Scathing smartphone report finds most manufacturers violating new EU rules

European consumers may struggle to discover how much it will cost to repair a smartphone before buying it, despite rules designed to make that information readily available.

Since June 2025, EU regulations have required smartphone manufacturers to publish prices for certain spare parts and instructions for some repairs. Consumers access the information through a QR code displayed next to the device in stores or online. The code leads to an EU-hosted durability information sheet.

Under the rules, each sheet should contain two key links: one to spare-part prices and another to repair instructions. But a report by the Right to Repair advocacy group found that the system often falls short. The group examined sheets for 2,000 smartphones and found that only 18% led to clear, immediately accessible information. Half contained no link at all, which the report identified as a breach of manufacturers’ obligations.

Thomas Opsomer, the study’s rapporteur, said this kind of violation should be relatively easy for authorities to detect. Even where links existed, consumers sometimes had to click through several pages to find prices. Some websites did not display the prices at all, while others gave such wide ranges that comparisons became practically impossible. One manufacturer, for example, listed a battery price ranging from €14 to €128.

“In my view, nobody manages to compare spare-part prices from one phone to another,” Opsomer said. He argued that repair costs are not a merely formal disclosure requirement. Knowing the likely price of a replacement part can influence a buyer’s choice, allowing consumers to favor a smartphone that costs less to repair. The problem is compounded, the article says, by some manufacturers continuing to give devices high scores despite these shortcomings.

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In my view, nobody manages to compare spare-part prices from one phone to another.