Replaceable phone batteries from 2027: what the EU really requires

The EU Battery Regulation has the number (EU) 2023/1542. How easily a battery must be removable from a device is set out there in Article 11.

According to it, manufacturers must make sure that end users can easily remove and replace the battery throughout the entire lifetime of the device. This means the whole battery, not individual cells inside it. Removal counts as easy if commercially available tools are enough and neither heat nor solvents are needed. Special tools are only allowed if they come with the device at no extra cost.

This obligation will apply from 18 February 2027. The date is set by Article 96 of the regulation.

Article 11 makes exceptions for some devices. For the first two in the list, the manufacturer may leave the replacement to independent professionals; for the last one, the obligation of easy replacement doesn't apply at all.

Smartphones don't appear in any of these exceptions. Still, for phones the real answer is found elsewhere, namely in a sentence of Article 11 itself. It states that specific EU rules for electrical devices concerning battery replacement by users remain unaffected by this obligation.

Such rules already exist for smartphones. They are in the Ecodesign Regulation (EU) 2023/1670, which has applied since June 2025. Its Annex II sets out how the battery of a smartphone must be replaceable. According to the Commission's reading, as written down in its guidelines on the Battery Regulation, these ecodesign rules take precedence for smartphones.

The Commission can also extend the list of exceptions itself. This power is also set out in Article 11.

The Ecodesign Regulation gives smartphone manufacturers two options. With the first, a layperson must be able to replace the battery themselves, without tools or with simple or supplied tools, and in the place where they use the device.

With the second option, the replacement may be left to people with basic repair skills who work with commercially available tools. In return, the battery and the device have to meet stricter durability requirements.

For smartphones, the more important deadline was therefore already 20 June 2025. Since then, newly launched models have had to meet one of the two options. A smartphone that takes the second option may therefore still have its battery built in so that a repair business replaces it.

Article 11 is aimed at manufacturers and sellers who place devices on the market. The date in February therefore changes nothing about the phone you have in your pocket today.

Still, the Ecodesign Regulation brings something practical for buyers. New smartphones must show information about the battery in the settings or in another accessible place. This includes the battery's manufacturing date and the date it was first used. The device must also record the number of full charge cycles and the measured condition of the battery. When you buy a used device, this is a real help.

The supply of replacement batteries is also regulated. Under the Ecodesign Regulation, manufacturers must keep smartphone batteries available for repair businesses for at least seven years after a model is no longer sold. Whether end users can also get them directly from the manufacturer depends on which of the two options the device takes. What else the regulation says about spare parts and updates is covered in the article on the right to repair.

Neither regulation requires a removable battery cover like older phones had. Water protection doesn't have to disappear either. On the contrary, if a manufacturer takes the second option of the ecodesign rules, it must build the device dust-tight and protected against immersion.

Software remains an issue. The Commission's guidelines explicitly name pairing spare parts to a single device as an example of how software can hinder a replacement. According to them, a notice about a non-original battery is allowed as long as the device keeps working normally. What this pairing means in everyday life is explained in the article on parts pairing.

For you, little changes about a battery replacement with us, because we already replace batteries. We work with original parts. On request, we also fit tested aftermarket parts.

This article reflects what is written in the regulations and in the Commission's guidelines. It is not legal advice.