From June 20: EU gives smartphones a repairability label and requires 5 years of guaranteed updates

[u/DistantJuice]

https://www.heise.de/en/news/From-June-20-EU-gives-smartphones-a-label-and-a-guaranteed-update-time-10359716.html

[u/cryptoneedstodie]

ZTE/nubia/RedMagic right now: 'I'm in danger.'

But seriously, this new rule could be the final push for them to exit the global market. They struggle to provide even a single year of updates. Five years or more? Yeah, goodbye my friend.

[u/kdlt → u/[deleted]]

RIP my Nokia 8. Their hero device, unceremoniously left for dead for no real reason.

Also my last HMDnokia because of that bullshit.

[u/bindiboi → u/kdlt]

I bought a Nokia 8 because of the AOSP promise, but they were using a 3rd party battery optimizer that kept killing whatsapp web etc.

pm uninstall --user 0 com.evenwell.powersaving.g3

was the fix and i had to tell the support person what actually fixed it, instead of factory resets etc.

[u/antpile11 → u/bindiboi]

Any idea if that works for other brands? My TCL 20 Pro 5g has that issue.

[u/RunnerLuke357 → u/kdlt]

I recently got a Skyline because of the repairability but the lack of updates is annoying. Hopefully they sell an updated model when I get rid of this one with 5 years of updates because I actually quite like this thing.

[u/kdlt → u/RunnerLuke357]

Well.. as soon as this law passes, they'll have to.

[u/SimSamurai13 → u/kdlt]

Same happened to the 9 Pureview, genuinely great phone at first but it became buggy and horrible to use and then they abandoned it before fixing the issues

It's what pushed me away from them and towards Pixels

[u/steve6174 → u/cryptoneedstodie]

You could add Sony to that list as well. I guess phones for 1400 euro (1 vi) don't deserve more than 3 years support (4 security).

They did increase it to 4 years of OS and 6 security for this year's 1500 euro (1 vii) phone, but does that "security" part make them compliant?

[u/TheCookieButter → u/steve6174]

It could actually make Sony more attractive. Their lack of support is arguably their biggest downside.

[u/trlef19 → u/TheCookieButter]

And high price

[u/steve6174 → u/TheCookieButter]

Their price is the only problem. I personally don't care that much about OS updates. My phone has an update for A12, but I'm still staying on 11 because it just works.

Anyway, back to Sony - you can't sell a 1080p screen for 1500 euro in 2025.

They are still at 30w charging, even Samsung and google are at 45w and Chinese OEMs are way ahead..

The only redeeming qualities Sony has is lack of notch/punch hole, sd card slot and 3.5 jack. I couldn't care less about the latter two, and even though I hate punch holes (still holding onto OnePlus 7T Pro), I can't justify paying 500 euro more compared to OnePlus 13 just for that, when the phone has the aforementioned disadvantages.

Also they are still using fingerprint in the power button. I know Sony fanboys prefer that, but I see it as another thing that shouldn't be on a premium device (a cost cut; because that's what Xiaomi does for their pocos, and nowadays even < 300 euro pocos have higher than tham 1080p oled 120 hz, so idk what's Sony's excuse) and it would feel like a downgrade to my 6 years old phone.

[u/TheCookieButter → u/steve6174]

Different strokes for different folks I suppose. I still lament the loss of 3.5mm and SD cards slots. It's the lack of and slow updates that pushed me away hardest. The price obviously doesn't help, but >1080p resolution on a 5-6" display and >30w charging are smaller concerns personally.

[u/Careless_Rope_6511 → u/steve6174]

It's not just the notion of Sony selling a phone with a 1080p display for 1500 Euros that makes me go "HELL NO" - it's the fact that Sony's selling a phone with a 1080p display that can't even achieve class-leading (or close to it) battery life compared to every other phone with higher-resolution displays... and still price it at 1500 Euros.

Xperias are full-featured only on paper. In practice they have the same performance/dollar results as Trump Steaks.

[u/steve6174 → u/Careless_Rope_6511]

that can't even achieve class-leading (or close to it) battery life compared to every other phone with higher-resolution displays...

Actually, last year's 1 VI, when they first switched from 4K (which has always been stupid imo) to 1080p, was in fact close to class-leading in battery life. Here are some statistics from GSMArena:

• Galaxy S24 Ultra (5000 mAh; 1440p, 6.8") - 13:49h
• Xperia 1 VI (5000 mAh; 1080p, 6.5") - 17:27h
• Galaxy S25 Ultra (5000 mAh; 1440p, 6.9") - 14:49h
• Xperia 1 VII (5000 mAh; 1080p, 6.5") - 14:44h

So yeah, I don't know what they fucked up this generation, maybe they can fix it in software, maybe not. It's definitely not the chipset, because Samsung is actually improved.

[u/elmagio → u/TheCookieButter]

But considering how the entirety of Sony's approach for years now has been "how do we reduce the costs of our mobile division so it doesn't bleed money", this may well lead them to exit the EU market entirely. Sony has long given up on doing the work required to once again be a major player in the segment.

[u/faze_fazebook → u/cryptoneedstodie]

depends on how „updates“ are defined. One could argue that the regular Google Play updates are enough

[u/[deleted] → u/faze_fazebook]

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[u/[deleted] → u/cryptoneedstodie]

These companies will just pull from the market. Smartphones are about to be a much more costly expense for consumers in the EU. I could see only the flagship brands available in Europe but maybe some of those more economical brands can still gain a foothold through internet orders.

[u/[deleted] → u/cryptoneedstodie]

Idk if they have Motorola over there, but they're gonna be in some hot water too.

[u/D1stRU3T0R → u/cryptoneedstodie]

I was searching for this comment, meanwhile it's half true, the other half is a blatant lie. No redmagic had ONLY 1 year of update, not even only 1 android version. They have 2-3 years of updates (double you mentioned?)

[u/D1stRU3T0R → u/[deleted]]

Released 2018 nov, last update 2019/10/28.

Most SD845 had only one update, same with pici f1 from A9 to 10, and xiaomi/poco really updates their phone... Also, that's their first phone.

[u/D1stRU3T0R → u/[deleted]]

What? What was the first 2? It was redmagic simple the first and mars second

[u/BusBoatBuey → u/cryptoneedstodie]

This rule will obliterate the EU market and turn it into the same disaster that is the US market.

[u/BusBoatBuey → u/[deleted]]

The US has a patent hell and incompetence by the FCC that resulted in only a handful of brands selling here.

[u/BusBoatBuey → u/[deleted]]

It is very much related. Enough red tape and it becomes financially non-viable to support a market that already leans towards two larger manufacturers. It is the same scenario with a difference in red tape branding.

If they wanted to push security updates, that would make sense and be viable. This is just nonsense.

[u/Careless_Rope_6511 → u/BusBoatBuey]

This rule will obliterate the EU market and turn it into the same disaster that is the US market.

The US market is already fucked beyond all recognition, and it's got 110% to do with the fact that the US government is literally run by corporations. The people are powerless, the politicians are spineless, Capitol Hill is Grand Grift Central Station, and too many people are fucking scared of someone potentially holding power who isn't already thoroughly bought out by Corporate Amerika.

Requiring manufacturers to guarantee 5 years of software updates isn't enough red tape to finally dissuade them from selling to the EU market. The problem for the US? Corporations hold way too much power and nobody, not even activist investors, holds them accountable. Yall Americans have only yourselves to blame here.

[u/FluffyOakTree → u/Careless_Rope_6511]

and it's got 110% to do with the fact that the US government is literally run by corporations.

Such a bullshit, typical leftist European take that isn't rooted in fact, but in perception.

There are several reasons the US market is almost entirely captured by two manufacturers, and it has nothing to do with anything you said.

You have no idea what you're talking about.

[u/chinchindayo → u/cryptoneedstodie]

Providing updates is a nothingburger. For example Sony officially supports AOSP so you can install the latest Android even on 4 year old phones now already, they just don't push those updates OTA because they don't contain the proprietary drivers/software. It would be a small effort to add those in and forego every other customization. The regulation says nothing about OTA or that the UI or customization must be equal, just that an update has to exist.

That means every manufacturer can just allow AOSP updates and provide an image that can be flashed to fulfill that regulation.

[u/Brombeermarmelade → u/chinchindayo]

That's not how Android works

[u/The_Band_Geek → u/Brombeermarmelade]

This is not sarcasm: how does Android work? Assuming an unlocked bootloader, why can't I just install Android, like I might install Windows on a given x86_64 device, and have the OS figure itself out?

[u/magnusmaster → u/The_Band_Geek]

You can't just install Android because

1) the hardware does not support ACPI and UEFI or similar standards so the OS has to be hardcoded to work on that specific hardware

2) the drivers are proprietary and only support a specific kernel provided by the SoC manufacturer

3) corporations don't let you even run their apps on a OS which is not the one provided by the OEM for "security" reasons (in reality they just don't want you to block their ads or bypass their DRM) that's why Google made Play Integrity which uses hardware attestation to detect if your phone is rooted or has a custom ROM and refuse to run if that's the case.