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
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 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.
All battery’s can be removed if you try hard enough
Last time I tried to remove one it caught fire. So much glue…
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.
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).
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.
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?
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.
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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?
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)?
