Vodafone: Five-year manufacturer's warranty and battery replacement if required

Vodafone is extending the two-year manufacturer's warranty for contract customers who pay off a smartphone in installments by a further three years. For customers on the GigaMobil M and GigaMobil Young M tariffs or higher, the warranty extension is free of charge. Users with XS or S tariffs can add the package for €3.99 per month. The additional package ends automatically after five years, but can also be canceled on a monthly basis. The offer is valid from August 27.

The extended warranty also includes the replacement of the battery. Vodafone promises to replace the battery if its capacity has fallen below 80 percent. This must not be the fault of the user.

New EU directives

The announcement comes against the backdrop of an EU directive that obliges manufacturers to carry out updates over a period of five years from June 20, 2025. The ecodesign regulations that recently came into force require smartphone manufacturers to install higher-quality batteries anyway. Permanently installed batteries must still have a residual capacity of at least 80 percent after 1000 charging cycles. This corresponds to almost three years of daily charging. If you don't charge your smartphone every day, you will probably survive the five years without replacing the battery. Adding insurance for smaller contracts, on the other hand, is hardly worthwhile for inexpensive devices: the costs for the insurance add up to 240 euros over five years.

(mma)