New EU rules mandate five years of OS updates for smartphones and tablets

Starting 20 June 2025, new rules and regulations in the European Union covering, among other thins, smartphones and tablets, will have some far-reaching consequences for device makers – consequences that, coincidentally, will work out pretty great for consumers within the European Union. The following “ecodesign requirements” will come into force on 20 June:

resistance to accidental drops or scratches and protection from dust and water

sufficiently durable batteries which can withstand at least 800 charge and discharge cycles while retaining at least 80% of their initial capacity

rules on disassembly and repair, including obligations for producers to make critical spare parts available within 5-10 working days, and for 7 years after the end of sales of the product model on the EU market

availability of operating system upgrades for longer periods (at least 5 years from the date of the end of placement on the market of the last unit of a product model)

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

↫ European Commission

Especially the requirements around repairability and the long-term availability of operating system updates will affect us consumers quite positively. While Android OEMs have improved their update policies somewhat, they’re still lagging behind Apple considerably, especially if you opt for lower-end devices or devices from smaller manufacturers. These new requirements will make getting Android updates a consumer right, not an optional service if the OEM happens to feel like it. Which they usually don’t.

I’m sure countless OEMs will try to weasel their way through supposed cracks and gaps in the exact wording of the rules, but the EU has shown not to take too kindly to corporations, big and small, trying to comply maliciously.