Back in the day, just about everything that used a battery had a hatch or a hutch that you could open to pull it out and replace it if need be. Whether it was a radio, a cordless phone, or a cellphone, it was a cinch to swap out a battery.
These days, many devices hide their batteries, deep beneath tamper-proof stickers and warnings that state there are "no user serviceable components inside." The EU wants to change all that, though, and has voted to mandate that everything from cellphones to e-bikes must have easily replaceable batteries, with the legislation coming into effect as soon as 2024.
Once upon a time, most batteries in common use were primary cells – single-use items that could not be recharged and were intended to be discarded after use. Naturally, this meant that appliances relying on battery power had provisions to make swapping cells out a quick and easy process.
Fast forward to the modern day. Many of our appliances, and particularly our phones, rely on rechargeable lithium batteries. Since they're rechargeable, manufacturers decided we no longer needed to replace them, and started sealing them away inside devices where they were free from the meddling fingers of the unwashed masses.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Friday April 01 2022, @11:32AM
that batteries no longer needed to be replaced (they do, just not every day), they quite deliberately decided to make it as painful and as difficult as possible to drive up sales artificially.
The EU should get involved - and any country's authorities in charge of enforcing the laws on forced sales. And probably authorities in charge of finding and fining companies that grossly ignore the environmental impacts of their activities nowadays, too. This has gone on for far too long.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by pTamok on Friday April 01 2022, @12:23PM (12 children)
I like things designed to last, and be repairable: but not everyone does, and sometimes it is inappropriate. When the advances in semiconductors meant that the processing power of phones was increasing rapidly, screen pixel count/resolution/brightness/contrast was improving, and over-the-air protocols changing from 3G to 4G to 5G, it means that a phone that was good enough last year is no longer good enough now. To use the ubiquitous automobile analogy: who would buy a Model T Ford now when they can have a Focus, even though a Model T is still driveable.
So if all the rest of the hardware is outdated while the battery is still 'going strong', why make the battery replaceable?
Now, I have the mindset that I will 'make do' with last year's technology if I don't need this year's. Need, not want. But many regard their wants as justifiable, and they are catered for by the throwaway market 'designed for obsolescence'. In my case, which I know is unusual, the battery is the first thing to wear out - so definitely would prefer a replaceable battery - even if it made the phone a few millimetres thicker. Similarly, I would like easily replaceable screens, as it appears to be the component most easily broken. (I know someone on their third screen in an iPhone 6S - which kind of shows the screen is replaceable, but not by non-techy mortals)
And it is not just phones. Pushbikes/pedal bicycles have become less maintainable/repairable by ordinary mortals over time - people have move from brazed steel frames to aluminium and carbon fibre, and components use a lot of unique plastic pieces, not designed for repairability, and a lot of interference-fit stuff which is essentially unmaintainable without specialist tools and jigs. I hate threadless 'Dia-Compe' headsets with a passion because threaded headsets use a quill stem that can be adjusted vertically over a wider range than typical threadless headset stems [wikipedia.org].
As far as I am concerned, designing for repairability/maintainability ought to be the default. That includes houses too, but that is a rant for another day.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @05:02PM
Just because the Europeans mandate it doesn't mean the US market will
get it. For example samsung phones in the USA have a locked
bootloader whereas their European counterparts do not. I don't know
if it's something mandated by law, or by the telcos. Even if the
European law has the effect of replaceable batteries coming back,
you'll be stuck on an outdated OS, which might render the phone
unusable sooner than later. Still there might be some benefits as it
would be nice to have a google (unlocked bootloader) pixel with
replaceable batteries.
Also just because the original owner is done with the latest gadget
doesn't mean this is the end of life of the gadget. Many phones go
to the used market in both the first world and also in the third
world. A flagship used electronic device has a vastly superior
build quality than a cheapo one, and in the case of phones changing
the battery in sealed phones every few years introduces the
possibility of damaging it, inevitably creating needless e-waste.
I agree with your comments about pushbikes, but they are nowhere near
close to the egregious wasteful behavior of the (disposable)
electronics industry. To be fair pushbikes have always required
specialized tools. A basic pedal wrench is a specialized tool. It
needs to be thinner than a standard mechanics wrench. I personally
like threadless headsets. You're right about the issues raising the
stem ofcourse but you can always buy a stem extender if necessary.
Integrated headsets, where the bike frame acts as bearing races are
downright criminal however. There's also planned obscenesense in
frame manufacturing. Carbon frames don't age well. A 10 year old
steel frame is perfectly safe, (Sheldon Brown owned and rode a 100
year old frame). A 10 year old carbon fiber frame is a trip to the
hospital waiting to happen. The hodgepodge of incompatible bottom
bracket, crank, derailleur, cable, hub standards are nightmare to
navigate. But that's more an annoyance for the informed consumer, and
there is a strong community, more importantly availability of
"standard" reliable high quality parts/bikes.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @10:45PM
You can still get a bike with a steel frame. The real trick is trying to find a stock 10-speed that doesn't have toe-clips, handlebars that force a hunch posture, and a seat that gives you a prostate exam.
Even when they go steel, the "only racers matter" mentality has ruined the bike shopping experience. I'm not trying to win the Tour de France or look like a racer. I just want to ride around town, get some exercise, and not have to take it in to the shop all the time. Quit telling me about the 43 grams you shaved off for $300 extra dollars. You can add five fucking POUNDS to your designs to make it like the old school mountain bikes I rode back in the 80s, and I'll be happy.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday April 01 2022, @11:13PM (7 children)
Yes, a lot of older stuff can't be used with anything, like parallel ports or CRTs, which were obsoleted by much better technology. I do have a ten year old small Bluetooth speaker with a non-replaceable battery that shows no sign of needing replaced. But they're not what this law is aimed at.
It's aimed at my beard trimmer, which also has a non-replaceable battery. Its battery is almost dead, and I'll soon have to replace the entire tool, rather than just the battery. And I agree with them and wish we had similar legislation. But maybe all that's needed is one large group of consumers like the EU to benefit everyone.
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 3, Interesting) by acid andy on Saturday April 02 2022, @01:19AM (6 children)
I have one of those currently in bits. The plastic case could be carefully prised apart and inside was an AA (or was it AAA) rechargeable battery with some wires soldered onto it. Must get around to soldering a new one in there (well actually I should buy a battery holder of some kind that can squeeze in there but there's even less chance of me finding the motivation to do that).
Master of the science of the art of the science of art.
(Score: 2, Informative) by pTamok on Saturday April 02 2022, @08:20AM (5 children)
Be careful about soldering batteries. If I remember correctly (an I might be wrong), it is very difficult to solder to standard battery terminals - the solder does not adhere. You could/can buy special batteries that had tags on designed for easy soldering e.g. (example, not recommendation):
https://cpc.farnell.com/c/electrical-lighting/batteries-power-supplies/batteries/tagged-batteries [farnell.com]
https://www.batteriesplus.co.uk/acatalog/1.2V_NiMH_Sub_C_Rechargeable_Tagged_Batteries.html [batteriesplus.co.uk]
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Saturday April 02 2022, @09:00PM (2 children)
I didn't know that (or if I did I forgot), thank you.
It turns out the supposedly prestigious brand that made the trimmer decided to cheap out with a Ni-Cd battery. No wonder it was so bad at holding a charge lately.
Master of the science of the art of the science of art.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Monday April 04 2022, @03:53AM (1 child)
Not sure if you know, but NiCd and NiMH batteries suffer from what some people call "battery memory" (I think that's what that refers to). Basically overcharging, or even just using them a little and then charging them again. Those chemistries like to be deep discharged every now and then. Every month or two I leave my rechargeable razor on overnight to fully discharge it. The charge always lasts longer after doing that.
Lead-acid, even "deep cycle", and most lithium batteries do not like deep discharge, and it can permanently damage them.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Monday April 04 2022, @07:19AM
Yeah I know about the memory effect. Ni-MH is much, much better in that regard though.
Master of the science of the art of the science of art.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Monday April 04 2022, @03:48AM
Yes, do be careful. If they're difficult to get solder to stick (wet, or tin), the tendency is to apply too much heat for too long and at the very least damage the battery, if not cause it to burst.
I'm not sure what battery ends are made of, but I've soldered many wires and tabs to batteries- after super cleaning them- very fine sandpaper is best. You can certainly damage them, so it's best to put flux on the battery, use a nice hot iron, fairly large so the heat doesn't wick away, get in and get it done fast.
The correct way is with a spot welder, and there are many great plans and how-to videos on making one, but I know you're not that committed to it. (nor should you be)
You might consider NiMH (nickle metal hydride) for replacement as they hold more energy than NiCd, and you can buy them with tabs already on them. Real Panasonic are probably the best batteries you can buy, and I'm sure there are other great brands too.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Monday April 04 2022, @03:57AM
I meant to add: those are great links, thanks.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Immerman on Saturday April 02 2022, @01:35AM
>So if all the rest of the hardware is outdated while the battery is still 'going strong', why make the battery replaceable?
The question is - When you (they?) say the technology is outdated, whose standards are being used?
Just because it's outdated for the original owner, doesn't mean it couldn't provide serve several more "lifetimes" of service as it works its way down through the second-hand market. There's a huge number of rapidly advancing technologies where a second- or even fifth-hand "obsolete" high-end device is still superior to the low-end devices you could get for a similar price new. And every second-hand sale is a new device never manufactured - you can't get less wasteful than that.
Of course - you also can't get less profitable than that for the original manufacturer. Which is where the perverse incentives begin.
So, is there some specific sort of counter-incentive we could bring (legislate?) into existence at that point to encourage companies to sell products with long total lifetimes instead?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 03 2022, @07:18AM
Because it also makes them easier to reuse in another device that uses the same type of battery, and it simplifies recycling if different parts can easily be separated.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Friday April 01 2022, @12:34PM
I have owned a fair number of Android phones and have replaced the batteries on all of them. It seems like as long as you can open the phones and put them back together again you can replace the batteries.
But if manufacturers want to make opening them impossible, then we should all of us choose options like the Pine Phone. If regular people want to be slaves to Big Tech they can, but those of us who value freedom need to do what we can to ensure that freedom- and privacy respecting avenues remain.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @12:35PM (24 children)
Yet another example of a fringe group forcing their beliefs on everyone else.
There are still phones with replaceable batteries (https://www.androidcentral.com/best-android-phone-removable-battery). If this feature was important to most people, these phones would outsell the non-removable battery kind, and the manufacturers would respond by making most/all of their phones with removable batteries.
But the vast majority of people are happy with the non-removable battery phones.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @01:14PM
Bullshit.
None of those phones are valid options to the general consumer. Moto E6 is from 2019. LG are exiting smartphones, that Samsung is an overpriced SME phone.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @01:21PM (4 children)
Phones with replaceable batteries are niche products with features that are lesser when compared to the majority of smartphones, especially the flagships, those that get most of the promotional attention. The majority of people are not necessarily happy with non-removable battery phones, it's just a price they accept. They want the bells and whistles, the high-end features that are only available on phones that have non-removable batteries. Not being able to replace the battery is one of the prices they pay to have access to all the other features.
It's much the same as the headphone jack. Many people want it, but they want the shiny features more.
If they could have all the features and replaceable batteries (and and a headphone jack), many would probably jump at the opportunity.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @02:18PM (3 children)
Yes, they are. Because most people don't consider replaceable batteries an important feature. And yet, the EU is talking about requiring the "feature" which most people don't want.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by TheReaperD on Friday April 01 2022, @11:37PM (1 child)
Ad eundum quo nemo ante iit
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Saturday April 02 2022, @10:43AM
> terrible at thinking beyond their immediate desires.
To defend consumers, it is virtually impossible to figure this stuff out. No review site will look at this - they might talk about battery life as new, but that's it.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by janrinok on Saturday April 02 2022, @01:29PM
Just because a battery can be changed doesn't mean you have to. Nothing is stopping those people from buying a new phone simply because the battery is no longer usable. The alternative, i.e. that nobody can change the battery, means that even the small group that might want to are prevented from doing so.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Snotnose on Friday April 01 2022, @01:26PM (16 children)
Not true. I want a replaceable battery. But guess what? Of the phone options my phone plan offers none of them have a replaceable battery.
I'd like to see all plans offer at least 1 phone with a replaceable battery, similar specs otherwise, and see how well it sells.
I just passed a drug test. My dealer has some explaining to do.
(Score: 2) by helel on Friday April 01 2022, @01:59PM (7 children)
That just sounds like you like phones without replaceable batteries with extra steps. Why not switch to a plan that does offer a phone with replaceable batteries or a plan that you can use with any plan?
Republican Patriotism [youtube.com]
(Score: 4, Informative) by mhajicek on Friday April 01 2022, @03:11PM (6 children)
Because there are no such reasonable options.
Reasonable options for modern, full featured smart phones with replaceable batteries all disappeared a few years ago, there are none. I've looked.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 3, Interesting) by RS3 on Friday April 01 2022, @04:20PM (3 children)
Having been through dozens of hours over many months shopping for phone plans, it's a difficult confusing mess, so I'm not agreeing nor disagreeing. It's possible there are some who will support a phone with a removable battery, but figuring that out will take some work.
My current phone plan provider is a 3rd-party who is able to use any phone that will work on one of the major networks. They say "bring your own phone" and as far as I can tell, it's pretty wide open.
That said, there's definitely some kind of game-playing going on. I've been using the AT&T network. AT&T has been dropping 3G support, and recently killed it in my area. No problem, I have (at least) 4 phones that are fully 4G VoLTE. Several weeks ago, suddenly, non of my phones will do voice. One will do data only, no WiFi hotspot. One will do data, hotspot, and SMS. The newest / best does nothing. All of the phones are on the "approved" list.
Which proves to me that they're able to, and are, restricting specific phones, even though the phone has all the necessary technology.
I'm not sure if it's been fixed yet. Haven't done the SIM-swapping yet today. A dozen or so calls to provider and AT&T resulted in nothing but many wasted hours on hold. Emails are answered generically. Might contact FCC, FTC, or something govt...
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @09:56PM (2 children)
Yeah, ATT is using the switchover and a compliant regulatory environment to drive out all but a few phones. Same story as you, swapped to a phone off of their approved list and it wouldn't work. They say it has to not only have VoLTE but their specific embrace and extend version. Approved list, whut? They didn't care. That one is now on a T-Mobile MVNO. My Pinephone just lies and says it is a Moto and works fine on ATT. Chinese "respect" for IP laws for the win. So no, they don't have any special "enhanced" VoLTE tech, they are just being asshole monopolists.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Friday April 01 2022, @10:27PM (1 child)
Thanks. Yup, exactly what I suspect is going on. I couldn't get a straight answer from MVNO nor AT&T. Just circles, double-talk, and "your phone should be all fixed now" stuff. It's still not working, 4 weeks now (iirc).
Unfortunately T-Mobile is not an option for me. MVNO sent me a T-Mobile SIM, but no signal at home. Otherwise that would be a no-brainer.
Before I waste gobs of time, do you know if FCC or FTC or any others can help? Maybe lawyers and class-action lawsuit?
If I have to change phones, very strongly inclined to buy a Pinephone. Any thoughts, pros, cons?
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @02:29AM
Advantage of Pinephone is it can lie. The Quectel modem in it can be programmed to claim any IMEI you want, and it has the tech to support ATT's VoLTE. I used the IMEI from a Trackphone that was lying around.
Get IMEI:
~# echo "AT+EGMR=0,7" | atinout - /dev/EG25.AT /dev/stdout
Change IMEI:
~# echo 'AT+EGMR=1,7,"XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"' | atinout - /dev/EG25.AT /dev/stdout
The Linux distros are finally stabilizing to the point a Pinephone is usable. Not great yet though. I'm running PostmarketOS Edge and get the occasional hard lock still. Life on the Edge. Basic phone functionality works pretty stable now, unlike a year ago. Numberstation provides 2FA codes, the camera takes pictures and reads QR codes, but still waiting for video. Firefox and Chromium handle most browser needs, and both are the full desktop versions so any extensions you like will run. Firefox has a special theme installed to make it more usable on a phone, Chromium is more painful. Still no real calendar solution, all the available text editors suck balls on a phone, as does anything using the GNOME file picker widget. VLC is a bit unstable at times and not well optimized for mobile, but h265 video can be played, if it isn't 10bit color. Limitation of the Allwinner SoC, it won't accelerate that so you will burn battery. Waydroid is this -- close to being useful, opening up Android apps to fill in some gaps. The story with other distros (there are many now) varies.
But Google doesn't know where I am anymore. Too bad ATT still does.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday April 01 2022, @11:20PM (1 child)
What, exactly, can your $900 status symbol do that my three year old hundred dollar phone with its replaceable battery can't? And what makes it worth the extra eight hundred clams?
Carbon, The only element in the known universe to ever gain sentience
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mhajicek on Friday April 01 2022, @11:39PM
I have never once bought an expensive "status" phone. I have a five year old rugged phone that I would continue to use if T-Mobile were not about to shut off 3G.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @02:20PM
Then change plans.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @02:29PM
They already did that. The manufacturers didn't suddenly decide to make batteries non-replaceable. They discovered, over a period of years, that the market either didn't care or even that they preferred phones without access doors to fall off (my main reason to prefer non-replaceable battery phones).
If there was some pent-up demand for phones with removable batteries, someone would pick up on it and produce such phones. But no one cares. Unfortunately, the EU seems to be catering to one fringe group.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @03:49PM (3 children)
There aren't a lot of choices for new phones that have replaceable batteries. They had their peak in 2014 or so and have been on the decline ever since. I've seen a few lists here and there and the choices are not very encouraging:
https://thedroidguy.com/best-android-smartphones-with-removable-battery-1062773 [thedroidguy.com]
They list several phones from LG, which went out of the smartphone business entirely a couple years ago, meaning you will never get official firmware updates and hardware warranty is very iffy. They list the Galaxy S5 and J7 (new in 2016). That feels a lot like like scraping from the bottom of the barrel. I don't think you can get any of the phones listed from a telco plan these days.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Friday April 01 2022, @04:36PM (2 children)
Please know, there are lots of 3rd-party phone providers (MVNO) who advertise "bring your own phone". They have very long lists of supported phones. It's a bit of time and effort to do the cross-checking and I might do some later, but as long as the phones are 4G, they should work. T-Mobile and MVNOs who provide T-Mobile still support 3G, but that's due to drop out July 2022, iirc.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Friday April 01 2022, @11:44PM (1 child)
Except sometimes they don't. I bought a Caterpillar S62 Pro to to replace my S60 that will soon be no longer supported once 3G is dropped. The new one is 4G, but my outgoing voice is unintelligible. Hours with tech support to no avail.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 3, Informative) by RS3 on Saturday April 02 2022, @01:39AM
Story is: some 4G phones are not fully LTE, and/or don't have VoLTE. My 4 do have 4G VoLTE, but still no joy. Just been mostly on hold with tech support for hours, no avail.
For maybe 2 weeks in Feb. my phones suddenly lit up "HD" icon during voice calls. And man oh man, the upper higher frequencies were almost too clear. So I thought, yay, my phone will keep working. Then suddenly everything stopped, and the nightmare began (29 days and counting...)
Did you look for "VoLTE", and/or "HD Voice" settings anywhere in the phone's settings? It might be under "Networks", "Connectivity", "Phone", "Voice"...
Also, you can dial *#*#4636#*#*, tap "Phone Information", and you should be able to see if you have LTE for voice and data.
Which Android version?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @06:09PM (1 child)
Why would you base the phones you purchase by some arbitrary contract (phone plan) instead of choosing a contract (phone plan) that is based on your phone? This sounds like a self-inflicted problem. I have never purchased a phone from a carrier, but only directly from the manufacturer.
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Friday April 01 2022, @11:46PM
Because many providers suck in one way or another. When you find one you can tolerate, you stick with it.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Dr Spin on Friday April 01 2022, @07:52PM
But the vast majority of people are happy with the non-removable battery phones.
The vast majority are not happy, but I an incandescent with rage!
Discarded phones with batteries in get discarded prematurely and make it hard to recycle the lithium, but more significantly, the lithium in landfill ignites once water seeps in, and it is very hard to extinguish the fire, which can cause horrendous pollution. Manufacturing and selling these phones ought to be considered health and safety risk, and the EU should absolutely ban them, and any product from manufacturers who sell phones with non-replaceable batteries into other markets too.
On this occasion I will refrain from mentioning whips and bondage, public floggings or hanging - but only because I am in a good mood tonight.
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Friday April 01 2022, @02:04PM (1 child)
Replaceable batteries is one of the things I look for in portable consumer electronics. But there are many, many considerations that go into picking a phone. Is it a standard size for which you can get a protective case, and without spending too much extra? Is it using reasonably current software?
Yes, I realized manufacturers were shafting the public with their bullying, lying (underhandedly, by omission) implication that batteries are irreplaceable. They have plenty of mean tricks like that. There are thousands of little features they can mess with. For instance, I had a phone that came with Android 5, with the promise it could and would update to 6. When that day finally came, I got a nice new feature, local storage of voicemail, with an extra tab in the phone interface. Built in. It can be had under Android 5, but need a 3rd party commercial app for that. Had that feature for about a month, and then, after what was supposed to be an "update", it was gone! No announcement, explanation, nothing, just quietly removed it. Took me a few days to figure out what had happened, as I didn't believe they'd really pull a stunt like that. I thought I'd misremembered where that feature was, and hunted for it in vain.
I responded by changing phones, phone numbers, and phone carriers. Not that they cared. So much for market magic.
(Score: 2) by Lester on Saturday April 02 2022, @05:05PM
Market magic has seldom worked in the sense of better products or consumer happiness.
In fact, without control, free markets slips to a monopoly or oligopoly.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @02:17PM (1 child)
old-man-yells-at-cloud.jpg
While I used to prefer a phone with a replaceable battery, now I don't. It used to be that batteries only lasted a year or so, but nowadays batteries last longer than phones do. Even if you want to keep your old phone for decades, you can't, because the screen will break, the software will stop being updated, or the phone company will discontinue the signal standard it uses. My phone is five years old, it works great, and I can still get (aftermarket) software support for it. But I already don't receive half of the frequencies my carrier uses. They're shutting down their 3G network entirely. My phone is LTE, so it's not affected by that, but eventually LTE will shut down too. In another few years I'll have to replace it for no other reason than not being able to get a signal any more. At that time, it's likely that the battery will still be serviceable.
Replaceable batteries add cost and bulk and don't really make sense any more. If you really need a battery replaced, you can take it to a phone repair shop. If you really need more battery capacity than your phone can manage, you can bring an external battery pack, which also happens to be much safer and also has the benefit of working with any kind of thing you want to plug it into. Anyone who tries to bring a spare lithium-ion battery will probably eventually drop it into their pocket/purse/backpack/whatever along with some coins or keys and set themselves on fire.
If customers had really cared about user-replaceable batteries, they would have refused to buy the sealed phones, but it just doesn't matter.
If regulators want to do something useful, they should prohibit Apple (and anyone who might want to copy them) from freezing out independent repair shops.
(Score: 4, Informative) by mhajicek on Friday April 01 2022, @03:14PM
My phone is about five years old. I've never damaged the screen, and it's on its third battery.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Barenflimski on Friday April 01 2022, @02:24PM (2 children)
These guys killed my iphone 4s. Yes, they did send me a "free" new phone after all these years, but the thing worked. Once they did their rollover though, the thing was remotely killed. I can't turn it on anymore. It was killed the same day they told me their 3g removal would start.
Point is, they can remotely kill these devices too. I wish we didn't need legislation to stop those things. I do actually own that cell phone, even if its a paper weight. The flashlight, starwalk and camera still worked.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @02:54PM
I just was forced to move from my 4s too after the battery started to only hold charge for about 4 hours of use since January. It seemed to be related to screen use though, as it would stay up for most of the day if I didn't turn the screen on.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @03:25PM
I will have the same problem, as my phone is even older - it's probably 3G. Now it works because this network still is here as it's used for industrial and control systems.
However, I don't want to read and sign literally tens of thousands of pages. And this is what you HAVE TO do when you want a smartphone, where every app has an agreement and if you don't comply to all privacy invading and many times blatantly illegal things in there, many times you cannot even turn the phone on.
Since my phone was made, batteries capacity has grown. In my phone it is 2000mAh at 3.7V, while today it is even 6000mAh at the same voltage or even more. But my phone works for a month on one charge, and modern phones... we all know. Charge every day. I was looking for a replacement with similar battery life and found literally nothing because newer cellular modems just use more power.
And let's put this old tire you may have in the furnace - as in this topic all questions about environmental cost of such constantly reporting listening device is just not answered. Yes, listening devices, sorry, source is closed and there is no specification so I have to assume the worst.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @02:26PM (8 children)
Mandate the inclusion of working FM radio capability, please.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @02:31PM (1 child)
And I want a pony!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @02:43PM
Ok, forget the phones. Give pony.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @03:19PM (3 children)
Let's not. Years ago, I thought that having FM reception on your phone would be useful. Now, I NEVER LISTEN TO FM RADIO. The FM spectrum is owned in America by pretty much one company and radio is crap. PBS turned to garbage, the music channels play the same 3 crap pop songs, news stations spew fake outrage and virtue signaling garbage, etc. Internet radio is where it's at for music.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Friday April 01 2022, @06:24PM
And of course, America is the whole world, right?
Anyway, as of now, I'd consider a DAB+ receiver the better option.
But hey, what about simply allowing apps SDR access to an antenna, and then you can install some FM or DAB+ app yourself if you want.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @08:12PM
Sucks to get old, don't it?
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Monday April 04 2022, @07:05PM
It is useful; I have a phone with FM capability (just plug in a wired earbuds for antenna) and I use it when severe weather is in the area, as the radio stations here will go to constant live coverage for the duration. I don't listen to FM otherwise, not interested in half of my commute being used by advertisements. I use Sirius XM for music instead.
Answer now is don't give in; aim for a new tomorrow.
(Score: 2) by Rich on Friday April 01 2022, @05:08PM
So that, on doomsday plus one, you can pick a nice crystal in your cave, wind a coil from scrap wire, stack a few metal plates, connect that to an earphone and have emergency reception.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @06:08PM
Maybe it's just a US thing, my "International" market phone still has an FM Radio app.
But it requires a wired receptor, so if they remove the headphone jack...
(Score: 4, Interesting) by hendrikboom on Friday April 01 2022, @05:51PM
My laptop has easily replaceable batteries.
Except that every vendor I've been able to find for those easily replaceable batteries is out of stock.
Even the laptop manufacturer.
Maybe that's just a pandemic-related supply-line issue.
Or maybe not.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @09:44PM (3 children)
this is a start. what other cool mandate would be that any device with a battery HAS TO also function with (bulging fire hazard) battery REMOVED but with the charger connected. a-holes ...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 01 2022, @10:11PM (2 children)
No, they really can't do that one. Most phones / tablets / etc. have peak power demands far in excess of what the charger can provide. If you are really hitting one hard it is common to see the battery drop with the charger connected.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 02 2022, @01:57PM
thank for info. didn't know.
so i guess just "disappearing" that type of battery model negates the whole "replaceable (but non existant) battery" mandate... but it "could" help with recycling *shrug*.
note: so putting in a "dummy" battery but connecting a external "powerbank 15000Ah" via usb charging port would not work ... so basically if the glued-in battery is no good, then even a external battery bank will not help?
(Score: 2) by toddestan on Sunday April 03 2022, @12:59AM
It would be possible for most devices - simply throttle them back so that their power usage doesn't exceed what is available. Not ideal of course, but it would allow the device to still be used.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by pTamok on Saturday April 02 2022, @08:31AM
On reflection, not only is battery replaceability important, but also the use of standardbatteries so you are not tied to buying a particular type from the manufacturer with a funky plastic shape designed to be incompatible with everything else. Even standard form factors have had the terminals shifted around the package.
I've had the fun of looking for batteries for a perfectly good phone with replaceable batteries where the only options were dodgy knockoffs which were not manufactured to the safety standards as the original.
At least AAA, AA, C, and D batteries are pretty much standard: although I have found a number of ostensibly AA rechargeable batteries that were over-diameter, and battery holders vary in how high they expect the stud/nipple on the positive end of the battery to be - I had to put some conductive shims into some DECT phone handsets which expected really long positive terminals on the AAA batteries it used.