this post was submitted on 28 Dec 2023
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For me it’s the notification light you used to find on older phones, was particularly good to know if your phone was charged without picking it up

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[–] [email protected] 387 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Swappable batteries in mobile phones.

[–] [email protected] 107 points 10 months ago (3 children)

It will most likely come back due to EU legislation.

[–] [email protected] 58 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Maybe, but swappable =/= replaceable, in my opinion. I could be wrong, but I'm not sure that EU legislation says that phone batteries should be swappable, only replaceable

[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago (2 children)

“ Portable batteries incorporated in appliances shall be readily removable and replaceable by the end-user or by independent operators during the lifetime of the appliance, if the batteries have a shorter lifetime than the appliance, or at the latest at the end of the lifetime of the appliance. A battery is readily replaceable where, after its removal from an appliance, it can be substituted by a similar battery, without affecting the functioning or the performance of that appliance.”

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52020PC0798&qid=1703805580803

So we see here that batteries must be replaceable without affecting the function of the device. Yet waterproofing is important. What seems more likely to me is that batteries need to be replaceable without opening the entire device and therefore destroying liquid protections as per the proposed law. Easiest way to do that would be something similar to a SIM card tray where a hidden button is pressed to release the battery to swap it. The designers would have to go out of their way to make this process difficult, which the EU also doesn’t want, to avoid making them swappable. And that feature is attractive. Knowing Apple though, it’ll be harder on the base models or batteries will cost too much.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

The snippet “if the batteries have a shorter lifetime than the appliance” worries me. Seems to me that modern engineers are capable of making their crap’s lifespan just barely shorter than the projected batty lifespan, and people might just be stupid enough to still buy it.

I mean, the disposable vape market is an extreme example, but somewhat relevant I think.

That being said, if the processor on the LG G5 had kept up with the market better, I don’t see how that couldn’t have been a starting point.

As for waterproofing, my GoPro stays waterproof but the side door opens to give access to the SD card, battery, etc, so it’s absolutely possible.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Water proofing isnt a super hard thing to do, compressed rubber works wonders. If they can make a speaker port waterproof while still being able to hear through, I'm sure it's possible to make a waterproof phone with a removable battery

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Not really. EU legislation is about the right to repair, not about swappable batteries on the run

[–] [email protected] 42 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago

The law just means it needs to be replaceable with at most basic tools or specialized tools supplied with the device.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

How does one safely repair a lithium-ion battery without just swapping it for a working one?

[–] [email protected] 41 points 10 months ago (2 children)

It's the difference between sitting down for 20 minutes unscrewing various components to get to the damaged battery you need to replace, vs. popping off the back cover and simply swapping out one dead battery for a charged one anytime you run out of power. The former is replaceable. The latter is swappable.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

This. Like ten years ago, when Samsungs had swappable batteries, they were super proud of it. They would advertise it as a feature that Apple doesn’t have.

When I was at a festival, Samsung had an activation where you could tweet at them with your phone model and location and they would send someone with a full battery to trade you for yours. It was an amazing free service that I used so many times, and every time, the jealousy on the faces of all the iPhone people was palpable. Then one year, they quietly removed the swappability from their new phones.

Swappable batteries are such a huge feature that most people don’t even know that they want.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Thanks! You are right. "Swapping vs. replacing" is not the same usecase.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Nope, that EU legislation only requires batteries be replaceable, not swappable. In other words, you probably won't need a heat gun to replace it, but you'll probably still need a screwdriver.

[–] [email protected] 46 points 10 months ago (2 children)

The fairphone and pinephonenhave that.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 10 months ago

Was about to mentioned it. I have the Fp5 and the only thing that i miss is the headphonejack. Everything else is there:

  • battery which can be just swapped
  • expendable storage
  • easy to repair
  • the parts are also reasonably priced
[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Sure, but the Fairphone 5 is €700 and, ease of repair aside, you can get a better phone for less than half the price. Repairability doesn't mean much when buying a cheaper (and otherwise better) phone and fully replacing it ends up being, well, cheaper.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

I get your point. But it's also about support for the phone and the fair production. I know they are not perfect, but someone needs to start somewhere. I needed a new phone anyway and invested in this one.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

I see this get talked about a lot.

Almost all my inside phone batteries I've had in cheaper knockoff phones have been replaceable. It's not as easy as pulling the back cover off and instantly swapping it, but it's not THAT much harder. It's doesn't exactly require microsoldering. Which is the reason why I know my last three have been replaceable despite being in-house.

Manufacturers really just need to make better and more secure charge ports. Having to resolder my last two blu phones and a Samsung because the charge ports go bad is just annoying.

Never had issues with a battery in all my years of using smartphones though.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

I miss 1998 and my nokia I could use for self defense.