining multiple SKUs with major differences is quite expensive and time consuming, plus confusing for the customer on a global Internet trying to look things up. I expect that this would make at least some manufacturers ship these to other countries, so we would have some options.
These changes tend to be global because it’s cheaper to make the change for everyone than have two different designs and manufacturing (one for EU and other for the rest of the world). And more often than not EU is too big of a market to ignore.
Well, Samsung is selling phones with shit CPUs to Europe and good ones to USA.
Oh? Got a source on this?
Its the first time im hearing about this.Edit : did some digging and ye, most of the world doesnt get the snapdragons. From what i read the performance, battery life etc are all over the place compared to the same phones with snapdragons. Also, samsung is not allowed to sell their own socs in places where they sell the snapdragon versions?
This is some weird ass shit and i assume it has to do with profit or something.Don’t worry, you can essentially get the same shit CPU in the US by buying a Pixel.
I will import EU phones if it doesn’t.
Obviously a global change would be better, and hopefully that’s what happens but at the very least those of us that live in places with worse consumer protection have that opinion.
Edit: In thinking a minute about it, I’m thinking that this probably won’t be necessary. I haven’t looked but I imagine there are still androids with removable batteries on offer, and it’s safe to assume there will be more after this, even if it’s not all. Though I guess if you want a very specific phone with a removable battery, that’s an option.
All battery’s can be removed if you try hard enough
Last time I tried to remove one it caught fire. So much glue…
Did you try removing it by stabbing it?
Knife goes in, battery comes out
Nah tried to pry it upwards on one side.
You have to wedge something under it and separate the glue to get it out safely. I did it once to replace a battery, the old one still bent a bit but it did not catch fire.
bent a bit but it did not catch fire.
You got lucky. A fire might not be likely with a little bending but it’s definitely a possibility. A battery that’s fully glued down is just inherently dangerous to remove.
Yeah I agree it really is. I was sweatin the whole time
looks at fairphone
shrugs :pJokes aside, this is indeed a huge problem and do hope that eu law gets passed. Its perfectly possible to have a replacable battery and keep a good ip rating…
Other countries will follow EU’s example. OEMs will not have non-removable batteries anymore. Apple should immediately comply. Fairphone is indeed an example of sustainability.
All batteries are replaceable. Some take a bit more effort and some specialized equipment, though.
Yeah but that seems like a pain, of course I had a cell back to analog days and am probably is. Used to sell so many batteries for cells in my Radio Shack days, and many were people wanting a second one for a backup when they were in the bush. Even remember $80 for a lithium startac battery heh, like 20ish years ago.
A lot of “replaceable” things are still considered so even if you can’t just pop it out and stick a new one in yourself with zero effort.
True, they should have better campaigns to showcase those repairs, also manufacture support for it. Unless they do and I missed it, which is very possible. Just seems they don’t want you to change batteries since they make it a hassle.
Some phones, like mine, do have removable batteries. The point of Android is that devices should be varied in design and features rather than interchangeable black mirrors and I think it’s good that Android is still adding features that help facilitate that.
DontBe Evil33% less words to print, more efficient.
Just “evil”, 66% less worss
It wouldn’t be any different as how iOS has been doing it since a long ago, it shows the battery in maintenance mode and they even say to go to an authorized place to do it lol.
I want all that BS to end already, managing battery life has been more stressful to me that I’d want to admit (yeah, quick charge ain’t the solution).
Quick charge actually damages the battery over time lol. Tbh, if the battery was replacable and you could just buy and replace one, would it still be stressful to get that message?
Quick charge actually damages the battery over time lol.
Exactly, but many people couldn’t give a shit about the battery health if you can charge the device in 20 mins and last the whole day… I mean yeah, technically, but that will cost you in a not too distant future…
Tbh, if the battery was replacable and you could just buy and replace one, would it still be stressful to get that message?
I’d say no, it would be awesome as I generally take good care of my devices always and the battery is always the first sign of needing a change for me, now that I have an Android phone and know about custom ROMs the sky would be the limit lol.
They mean the ones that are glued in, inside of casings that are glued in? Gee, how nice.
That’s ending relatively soon because of the EU though, so I guess it’s fine.
Mmm, trickle down consumer rights.
Will phones keep the water proof/resistant feature with that change?
I mean, I prefer having it accessible, one thing less to worry about or being anxious lol, and none of my phones have had such protection anyway.
Replaceable batteries and waterproof ratings aren’t mutually exclusive. Never have been. Ports are a bigger barrier, and those have been solved for quite a while. Hell, there are phones that are ip68 rated, with user swappable batteries. The samsung x cover pro is a decent phone overall that does it.
Think about all the watches with replaceable batteries that are waterproof, various cameras, rc submarines, etc.
It will require design changes, but there are already plenty of options to make it happen.
TIL, excellent news indeed, can’t wait for this “new” trend to come for smartphones!
When I worked at Google I seriously had someone try to tell me that making a key fob waterproof was challenging. I never did figure out what that guy was thinking.
Most key fobs are somewhat water resistant though?
It will require design changes, but there are already plenty of options to make it happen.
Nah, there’s basically no design changes needed. Pretty much everyone already complies with the new EU laws. People seem to think the new laws mean you’ll just be unclipping the back of your phone and chucking a new battery in like in the nokia days lol. All it means is that you won’t need proprietary tools to open your phone. You’ll still need to disassemble the phone as usual. Basically nothing changes for the big OEMs already. It’s not going to make replacing your battery on your own any easier.
Excellent. I cannot wait to hotswap batteries again. It is so much easier to carry around an extra battery than a battery pack and cable.
You’re not going to be able to do that lol. The only thing that’s changing is that you will only require tools that the average person wanting to do the job will already have in order to take your phone apart. No proprietary screws etc. The EU law basically changed nothing of any real meaning.
How can we make this worse? Hey let’s glue the battery to the digitizer!
They should make the batteries explode when the device is opened that way the user gets third degree burns
It’s for their own safety.
My Nexus One says the battery needs to be replaced.
Looks at non removable battery… Oh.
They said you should, not that you could, the iOS way indeed.
Also, why can’t we finally get usful battery stats on which app or function sucking up how much.
That’s been available for ages.
Haven’t seen a properly working on in a long time
Has always worked fine for me.
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This is probablybyhe feature from Apple that I like the most. Glad to hear that it’s coming to Android.
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Surely I know when I want my phone’s battery replaced, because I’m the one using it?
Most people can’t tell how much battery life has been lost to wear and tear just by using the battery.
This is especially true for users of Lineage os. Its hard to know if the reduced battery is related to updates or not.
if I can’t tell that my battery life has been reduced, why do i care? i’m literally oblivious to it
I see this more as a tool for people who notice reduced battery life and want to do something about it. Currently they essentially need to guess if the battery is the issue and get it replaced to find out.
If you notice your battery life shortening, the health check can either confirm that you will see improvement with a new battery, or it will tell you your battery is okay, and reduced life is due to software changes or increased usage.
If you don’t notice an issue, there is no reason to replace the battery.
But if Google now puts a fat “your battery needs to be replaced” notification, those users who didn’t even notice an issue are driven to buy a new phone out of fear their phone will explode.Now that is a good point. The average consumer will see that and think “gollygee I better spend more money.” They don’t have the knowledge needed to protect themselves.
Yes, this is definitely an anti-consumer feature! /s
Seems then if the user can’t tell…
So, use the phone instead.
Honestly sometimes I get carried away on my device and eat through 20-30% of my battery. And then start thinking it needs replacement because it felt like it’s just been a few mins… before popping open the battery stats and realise i’ve actually been on my phone for hours 🤦♂️
Worse if you buy it used.
The phone I bought used was fortunately a company phone where the prior user barely touched it. So it lasted two years before really going to crap. But I’ve seen stories of used phones working fine for a few months then the battery just goes to shit.
But can you tell how much longer the battery will keep working?
does it see future? all it knows is the current calculated capacity and cycle count. the battery might continue degrading linearly, or it might go down a cliff. nobody knows.
Ever look at a weather report? Predicting the future according to a model whose inputs are measurements of things we can’t directly perceive is something we do all the time.
You can predict things when you
- know how things are now
- have seen how similar events unfold in the future
Now who is keeping current performance data for every single battery batch? For every single battery model ever produced?
You’re seriously gonna argue that having a complete history of a battery’s usage and data from phones of the same model doesn’t tell you anything more than a user’s gut feeling about how well the battery is performing?
Oh it will show the actual capacity. But who knows when will it fail (i.e. start degrading a lot faster)?
