The SteamDeck battery already IS replaceable. Just open the case, unplug the battery, install a new one, and close the case.
Not exactly, the battery is glued so you need a heat gun and something to use as lever, both of which are a bad idea to do to a battery since you can overheat it or puncture it, not to mention bending it because you’re pulling on one side while the other is still glued. If your claim is that the deck battery is replaceable, then every other handheld also has a replaceable battery.
Wait a second … Glued? I just switched the SSD and saw some screws for the battery and assumed it’s just screwed in like with pretty much all modern laptops. Okay, in this case valve should remove the glue without replacement. This should comply with the new regulations I guess.
If your claim is that the deck battery is replaceable, then every other handheld also has a replaceable battery.
I cannot access the site right now to read about the regulations because the company firewall blocks it, but personally I differentiate between “field replaceable” and “replaceable”. A field replaceable battery can be replaced without any tools, just open the lid, take the battery out, and put a new one in, i.e. you can do it “in the field” = outside the workshop. Like for a TV remote. A replaceable battery to me is a battery that can easily be replaced with simple tools (and of course, without voiding the warranty) like I assumed for the SteamDeck.
So yes, the SteamDeck would have a “replaceable battery” to me if they didn’t glue it in. My smartphone doesn’t have a replaceable battery to me.
From the link from OP:
According to the document, a device’s portable battery can be considered “readily removable and replaceable” when it can be removed “with the use of commercially available tools” or specialised tools that are packaged with the product at no extra cost.
So yeah, if the battery was not glued it would be in regulation, but it’s one of the things most teardowns complain, the battery is almost super glued in.
just grab a prybar and go nuts.
It is, but the adhesive used is aggressively strong and annoying to take out safely. And it’s so strong that you bend the battery in the process, harming it forever.
Think about that compared to a GBA: open one screw, one door comes out, battery pack can be manually removed and reused how many times you want. You can even carry an extra pack and double your battery life.
Replaceable battery packs are very different from a raw cell glued to the chassis.
Nice that almost everything on the Steam Deck is replaceable!
I have my Switch for 6 years now and start to notice a decrease in battery life So I think it is great that future handheld will have an even longer lifespan by replacing batteries
