Why Battery Swapping Died - and Why it Needs to Come Back
The Rise of Sealed Batteries
The shift to sealed, non-removable batteries started in the early 2010s. Manufacturers said it was for better design and durability — thinner phones, water resistance, and fewer moving parts.
In reality, it also meant:
Cheaper manufacturing (less modular design).
More control over repairs (customers rely on brand service centres).
Faster product turnover (once the battery weakens, people upgrade).
It worked. Device sales exploded, and consumers learned to accept that a two-year battery life was “normal.”
The Real Cost
Sealed batteries don’t just make repairs harder — they make them riskier.
Replacing one often involves prying apart screens, melting adhesive, and disconnecting tiny flex cables. For the average person, it’s intimidating enough to just buy a new phone instead.
That throwaway mentality fuels the UK’s growing e-waste crisis. Each year we discard over 1.5 million tonnes of electronics — many still perfectly functional aside from a weak battery.
Those batteries also contain lithium, cobalt, and nickel, mined under questionable conditions and difficult to recycle safely.
The environmental impact is huge, but it’s hidden behind glossy marketing and “green” trade-in schemes that rarely tell the full story.
Why Battery Swapping Was Better
Swappable batteries gave users real control over their devices.
If your phone died halfway through the day, you just popped in a spare. If the battery wore out, you replaced it yourself for a few pounds.
There was no need to send it off for repair or buy a new model every two years.
Even now, you can still see how effective the idea was — power tool companies, cameras, and even some electric vehicles use modular battery packs to extend lifespan and simplify maintenance.
So why can’t consumer electronics do the same?
The Industry Argument
Manufacturers argue that sealed batteries:
Allow slimmer, waterproof designs.
Improve safety by reducing tampering.
Enable better energy density and longer single-charge life.
Those points aren’t entirely wrong. But what’s missing is user choice.
It’s not that sealed batteries can’t be safe or efficient — it’s that users aren’t given the option of easy replacement when the battery inevitably degrades.
Even “eco-friendly” devices with recycled materials or carbon-neutral branding often fail the basic test of repairability.
The Right to Repair Connection
The UK’s Right to Repair regulations, introduced in 2021, were meant to address this issue — but they barely scratched the surface.
The rules currently focus on household appliances (washing machines, fridges, etc.), not smartphones or laptops.
Campaigners want that expanded to include all consumer electronics, forcing manufacturers to:
Make batteries replaceable without specialist tools.
Provide spare parts and documentation to independent repairers.
Stop designing products that are disposable by nature.
It’s a slow fight, but public awareness is growing fast — and so is pressure from the EU, which is already moving toward mandatory replaceable batteries in portable electronics by 2027.
The Push for Change
Some brands are starting to pay attention. Fairphone, Framework, and a few niche companies are proving modular design is still possible. Their products can be opened with a screwdriver, parts replaced in minutes, and batteries swapped without heat or glue.
They’re not just selling phones or laptops — they’re selling the idea that ownership means control.
Big manufacturers could easily follow suit. Instead, they continue chasing ultra-thin form factors and annual upgrade cycles, while marketing “sustainability” as a product feature.
Why It Needs to Come Back
Battery swapping isn’t nostalgia — it’s common-sense design.
If every smartphone could have its battery replaced in under 10 minutes, e-waste would plummet, device life would double, and repair shops could thrive instead of struggling against glued screens and proprietary screws.
Until consumers demand that freedom again, the cycle of upgrade, discard, repeat will continue.