On 31 August 2023, the European Commission officially published in the Official Journal the ecodesign regulation (EU) 2023/1670 and the energy labelling regulation (EU) 2023/1669 for mobile phones and tablets. These regulations were drawn up under Ecodesign Directive 2009/125/EC and Energy Labelling Regulation (EU) 2017/1369; they enter into force 20 days after publication in the Official Journal and become mandatory on 20 June 2025.

Ecodesign Regulation (EU) 2023/1670

To improve the energy efficiency and durability of mobile phones and tablets, and through ecodesign principles such as an open right to repair, greater product transparency and recycling and reuse, the regulation sets strict requirements on repairability, reliability and recycling and reuse.

Under the ecodesign regulation, manufacturers, importers or authorised representatives must supply professional repairers with key spare parts (such as batteries, back covers, screens, front and rear cameras and speakers) within 5-10 working days, so that products can continue to be repaired and recycled, for seven years after the product is placed on the market up to its withdrawal from the market.

If a battery or back cover assembly cannot be supplied to users, the manufacturer must ensure the product design meets the following requirements:

· cycle life of at least 500 cycles, with at least 83% remaining capacity after 500 cycles;

· battery cycle life of at least 1,000 cycles, with at least 80% remaining capacity after 1,000 cycles;

· the product has an IP67 dust and water resistance design.

The regulation requires manufacturers, importers or authorised representatives to publish the product repair manual on their free-access website, providing professional technicians or users with information on repair and maintenance, including product identification, exploded views, fault diagnosis information, necessary circuit connection diagrams, reference designators and the tools required for disassembly.

To improve the durability of mobile phones and tablets, the regulation requires products to meet certain reliability requirements:

· drop-resistant design;

· screen design with Mohs hardness level 4;

· IP44 dust and water resistance rating design;

· battery cycle life of at least 500 cycles;

· improved battery management functions to optimise charging efficiency;

· availability of operating system upgrades for at least five years after the product is placed on the market;

· non-discriminatory access for professional repairers to any software or firmware needed for replacement.

Energy labelling Regulation (EU) 2023/1669

Under this regulation, all smartphones and tablets must be accompanied by an energy efficiency class label and be registered in the EU public product database EPREL before they can be placed on the market. The label contains the product's repairability rating, durability rating, IP rating, battery endurance and battery life.

(i) QR code;

(ii) trademark;

(iii) product model identifier;

(iv) energy efficiency class A to G;

(v) declared energy efficiency class of the product;

(vi) battery endurance of the product;

(vii) drop resistance rating;

(viii) repairability rating;

(ix) battery life;

(x) IP rating;

(xi) energy labelling regulation code "2023/1669".