Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

techspot.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 622 posts

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#141

Post by blowski »

chongli wrote: post #56
unglaublich wrote: post #7

The problem is not really the battery anymore, it's the software mainly. It's all closed source and is often deprecated before the hardware is dead. Then the manufacturer makes it hard to unlock bootloaders; keeps drivers closed source and effectively bricks the device. For recurring sales are the backbone of modern economy so we must force obsolescence. Why would you want to replace a battery in a useless device? Pl…

No, it's batteries too. And water/dust/fluid ingress protection. Modern phones are sealed up pretty tight because users want them to be waterproof. This makes it very difficult to build in replaceable batteries!

Of all the incredible technology in a modern smartphone, it’s too hard to make replaceable batteries?

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#142

Post by dkjaudyeqooe »

chongli wrote: post #56
unglaublich wrote: post #7

The problem is not really the battery anymore, it's the software mainly. It's all closed source and is often deprecated before the hardware is dead. Then the manufacturer makes it hard to unlock bootloaders; keeps drivers closed source and effectively bricks the device. For recurring sales are the backbone of modern economy so we must force obsolescence. Why would you want to replace a battery in a useless device? Pl…

No, it's batteries too. And water/dust/fluid ingress protection. Modern phones are sealed up pretty tight because users want them to be waterproof. This makes it very difficult to build in replaceable batteries!

But really waterproofing the phone doesn't require gluing everything together to within an inch of its life, just a gasket and a few screws. Yes it will add $5 or something to the cost of a phone, totally worth it, and will improve repairability in general to boot.

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#143

Post by jrm4 »

Just broadly, let me just echo my full throated support for regulation in this space. Forget the vast majority of the goofy "innovation" arguments I hear, the fact that 3 family cell phones, 2 laptops, Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, and Oculus can all use the same charger makes insanely more sense that what we were doing before.

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#144

Post by epolanski »

saalweachter wrote: post #71
epolanski wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is waterproof even a real needed feature? Like, I've been owning mobile phones for 22 years at this point and it's literally something I've never cared or benefitted from. On the other hand, having replaceable batteries is definitely something that's been useful in the past.

Huh, really? I use my cell phone in the rain, I use my cell phone in the shower. I drop it in the mud and rinse it off in the sink. Waterproof is a top-tier feature, right up there with "not exploding the screen into a thousand shards when I drop it".

Well, when I shower I shower, I'm not distracted by a phone, and few drops of water under the rain have never done anything to any of my phones.

Might be a top-tier feature for you, but it never made any difference to me.

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#145

Post by epolanski »

chrisbrandow wrote: post #119
epolanski wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is waterproof even a real needed feature? Like, I've been owning mobile phones for 22 years at this point and it's literally something I've never cared or benefitted from. On the other hand, having replaceable batteries is definitely something that's been useful in the past.

Is it useful to protect an $800 device from being ruined by accidentally dunking it in a pool, lake, toilet? Yes.

I never buy over $300 phones, and anyway it never happened to me in 22+ years to ever drop a phone in a pool/lake/toilet.

I'm not discussing it being useful, I merely said that it doesn't feel _really_ needed by me.

If I had to choose between interchangeable batteries and waterproof I would choose the first one hands down.

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#146

Post by ianburrell »

I think the big question is how "easily" replaceable are the batteries. I doubt were going back to external, swappable batteries since those add extra bulk. And that isn't needed since batteries are much better and power banks and chargers are everywhere.

What is needed is a way to easily replace the battery when it gets old. Now, need to take it to repair shop or take chances with DIY. It sounds like proposal includes internal batteries, easily removing back cover, and replacing the battery with connector.

I'm about to replace the swollen battery on 5 year old phone. It wasn't worth paying someone to do it. I'm worried cause I broke a previous phone doing the same repair.

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#147

Post by epolanski »

martin8412 wrote: post #52
epolanski wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is waterproof even a real needed feature? Like, I've been owning mobile phones for 22 years at this point and it's literally something I've never cared or benefitted from. On the other hand, having replaceable batteries is definitely something that's been useful in the past.

Yes, it is a needed feature in humid environments.

Wait, are you saying that till few years ago non-waterproof phones broke more or something? Because that never happened.

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#148

Post by saxonww »

chongli wrote: post #56
unglaublich wrote: post #7

The problem is not really the battery anymore, it's the software mainly. It's all closed source and is often deprecated before the hardware is dead. Then the manufacturer makes it hard to unlock bootloaders; keeps drivers closed source and effectively bricks the device. For recurring sales are the backbone of modern economy so we must force obsolescence. Why would you want to replace a battery in a useless device? Pl…

No, it's batteries too. And water/dust/fluid ingress protection. Modern phones are sealed up pretty tight because users want them to be waterproof. This makes it very difficult to build in replaceable batteries!

I wonder about this.

First, it seems like you could just make the phone part waterproof and if they dunk it, they have to replace the battery. I have ruined a phone by putting it through the wash, and I would have been very happy to just replace the battery instead of chucking the phone.

Beyond that, I wonder what the reality is for waterproofing needs. Are people taking smartphones diving? IP65 means it's resistant to 'spray' - like rain, not a firehose - and it seems like a battery compartment with a tight-fitting cover would be more than enough for this. IP68 doesn't apparently mandate a depth rating but recent iPhones are tested to 6 meters for 30 minutes. That's more water pressure than 99% of those iPhones are ever going to see.

I don't personally think the non-replaceable battery has anything to do with IP rating, it's because manufacturers want soft-sided batteries with more delicate terminal connections, for volume/capacity reasons.

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#149

Post by Draiken »

deelowe wrote: post #120
surgical_fire wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Please, EU: bring a law that forces manufacturers to release their drivers / firmware whenever they stop updating a digital device. I wish I could upvote this more. It's a crime how I had to throw away in the past perfectly usable devices because they were forced into obsolescence.

I don't see how this would work given modern supply chains. It can be extremely difficult to track down all of the owners of a particular IP and when you do, many of them may not even exist any longer making it near impossible to get any sort of permission to do something like this.

It's hard to see it happening with how things work today. If companies had to do this they would make an effort to figure it out.

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#150

Post by nulld3v »

constantcrying wrote: post #95
nulld3v wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Replacable batteries are at odds with water tightness. Are you sure? I've seen many phones that are both IP* rated and have a replacable battery.

The one I know of was a Samsung which didn't really succeed at water tightness.

Are you talking about the S5? It has a removable battery and has an IP67 rating so it should definitely be watertight.
Post reply on HN