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European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries
(www.techspot.com)
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this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2023
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Technology
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I don't even want to replace my battery. I want it to last. At least 5 years.
Bring legislation that enforces a 5 year warranty on batteries that are built-in. That would help the environment much more than being able to replace a battery every year that shouldn't fail in the first place. And yes, it's possible to build batteries that last longer. It's more effort, true. But so is building exchangeable batteries or doing an exchange. I rather shell off 50 € more for my phone when I know that the battery will make it 5 years.
That is something that would be very hard to legislate. Especially since battery lifetime is dependent on a variety of external factors (charging-style, temperature of the device, luck). Build quality certainly also factors in, but even the best battery won't survive a 10 year old regularly overheating their phones with games and charges it for the entire night. I would love to see OEMs implement nice things like "capacity settings", where you can set your device to stop charging at 80% and show it as 100%.
This is exactly what happens in cars. Usually, you have an 8 year warranty for your battery.
Yes, a phone is smaller. Less space and weight. But 5 years are less as well. The electronics can track everything, shut the phone down if it's too hot (and not when it's so hot that it's in danger to burst into flames like it is now). Adjust the charging speed by temperature. Do not charge the battery to 100 %. ...
All things the manufacturer can influence.
These are all things that most phones already do, though. I think a realistic expectation of battery lifetime is needed here. Better allow for easier replacement in my opinion, the batteries themselves are not expensive (though we don't want to generate unnecessary waste, so, of course we try to make them last as long as feasible)
No, they don't.
The switch off far too late. The battery is built for weight and size, not for durability. The do not keep a margin to preserve battery life and charge way too high and too low.
Replacing batteries is the wrong approach, because it wastes resources we don't need to waste.
I'm firmly convinced that 5 years battery life is achievable, if we just force the companies to do it. It's just cheaper for them not to do it right now. And companies always do what is cheapest.
And worse: This legislation will actually cement the battery degradation, because the companies have even less reason to build batteries that last. "Just replace them!" will be the answer if it's dead after 6 months.