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European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

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Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#161

Post by thatwasunusual »

MostlyStable wrote: post #132
nonethewiser wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah battery will virtually always be the first to go. Unless you crack the screen.

in my experience, it's the charge port that goes. My last two devices, each of which I had for 3 years, the charge port failed before the battery did. I just finished fixing my current one. Although I did decide to do a battery replacement anyways while I had the device open. But that was just because of how hard it is to open them at all. My battery health monitoring app said it was at ~80% health still. And while t…

> in my experience, it's the charge port that goes.

I have had this problem on a regular basis with all of the iPhones I have owned, and the problem has never been that the charge port is dead, but that dust and/or lint has gathered in it.

The solution is very simple: use a tootbrush or similar, preferably something plastic that won't break, BUT NOT ANYTHING METALLIC, to dig out the dirty stuff. Problem solved.

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#162

Post by cududa »

candiddevmike wrote: post #11
tallowen wrote: post #4

I wish there were better approaches to solving the problems around replacing batteries. This solution has downsides in terms of size (extra material required to surround the battery) and waterproofness. I like the features that will have to trade off against replaceable batteries. I wish there were more opportunities for creative solutions to ewaste rather than the specific outcome being regulated.

I blame Apple for everyone's obsession with size. Or really, thinness, as everyone seems to have pop tart phones as thin and fragile as glass--with such a large phone, what value does thinness really add? I'd rather have a less delicate, easily serviceable, thicker phone.

They already sell Android phones like this. They're cheaper than iPhones and have more features, like FLIR cameras. Why not just buy this instead of forcing your preferences, which, clearly the majority of people don't agree with, or they'd buy these phones. https://www.catphones.com/en-us/cat-s62-pro-smartphone/

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#163

Post by chefkoch »

vineyardmike wrote: post #96
jklinger410 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the policies are pretty well informed. I do think USB-C was a huge problem, and I don't think it was coming in a few years. I'm not skeptical of replaceable batteries. I think the policy that forces them to be removable on top of working with 3rd party manufacturers is a good idea. I don't think replaceable batteries or USB-C requirements restrict the industries ability to move forward. Edit: You can continue…

> I don't think replaceable batteries or USB-C requirements restrict the industries ability to move forward. These ultra thin foldable phones probably couldn’t exist with removable batteries. The thinness required to make it comfortable to use would be hard and so would the structural integrity with a removable backplate. It would absolutely restrict durability since it’d make waterproof and dustproofing way more cha…

I had a Nexus one with wireless charging 10 years ago.

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#165

Post by xenadu02 »

dkjaudyeqooe wrote: post #142
chongli wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You make this claim but have you ever worked in product design for something trying to achieve an IP water and dust ingress rating?

It is far more than "just a gasket and a few screws". The rating can't just be good on unboxing day. You want it to hold even after a few years, several drops on the floor, in cold weather, etc.

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#166

Post by eterevsky »

hunter2_ wrote: post #87
eterevsky wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a battery lasts a couple of days, I would much rather my phone were waterproof than be able to swap the battery. Having a power bank solves the problem of discharged phone for me, and anyway I almost never have to use it. Being able to drop your phone in the water and pick it up still working is far more valuable to me.

Seems like it should be possible for the phone (not the battery compartment and battery door, just the rest of the phone) to be waterproof, and for the battery to be waterproof, and the two can contact each other regardless of that contact being in a wet location. After all, we have plenty of electrical wiring methods rated for wet locations, so why not this? Water isn't the very best insulator (especially saltwater…

Wikipedia says that the resistance of water is 0.2 Ω·m for sea water, 2 to 200 Ω·m for drinking water. This is very low and can drain your battery almost immediately.

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#167

Post by arcbyte »

burntwater wrote: post #134
deelowe wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If the owners/companies no longer exist, then I would think the IP should be free by default. Perhaps that's another law to work on...

In 2010 you start a company, wholly owned by you.

In 2011 you obtain a patent wholly owned by the company.

In 2012 you fail to pay the franchise tax and filing paperwork for your company so the state dissolves it. You don't care because you aren't making money.

In 2013 another company starts making a product that infringes on your patent.

You are the defacto owner of the patent. This is because you were the owner of the company when it was terminated. All of its assets and liabilities devolved to you. No action was required of you for this to happen, it just happens.

Now imagine this business was actually a joint venture between two wholly owned subsidiaries of two different holding companies, one of which was public but has gone bankrupt and the other was private but subsequently merged with a public conglomerate that spun off a child company, keeping only 40% of its stock after IPO.

The patent is still owned by people, but good luck finding them all.

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#168

Post by brazzledazzle »

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 might be difficult to release it with an open source license like GPL or MIT but the company already has rights to copy and distribute it.

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#169

Post by FpUser »

nonethewiser wrote: post #139
FpUser wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Super thin phones are impossible to hold without the hefty case.

But most phones arent super thin. Imagine adding a replaceable battery and thickness to those.

I remember having Samsung Note 4. It had user replaceable battery and I had it cased. No problemo.

Re: European Union votes to bring back replaceable phone batteries

#170

Post by eterevsky »

Timon3 wrote: post #67
eterevsky wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a battery lasts a couple of days, I would much rather my phone were waterproof than be able to swap the battery. Having a power bank solves the problem of discharged phone for me, and anyway I almost never have to use it. Being able to drop your phone in the water and pick it up still working is far more valuable to me.

Waterproof phones with replacable batteries might not be waterproof after the replacement - so why don't you just keep the original battery, and have a waterproof phone? Win-win for everyone.

From my understanding, sealant used to make phones waterproof is basically glue, which precludes "easy" replacement of batteries.
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