New EU rules mean you'll be able to swap a battery without special tools and with easily available instructions
The European Union this week enacted new regulations requiring all future consumer tech products, including handheld gaming devices like successors to the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck, to feature user-replaceable batteries by 2027.
What started as a part of the smartphone right to repair movement has expanded, and the objective of these new regulations is to lessen the environmental impact of discarded batteries and promote a circular economy that encourages the recycling and reuse of old batteries.
According to documentation for this new law "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"
The legislation also covers common charging cables plugs as well, with all portable devices requiring a common USB C charging port, and while this is a European law, it's likely to be adopted globally.
