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It's official: Smartphones will need to have replaceable batteries by 2027
(www.androidauthority.com)
this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2023
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I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again (someone else definitely said this before me) I’m totally fine with a user replaceable battery but I don’t really need a “hot swappable” battery. Don’t you guys remember the old memes where an android phone is dropped and the Lego brick breaking sound effect is used from the Lego video games. I’m ok with a semi sealed device for water resistance and what not. It would just be nice to be able to replace the battery when the time comes
The memes I don’t remember but … I’m old. And..
Reading this gave me an instant flashback of dropping my old Ericsson on a train and it just .. lost all its parts! Man that was 😱
Yes I had to hunt for: the battery, the battery cover and the SIM card! In those days the latter was bigger than we have now but very expensive.
To be honest: hot swappable wasn’t all that cool or user friendly at all. You had the dropping issue, the dirt and grime got in the cracks causing it to loose contact. Just like a mouse ball back in the day. All that and .. when it was time to change it, never found a replacement and the phone was just outdated anyway.
Now all those different chargers we had? That was the real nightmare. Man! Very glad that is solved, even with the mess usb-c is.
I fear this is again one of those rules politician’s make without any knowledge; or they just ignore reality. Per usual.
just the first one I found but basically this . and I feel that with the move to USB C or even with iphones and the lightning cable. You either have one of those two so it's pretty nice now compared to back then
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The legislation allows that. It just says that batteries have to be available and replaceable by non-specialists using standard tools. Think a small torx screwdriver, maybe a spudger, no glue type of situation and definitely no soldering or crypto-locking batteries to the mainboard and CPU so even specialists can't replace stuff without signing their first-born to the manufacturer (hello Apple).
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@Raglesnarf @technology
Some make the argument that batteries are already replaceable if you get the right tools, but it's not even a matter of making it possible.
I think it's more about making it so you aren't voiding your warranty and that the option is there.
Otherwise you replaced your battery and they decide they will never offer any support for your phone because you dared touch it.
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I can't really remember if that was an issue for my S4. I'm sure it happened like once or twice but I don't really drop my phone and I'm sure the majority of people nowadays have a case that will pretty much prohibit the battery cover from opening. What I DO remember is keeping a spare battery in my wallet and anytime my phone was low (I'm terminally addicted and 3 hours of screen on time was the best I got back then) just popping that bad boy in. Was a great feature and took a lot of stress off of me in the days when battery life was terrible. I hope they can revive a feature like that in a modern premium phone.
I had a Galaxy s4! and I remember I bought 2 extended batteries (about 3000mah but they were the same size so who knows) and a wall charger for them from ZeroLemon. I would hot swap the batteries instead of charging my phone. it was such a convenient system I felt so cool 🤓
@Raglesnarf @Purplexingg I did the same!
I really miss hot swappable batteries. Just carry a small spare battery and swap it when needed. So much now convenient than needing to plug it in to top up.
You can do that now with a heat gun and some very basic tools.
That's an overstatement. It takes a lot of work for some phones and you risk damaging it. Not everyone is able to do it even with the right tools. We need to have a solution so that anyone can do it
I literally bought an iFixIt kit to open my phone up (for a screen replace rather than a battery swap, but still) and could not get it open after an hour+ of trying. I'd definitely believe it's because I'm inexperienced in modern phone repair, but I'm not a generally unsavvy person. I build computers and mess around with tech as a hobbyist. I had to take it to a shop and return the kit. It's definitely not an easy process for some devices.
Change this to “you can do that now with…some very basic tools” and we have a deal. It should only require a “normal” screwdriver, nothing outside of tips such as cross, flat, hex, torx and which I’m forgetting. Basically none of that Y shaped bullshit or the torx-looking tip with the little raised dot. Fuck all of that shit. And of course no heat gun requirement. I don’t think it’s asking a ton to be able to remove like 10 small screw (or whatever it takes) and pull an old battery out, insert a new one. I like to believe we can figure this out as a species…or rather, I know we already CAN but it’s just profitable for all the manufacturers to basically build in a “phone death date” because they know the battery will shit itself under 4-5 years and be reduced considerably in only the first 2. Make it a hassle/expensive to replace and force upgrades. Bad for the world and bad for consumers. At least those precious investors get their returns… the almighty investor…
That's Torx TR, meaning "keep out if you don't know what you're doing", they're freely and widely available, not stopping anyone just giving pause. Completely different ballpark than vendor-specific heads or one-way heads or stuff someone will sue you for if you produce drivers.
Heck if you buy a random small bit set, not a security one mind you but ordinary, chances aren't small that the Torx bits are going to be TR as you can use them with non-TR torx.
That's not to say that you should use them for user-servicable battery compartments, on the contrary: Those are supposed to be "yep come in it's quite idiot-safe in here" types of places. But you'd want them when you dig further into the phone as doing things the wrong way or just in the wrong order may damage stuff, they belong on PSUs so curious idiots don't kill themselves, such applications.
A heat gun is a specialized tool. That's the problem.
It's really not a specialized tool.l at all, there are a million things you can use a heat gun for. And they're like $20 at Harbor Freight.
A hair dryer?
Not nearly hot enough for these kinds of applications. And you seriously don't want to dry your hair with a heat gun.
It's like comparing a NERF gun to a howitzer, sure both shoot projectiles...
It's what I literally have used for multiple repairs now, so don't tell me it's not hot enough. iPhone 11, Pixel 5a, and a Samsung Galaxy S21.
You start a sentence with hyperbole and then go into an outright lie.
https://a.co/d/h73DLbO
$20
https://a.co/d/dPWrMFv
$10
You now own every single tool needed to replace an iPhone battery. They are absolutelty not difficult to obtain.
I mean I get it. Most of us here are tech savvy and capable. Would I tell my mom to do this herself? My girlfriend? 75% of people on the street? No to all the above. But don't come in here and say something as blatantly false as "Apple has made [a lot of tools] difficult to obtain". That is a bald faced lie and you do a bigger disservice to your argument when you add such a statement to it.
People are gonna hate on this comment but it's true. I can replace the battery in my iPhone in an hour if I want to, even if it's not as easy as it used to be with removable plastic covers on the back of phones.
On the Fairphone everyone can do it, without tools in under 30 seconds. That is replaceable, not having to order equipment and asking your family "IT guy"...
Good luck on waterproofing.