EU Battery Regulation (2023/1542)

[Ricky D'Angelo]

This is great news to have many electronic devices, including ereaders, to have easily replaced batteries at least in the EU for now starting next year. It's a shame how many perfectly good ereaders, and other electronic devices, have ended up in landfills because the batteries were difficult, if not impossible to replace. Corporations might not like it because instead of buying new devices a battery may be swapped out but for consumers it'll be a win.

[theducks]

The EU is also responsible for the ending of proprietary phone chargers

[DiapDealer]

I'll withhold any back-patting until such time as I see what kind of bar will be set for "easily replaced". I'm also a bit leery of what kind structural changes might be involved in making something truly "easy" for all users. A thicker, clunkier device is not something I'd personally be willing to trade for ease of battery replacement.

[Frogm4n]

Originally Posted by Ricky D'Angelo

to have easily replaced batteries.

That is not what the regulation actually says:

A portable battery should be considered to be removable by the end-user when it can be removed with the use of commercially available tools and without requiring the use of specialised tools, unless they are provided free of charge, or proprietary tools, thermal energy or solvents to disassemble it. Commercially available tools are considered to be tools available on the market to all end-users without the need for them to provide evidence of any proprietary rights and that can be used with no restriction, except health and safety-related restrictions.

par38

They can still make you go through a thousand custom screws and tape and glue, they just can't prevent you from getting the screw driver or needing heat or a solvent.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by Frogm4n

That is not what the regulation actually says:

par38

They can still make you go through a thousand custom screws and tape and glue, they just can't prevent you from getting the screw driver or needing heat or a solvent.

They can't do the tape or glue. That would need the heat gun or some specialized tool.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Ricky D'Angelo

This is great news to have many electronic devices, including ereaders, to have easily replaced batteries at least in the EU for now starting next year. It's a shame how many perfectly good ereaders, and other electronic devices, have ended up in landfills because the batteries were difficult, if not impossible to replace. Corporations might not like it because instead of buying new devices a battery may be swapped out but for consumers it'll be a win.

I find myself wishing that people would take the trouble to read the document before posting. Many current ereaders already qualify under the regulations. Most of Kobo ereaders manufactured after the Kobo Aura H20 (released in later 2014) do not need proprietary tools or thermal energy to open the case and replace the battery.

And this topic has been mentioned multiple times. See Should we expect Kindle devices 2027 with user-removable battery? from last year for example.

Originally Posted by JSWolf

They can't do the tape or glue. That would need the heat gun or some specialized tool.

As for not requiring tape or glue, that depends on the glue and the tape. You can have either or both that do not require a thermal tool to remove.

[haertig]

Personally, I am more concerned about the not-easy-to-repair status of more expensive and sophisticated devices than eReaders.

Many laptop computers these days: CPU - soldered in, Memory - soldered in, SSD - soldered in. Tablets: Expandable storage via microSD card - a thing of the past, Audio jack - nope, bluetooth only now.

The not-user-replaceable battery in an eReader is only a secondary concern - because the entire eReader itself will probably go into "unsupported" status before its battery gives out.

I still like and prefer eReaders for reading books. But I see their days as numbered. They are harder for force updates to, to more tightly lock them into walled gardens for manufacturer control and profit. Due to less powerful and harder to remotely configure hardware resources. Amazon is making big moves in this area as of late - to knock down the number of these devices that are still functional. My personal guess is that their next big move will be to make the devices functionally unusable across the board.

An EU battery serviceability mandate is useless floundering IMHO. They'll probably just stop selling devices in the European market as a result. Which was their eventual plan anyway, this just allows them to get there faster using the new mandate as cover.

[rantanplan]

Originally Posted by haertig

PThe not-user-replaceable battery in an eReader is only a secondary concern - because the entire eReader itself will probably go into "unsupported" status before its battery gives out.

It depends on the device, I think. My Kobo Aura H2O still has acceptable battery life after all these years because it hat good battery life to begin with. With my Sage the battery life was never great to begin with and now it's just abysmal.

Both devices still receive firmware updates.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by haertig

Personally, I am more concerned about the not-easy-to-repair status of more expensive and sophisticated devices than eReaders.

Many laptop computers these days: CPU - soldered in, Memory - soldered in, SSD - soldered in. Tablets: Expandable storage via microSD card - a thing of the past, Audio jack - nope, bluetooth only now.

The not-user-replaceable battery in an eReader is only a secondary concern - because the entire eReader itself will probably go into "unsupported" status before its battery gives out.

I still like and prefer eReaders for reading books. But I see their days as numbered. They are harder for force updates to, to more tightly lock them into walled gardens for manufacturer control and profit. Due to less powerful and harder to remotely configure hardware resources. Amazon is making big moves in this area as of late - to knock down the number of these devices that are still functional. My personal guess is that their next big move will be to make the devices functionally unusable across the board.

An EU battery serviceability mandate is useless floundering IMHO. They'll probably just stop selling devices in the European market as a result. Which was their eventual plan anyway, this just allows them to get there faster using the new mandate as cover.

Actually, most tablets and phones have an audio jack. It's just changed from 3.5mm to USBC.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Actually, most tablets and phones have an audio jack. It's just changed from 3.5mm to USBC.

Nit
That is not an Audio Jack.
That is a possible Audio Output. You need a decoder / adapter to use with external devices.

Speaking of I/O. I can send (file transfer) a book to my phone via Blue Tooth. AFAIK I can't do that on my Kobo.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by theducks

Speaking of I/O. I can send (file transfer) a book to my phone via Blue Tooth. AFAIK I can't do that on my Kobo.

To dig into the past, on the original Kobo (the one with the D-pad and no WiFi), you could use a Bluetooth connection to a Blackberry.

[Freeshadow]

easy replaceable battery - yes I'm looking forward to it too. In fact I'm not going to replace my phone before this becomes standard again. (and hopefully the AI hype implodes) OTOH remember BeBook mini (astak for the US) the battery WAS easy to replace - alas unobtainable.

[haertig]

Originally Posted by theducks

Nit
That is not an Audio Jack.
That is a possible Audio Output. You need a decoder / adapter to use with external devices.

Yes. I have a 3.5mm audio jack on my tablet, but my phone does not have one. Most tablets have abandoned the audio jack, but I searched specifically for one that still had it. Phones are a different story - not many new models at all, if any, have the audio jack. You generally have to move back to phones that were designed several years ago. Those are still available to purchase at cheap prices. But they often lack the features and power needed to run newer apps.

I have to use an adapter for wired headphones on my phone. But those adapters are dirt cheap, and mine works extremely well. The only thing you really lose with no standard audio jack, is the ability to listen (via the adapter) and charge at the same time. However, they do make adapters that are a "Y" so you can charge and listen simultaneously should that be a requirement for you. All in all, it wasn't as bad as I expected to be forced to use an adapter. It's not really a big deal. FWIW, I do not like Bluetooth headphones because even though they've been around for a long time now, I still don't think they're ready for prime time. They tend to drop connections. Sound quality has gotten better, but it is still not as good as wired headphones. And wired headphones are cheaper because you don't have to spend money on Bluetooth innards. You don't have to charge wired headphones either. The cord on wired headphones bothers some people, and I think those folks should use Bluetooth. For me though, the cord is a non-issue. I prefer the better sound quality the wire gives you.

An adapter that works well for me:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XYQ2ZKH

These "adapters" are actually DAC's ("Digital to Analog Convertors"). There are electronics inside them. Those electronics are powered by the USB-C port.

[DNSB]

Originally Posted by Freeshadow

easy replaceable battery - yes I'm looking forward to it too. In fact I'm not going to replace my phone before this becomes standard again. (and hopefully the AI hype implodes) OTOH remember BeBook mini (astak for the US) the battery WAS easy to replace - alas unobtainable.

What do you mean by easily replaceable? Are you thinking they will bring back battery doors and batteries that pop in/out? If so, you are not going to be a happy camper.

To quote the regulation:

A portable battery shall be considered readily removable by the end- user where it can be removed from a product with the use of commercially available tools, without requiring the use of specialised tools, unless provided free of charge with the product, proprietary tools, thermal energy, or solvents to disassemble the product.

By that standard, my current Kobo ereaders that I am using all qualify. A spudger or guitar pick to open the case, a soldering iron for those where the battery is soldered to the motherboard or simply unplugging the battery for those which use a plug/socket. You may need to use some dental floss to release the glue under the battery. None of those tools are specialized or proprietary and no thermal energy or solvents are needed.

[Freeshadow]

Originally Posted by DNSB

What do you mean by easily replaceable? Are you thinking they will bring back battery doors and batteries that pop in/out? If so, you are not going to be a happy camper.

hoped for something like that, yes. 'll see