One of more interesting moves in consumer tech recently is the EU’s demand for user-replaceable batteries, but a few new categories have now been granted an exemption, including smartwatches like the Apple Watch.
“Six new product categories” have been added to the list of consumer electronics exempt from EU directives designed to improve repairability and longevity of consumer gadgets. These will have a major impact on what can be sold in EU countries from 2027.
The EU website doesn’t list these six categories as plain bullet points, but there are few that are of specific concern to the average shopper. “Wearable devices such as smartwatches and fitness trackers,” are going the list, alongside electric toothbrushes.
These will instead only need to be designed to allow for battery replacement by a professional, not the end user.
All of these categories share one key thing: water resistance is important to these devices, and a failure of that waterproofing could pose a safety risk.
It’s perhaps the strongest argument for not requiring replaceable batteries in these gadgets. To be within a hope of retaining water resistance after a battery replacement, a fitness tracker would also likely require a substantial rethink of current designs that would also make them significantly thicker.
Even with a conventional watch, it’s best to assume water resistance has been compromised once the battery has been replaced or the casing opened. Specialist pressure testing is really required to ensure waterproofing is still functional after such a service.
The EU Versus Nintendo Switch
While demanding better consumer-friendly designs is admirable, the butting-heads of these EU legislations with commercial realities has already had major effects. Nintendo has said it will stop selling the original Nintendo Switch in Europe in 2027. Sales from Nintendo direct will stop in Febriary 2027, and retailers will stop receiving stock at that point too.
The original Switch’s design is not compliant with these consumer regulations — replacing the battery is notably pretty difficult — while the Nintendo Switch 2 will be reworked into a battery-repleacable model. It’s not yet clear if this change will affect the thickness of the console, or its battery life. The current word on the matter, though, is there is “no difference in functionality” between the original Switch 2 and the revised version.
What might come as a surprise, though, is the iPhone 17 family already actually satisfies EU rules. As Appleinsider explains, Apple’s battery quality standards make it exempt from mandatory easy-replace batteries. And Apple offers kits for user battery replacements — and super specialist tools are not required.
If you were hoping the EU to force Apple to make an iPhone or Apple Watch with a battery as easy to remove as an old Nokia’s, keep on dreaming.
