Galaxy S25 and A26:Samsung changes battery replacement details in EPREL database

As the German Environmental Aid (DUH) wrote on Monday in a report, the environmental organization has stopped misleading advertising claims by Samsung regarding the repairability of two smartphone models. However, according to Samsung, it was not advertising but a “technical specification in the EPREL database of the EU Commission where energy and environmental information, as well as repairability scores for electronic devices sold in the EU, must be stored from June 20, 2025, onwards.”

Samsung: Battery replacement not intended for laypersons

According to the DUH, Samsung had “falsely claimed” that the battery in its Galaxy S25 (SM-S931B/DS) and Galaxy A26 (SM-A266B/DS) smartphones could be replaced by consumers. Such a replacement would only be possible with “special tools and expertise.”

According to Samsung, the EPREL database entry specifically concerned the item “User-replaceable battery.” This was indicated as “yes” for the two mentioned smartphone models. “The DUH took the view that replacing the battery was too complex for laypeople to be considered user-replaceable,” Samsung writes. Following “an internal review” of the […] “relevant entries,” Samsung has now adjusted this. The company also writes that “the battery in these models cannot be changed by a user at all.” The statement reads as if Samsung had simply checked the wrong box in the EPREL database for these models—whether intentionally or not, only the manufacturer knows.

iFixit: Galaxy S25 easier to repair than its predecessor

Barbara Metz, federal managing director of the DUH, said regarding the case: “It's unbelievable that Samsung claimed consumers could replace the battery themselves, even though it would have required 54 steps and special tools. Especially since the repair manual warns of dangers such as explosions and injuries and points out the loss of guaranteed water and dust protection.”

If you believe the repair experts at iFixit, Samsung has improved the repairability of its S-Class with the Galaxy S25. iFixit writes that it could be one of the “most repair-friendly smartphones from Samsung in a long time.” Nevertheless, expertise and special tools are required to access the device's internals. With a score of 5 out of 10 points, the S25 is also far from the level of a highly modular Fairphone 6, which can be unscrewed with a few simple steps. Even Apple's iPhone 17 Pro and Google's Pixel 10 scored better than Samsung's top model with 7 and 6 out of 10 points, respectively.

According to its statements, Samsung continuously makes “adjustments to the design to achieve even longer and better durability.” The company is continuously researching the development of products “that are easy to disassemble, inexpensive to repair, and whose components can be easily reused.” Samsung might incorporate the results of this research into the Galaxy S26.

(afl)