EU exempts smartwatches and fitness trackers from user-replaceable battery rule

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Credit: Kaitlyn Cimino / Android Authority

TL;DR

Smartwatches, fitness trackers, smart glasses, and several other compact devices are now exempt from the EU’s user-replaceable battery requirement.

Exempt devices must still offer battery replacements through independent professionals in many cases, even if users can’t do it themselves.

Phones sold in the EU must still have replaceable batteries by 2027 using common tools or manufacturer-provided tools.

The sweeping Batteries Regulation passed in 2023 in the EU requires most electronics to have user-replaceable batteries by 2027 . The aim was to reduce electronic waste and prolong the life of devices. We’ve already seen ripples from this legislation with Nintendo actually planning a user-swappable battery for the upcoming Switch 2 . The European Commission is starting to backtrack on some of the rules for some product categories.

The European Commission announced that it has adopted a delegated act that broadens the list of exemptions under the EU Batteries Regulation. Six new categories of products will be exempt from the consumer-removable battery requirement. This includes wearables like smartwatches and fitness trackers, smart glasses, and electronics embedded into clothing or accessories. Other items on the list were rechargeable electric toys, portable food-thermometer probes, certain on-body medical delivery systems, roof-mounted telematics devices for agricultural and construction equipment, and products for explosive environments.