---
title: Your Phone's Lifespan Is Now Written Into European Law
description: The EU requires five years of phone updates, Back Market wants ten and campaigners fifteen. Where the device-longevity line should sit.
author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-09-23T21:12:46.310Z
updated: 2026-09-23T21:12:46.328Z
canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/phone-lifespan-eu-law-ten-year-device-standard
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-technician-works-on-smartphone-repair-under-a-microscope-ind-6754839.jpg
categories: Green Tech
content_type: Analysis
region: Global
publication: Sovereign Magazine
schema_type: Article
---

Most people replace a smartphone every two to two and a half years, usually while it still switches on and makes calls. What has changed is who gets to decide how long that phone must keep working after you buy it. Since the middle of 2025 that decision is partly set in European law, and a public argument has opened over where the line should sit.

About [80% of a smartphone's lifetime carbon footprint comes from manufacturing](https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/your-phone-really-smart), before the phone is ever switched on. A device thrown out after two years carries almost its whole environmental cost into a drawer or a bin.

## The European Commission Now Sets a Minimum Lifespan for New Phones

[EU Ecodesign rules for smartphones and tablets have been in force since 20 June 2025](https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/news/new-eu-rules-durable-energy-efficient-and-repairable-smartphones-and-tablets-start-applying-2025-06-20_en). They require at least five years of operating-system updates after a model stops being sold, seven years of spare-parts availability, a battery rated for at least 800 full charge cycles, and an energy and repairability label at the point of sale.

A second piece of EU legislation, the Right to Repair Directive, must be written into national law across member states by 31 July 2026. It is meant to make repairs easier and cheaper once a product's warranty has expired.

## Refurbishers Want Ten Years of Support, Campaigners Want Fifteen

Back Market, a marketplace for refurbished phones and devices, is calling for a legally mandated 10-year device standard covering durability, repairability and ten years of software support. To make the case, the company has launched Mine My Phone, a public platform about the environmental, human and mineral-extraction costs behind smartphones.

A survey the company commissioned from the agency Opinium, covering 6,000 consumers across France, the UK, Germany, the US, Spain and Japan, found that more than half could not name a single raw material inside their phone, and that seven in ten had never looked into where their device's materials come from. Two-thirds, 66%, said they would support a law requiring devices to stay durable, repairable and software-supported for at least ten years.

In September 2025 the coalition Right to Repair Europe argued that five years of updates was too little and called for 15 years of software support. In the United States, states including California, Colorado, Minnesota, New York and Oregon have passed right-to-repair laws covering consumer electronics.

## Most of a Phone's Damage Is Done Before It Is Switched On

Back Market estimates that a 200-gram smartphone requires more than 266 kilograms of raw-material extraction, and that more than 319 million tonnes of upstream materials are extracted each year to make the world's smartphones. Keeping a phone for ten years rather than two and a half avoids about 757 kilograms of extraction per device, the company says, and a single refurbished phone avoids about 243 kilograms compared with a new one.

Amnesty International has documented children as young as seven mining cobalt, a battery metal, in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

> "Citizens cannot make informed choices or push for regulation if they lack access to information about what happens before a device reaches their hands. This is fundamentally a transparency problem."
> — Thibaud Hug de Larauze, Executive Chairman of Back Market

## Phone Makers Say Even Five Years Is Expensive

Samsung and Google now promise seven years of software updates on recent phones, and Apple offers roughly five to seven. Qualcomm, which makes most Android processors, has historically supported its chips for only three to four years, now up to six. Analysts at IDC estimate that even five years of updates costs makers a six-figure sum per model, a burden that falls hardest on cheaper handsets.

A lithium-ion battery typically drops to about 70 to 80% of its capacity after roughly four years, and a professional replacement costs around $80 to $100. The global average replacement cycle now stands at about 43 months.

## FAQ

**Q: Does the EU rule cover phones already on sale?**
The rules apply to smartphones and tablets placed on the EU market from 20 June 2025 onwards. Models sold before that date are not covered retroactively, so the guarantee builds up as older phones are replaced.

**Q: Is it practical to keep a phone for ten years?**
The usual limit is the battery, which tends to fall to about 70 to 80% of its capacity after four years or so; a professional replacement costs around $80 to $100, far less than a new handset. After that, software support and spare-part availability decide how long a phone stays usable, which is exactly what the EU rules and the longer-standard campaigns are trying to stretch.

**Q: What is the Right to Repair Directive?**
It is a separate EU law, distinct from the Ecodesign rules, that member states must write into their own national legislation by 31 July 2026. It aims to make repairs easier and cheaper after a product's warranty ends.

**Q: Is a longer legal standard likely?**
The EU has settled on five years for now. Back Market is campaigning for ten, the coalition Right to Repair Europe wants fifteen, and manufacturers warn that longer support raises costs, so the number remains contested.