Handheld consoles required to have replaceable batteries by 2027 - Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck
Handheld consoles required to have replaceable batteries by 2027 - Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck
Portable gaming consoles will be required to have replaceable batteries by 2027 to comply with a new European Union law…
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Doesn't the steam deck already support this? It has a user accessible battery and replacements for sale
And it's fucking superglued in. You have to use a heat gun to even have a chance of removing it, and Valve have acknowledged they may change it in the future as right now it is admittedly ridiculous.
So yes but technically no. It is not immediately user serviceable.
To replace the battery in the Steam Deck, you need to heat up the adhesive to allow the battery to be removed, which I believe would violate this directive. That said, it doesn't seem like it would be too difficult for Valve to make it a bit easier in the next Steam Deck and comply.
Not really, changing out the battery takes 2 hours because you need to take out everything else first and it's anything but foolproof.
For the record, you don't have to take "everything else" out first. It's actually quite accessible once removing the Steam Deck back plate, which is easily done with a Phillips head screwdriver. The bulk of the 2-4 hour estimate on iFixit is dealing with the battery adhesive. (source: I've opened my Steam Deck to swap the SSD, and I just opened it to attempt a band-aid fix to the right bumper after dropping the Deck directly on it while waiting for the part to restock)
It's real great on Valve for helping furnish the parts and make it less difficult, the language passed reads as “with no tool, a tool or set of tools that is supplied with the product or spare part, or basic tools.”
Under that, Valve might already be fully compliant given that official parts are sold readily and the Deck can be opened up with basic tools. What's most wonderful about this is how it'll apply to phones.