The EU might require OEMs to provide 7 years of updates and spare parts for its phones

07 September 2021
The bill is proposed as a way to reduce e-waste.

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It's a good thing for phones to get longer software support but developers also need to keep supporting their apps to work too. The only reason I stopped using my Moto X 2014 in 2020 was because my banking app stopped being supported on android 6 marshmallow and it's one of the apps I need on a regular basis. I'd had the battery replaced and though it was feeling a little slow it worked perfectly fine. It would be nice to know that when you buy a new phone it will continue to be supported for 7 years if you are someone who doesn't rush out to buy the latest handset every 6 to 12 months as phones have matured now to where features are more an incremental improvement rather than groundbreaking innovations these days. I would like to see the next 'big' leap forward to be genuine multiple days of battery life on a single charge but suspect manufacturers are maybe reluctant to release a phone with genuine next level battery life as this will really cause people to hold onto their older phones for longer and affect new handset sales and ultimately profit for manufacturers

    For some people like me it's kinda pointless because I would upgrade my phone 2-3 years later regardless of if it's still going to receive updates or not. Not to mention that some people don't care or even know if their phones are still receiving updates which is why I sometimes see people are using older android phones and are still fine with it. On the other hand I can really see this being a game changer for some people.

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      • Anonymous
      • rJX
      • 07 Sep 2021

      Anonymous, 07 Sep 2021People are not interested in using phones beyond 2-3 years.... moreNo. Even in current situation people are using phones for 2-3 years. So think how it works be when the hardware and software support is extended.
      Battery life is exactly why we need spare parts availability. Swap in a fresh battery and it should give you 2 more years of service.
      Camera is not improving as it used to be and we are at computational photography where software updates are the ones improving camera performance.
      General design is also stagnant. If you have a phone that is edge to edge screen, there is no more improvement on that. If you have a flagship now, you won't gain much by buying another flagship in 2 years, and it will take 4-5 years for the midrange to catchup to the flagship specs.
      Additionally phones are removing features. Headphones jack, SD card, FM radio, IR blaster, removable battery, glass back cover etc.
      Personally for me, I can't use the large phones currently in the market and I can't afford the compact flagship every 2 years. So I would like to keep the current phone for 5 years. And the only thing degraded is my battery life.

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        • Anonymous
        • u7V
        • 07 Sep 2021

        Essen, 07 Sep 2021This my personal opinion. But I think it's a good move... moreAgree , you can buy expensive phone like mi 11 ultra yet after 1 year you have no sparepart and the only route is to upgrade very funny

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          • Anonymous
          • u7V
          • 07 Sep 2021

          Most phone company nowadays dont stock up spare parts mostly china company like bbk , xiaomi etc . While the only china company do well with this is huawei it still serve sparepart for old mobile phone, the reason for this is they upgrading new model for every 6 months so after 1 year is hard to find spare part

            • k
            • kek
            • GBh
            • 07 Sep 2021

            Anonymous, 07 Sep 2021People are not interested in using phones beyond 2-3 years.... moreFive year old phones are like that if you buy cheap trash like Xiaomi/Huawei liked to push.

            Go pick up any Lumia device from 2013-2014, any iPhone from that time and see if they are that bad like you say.

            Also, batteries shouldnbe changed after 3 years. Thats why the spare parts thing is part of this proposal

              • k
              • kek
              • GBh
              • 07 Sep 2021

              7 years sounds honestly.like the sweet point.
              7 year old phones include the Galaxy S5, LG G5, which are still solid devices for normal stuff

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                • Anonymous
                • fm}
                • 07 Sep 2021

                Why are they capping it to only 7 years? They just have to make sure that the OEMS don't make the distributes only sell to them and not the repair shops or the retail shops, regarding the updates, the most important ones are the security updates, maybe 4 years of os updates, there are custom roms for that, and 5 or maybe 10 for security updates

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                  • Roxy K22
                  • 7jW
                  • 07 Sep 2021

                  That's great news because smartphone are one of the costliest items we purchase very often and loses it's value very fast. Secondly it sold in large quantities so smartphones are very easy to support with spare parts and software upgrades for long times. But companies are doing opposite of that and stops supporting them in very short time. They send firmware updates for few years but it is very difficult to repair them after a year or so. I have pills of smartphones that couldn't be repaired. If companies use same sort of parts, like same dimension of batteries for 7 or more years in most of their smartphones than it will be great and same for other parts. I think now is the time to produce smartphones with upgradable cpus and RAMs.
                  I don't think there will ever be any other mass consumed commodity item in human lifetime as Smartphones are.
                  Now is the time for companies to understand the value of our hard earned money.

                    AlexP, 07 Sep 2021I like this idea. Phones will be cheaperWhere will they be cheaper?

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                      • Essen
                      • 2F6
                      • 07 Sep 2021

                      This my personal opinion. But I think it's a good move. There are some arguments against higher costs and stiffling of innovation. Honestly, it's not as if phones are cheap. And while I have no qualms buying a $1200 laptop, I wouldn't spend more than $120 on a phone because hardware and software wise, it's simply not worth it. Perhaps, they could set a $/€ 200 300 limit. Phones under this price shouldn't have to meet this. And anything above this should comply with at least 5 years of software and spares support.

                      As for so called innovations in smartphones, I am tired of them. Sealed batteries, no storage expansion, notches, punch holes, gigantic screens, 2 mp quad cams. So if the 'innovations' dry up because of this clause, it may actually be a good thing.

                      What phones need are better batteries. Apart from that, every innovation has been more of a nuisance.

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                        • Anonymous
                        • 56h
                        • 07 Sep 2021

                        Long term software updates are fine as long as it does not slow down the older products.

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                          • Anonymous
                          • uRB
                          • 07 Sep 2021

                          Good and great idea. Must apply as early as possible.
                          Thanks.

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                            • Anonymous
                            • Hkq
                            • 07 Sep 2021

                            Currently companies decrease performance after 2-3 years, let alone 7 years

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                              • Anonymous
                              • TL%
                              • 07 Sep 2021

                              This looks good for the consumer but in reality it'll push phone prices upwards needlessly because hardly anyone keeps their phone for 7 years with most upgrading to a new phone after 2 years. So I'm not sure what the point of the 7 years of updates and spare parts is.

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                                • Anonymous
                                • xI7
                                • 07 Sep 2021

                                Anonymous, 07 Sep 2021People are not interested in using phones beyond 2-3 years.... moreCameras are improving very very slow. And battery just needs replacement every 3 years and phone is like new.

                                  7 years are too long. 5 years should be suitable, with 3 years of OS updates plus 2 more years of security ones

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                                    • Anonymous
                                    • Dpc
                                    • 07 Sep 2021

                                    Fulljack, 07 Sep 2021cost/time used. 1500$ phone used for 5 years are cheaper... morePeople are not interested in using phones beyond 2-3 years.
                                    5 year old phone screams poor battery life, outdated camera hardware, general design, etc

                                      Anonymous, 07 Sep 2021How would phone be cheaper? I'm thinking if anything, ... morecost/time used.

                                      1500$ phone used for 5 years are cheaper than 1000$ phone used for 3 years.

                                        AnonD-546724, 07 Sep 2021That's sweet of them but no one wants to keep a phone ... moreyou're thinking phones with hard, low user-repairable parts. this law should force OEMs and ODMs to redesign their phone, to how easily support phones over 7 years.