A new EU regulation will require hardware designers and manufacturers to allow for the easy replacement of the device’s battery.

In recent years, devices have become more difficult to repair by end-users with some companies being notorious for their opaque repair schemes.

In what could be called a victory for the “right to repair” movement, new devices for sale in the European Union will require that:

“a portable battery shall be considered readily removable by the end-user where it can be removed from a product with the use of commercially available tools, without requiring the use of specialised tools, unless provided free of charge with the product“.

You can read the full EU ruling here.

This regulation will largely affect the growing handheld market. Once dominated solely by Nintendo and mobile games, “pocket PCs” like the Steam Deck are becoming more common.