Among the many changes, the new rules would require batteries in consumer devices like smartphones to be easily removable and replaceable. That's far from the case today...
I mean, I like replaceable batteries and I try to repair everything I can that I own so that it lasts longer (I even replaced the battery in my wireless earbuds' case, doubling its lifetime so far), but swappable batteries have major downsides. Waterproofing is one, but a major thing is space. Sealed batteries don't need protection, but replaceable batteries do, and that increases their size by a lot. The last phones I've had probably couldn't even fit a replaceable battery inside of them how slim they are. So you either have to make phones much larger, or you have to reduce battery capacity. You also probably couldn't have metal backs and would have to return to plastic ones.
Some of these problems could be fixed but it'd make phones cost even more.
I don't know the answer to this, we should make phones more easily repairable, but I don't feel like this is the right way. Maybe mandating that phones can be repaired more easily by repair technicians and make the batteries more easily available. But I don't know how you could enforce that.
Maybe I'm wrong, maybe it's gonna be easier to achieve than I believe, but I don't see how it's going to be possible without major downsides.
Heck yeah! I'm planning on getting a framework laptop when I next need an upgrade and if I get any input on the decision I'll be pushing for the corporate company I work at to adopt them. I'm admittedly not sure I'm ready to jump on the fairphone train yet but I'm open to the idea.
A year ago I would have been absolutely for this. I mean I still had a smartphone with swappable battery (LG G4) 2015-2019 and only changed away from it because of the bootloop issues this phone had.
Though last year i switched to the Zenphone 9 and this phone has a phenomenal battery time in my eyes.
I only slow charge it to 80% every 2 days and I could use the phone for more than 48h if i wanted. Fully charged i can use it for 3 days. I don't think i will see battery issues for a long time.
I could see that some future phone designs and technologies (like bendable phones) would have it difficult to include swappable batteries. I wonder if those could still use fixed batteries if they offer a free replacement each year or sth like that, instead.
The USB-C changes are good for sure though
Oh no you are one of them people. Slow charging isn’t going to preserve your battery health by any substantial amount.
Fast charging isn’t going to kill your battery by any substantial amount.
Just use your phone and stop being worried about useless crap like that.
Man, I really wanted to get the Zenphone 9 as an upgrade from my Pixel 4a - love the design, love that it's on the smaller side, love that it has a headphone jack. I still might dive in, but I really wish they would support longer term OS updates :( or at least security updates. Not sure what I'll be doing when my Pixel reaches end of service this year. Maybe the Zenphone 10 will be the phone for me?