{"id":4583,"date":"2026-07-29T06:38:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T06:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4583"},"modified":"2026-07-29T06:38:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T06:38:03","slug":"logitech-user-replacable-batteries-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=4583","title":{"rendered":"Logitech will pull a Nintendo \u2014 only European mice will come with replaceable batteries"},"content":{"rendered":"


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In June, Nintendo announced a new version of the Switch 2<\/a> that should let you easily replace its battery pack \u2014 but only for Europe. Logitech will do much the same. User-replaceable batteries will be the law in Europe<\/a> in February 2027, but instead of bringing them to the rest of the world, Logitech plans to ship one version of its wireless mice to Europe and a different version everywhere else.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That\u2019s the word from Logitech\u2019s new gaming boss, Robin Piispanen. We talked about it over iced vanilla lattes at my local cafe, right after discussing how Logitech isn\u2019t sure it wants to make another gaming handheld<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Why? Logitech believes that less-repairable peripherals might actually be superior, once you consider the tradeoffs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s not just the cost, you\u2019re also adding weight,\u201d Piispanen tells The Verge<\/em>. He says that Logitech typically ships devices with a lightweight soft-sided lithium-based battery inside, with a very thin cable, because the company knows most people won\u2019t take them apart. \u201cBut that is not safe for you to operate on, we can\u2019t give that to you in good conscience and say, hey, go replace a soft-pack battery.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Instead, Logitech\u2019s wireless products in Europe will ship with a hard-pack battery, a more rigid design that\u2019s harder to puncture accidentally. (Not to overstate the risk, but punctured lithium-based batteries can quickly start fires.) For extra safety, Piispanen says Logitech will offer certified replacement batteries in Europe, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A Logitech soft-pack battery, where an easily puncturable lithium polymer cell lives right under the paper label.<\/em><\/figcaption>Image: iFixit<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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But he says he won\u2019t ship them to the United States, for example. He says Logitech ran the numbers, and its forecasts suggest few people will bother replacing those batteries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cHow many people are going to open up their own mouse, take out the battery, put in a new one because the battery ran old?\u201d he asks. Piispanen says replaceable batteries make more sense for expensive products like laptops or phones, but that people tend to replace Logitech\u2019s $50 to $100 wireless mice as they wear down.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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While I agree that Logitech\u2019s mice are currently disposable products, I strongly disagree that they should continue<\/em> to be that way. Isn\u2019t the right-to-repair movement about changing that outlook on the world? Would consumers change that behavior if the devices were easier to fix?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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So I ask Piispanen, who says he believes in right-to-repair: Why doesn\u2019t Logitech actually sell the wear-and-tear parts for its mice<\/a>, despite claiming it does? Why doesn\u2019t it sell the rubber grip pads on the side of my Logitech G502 Lightspeed, which I\u2019ve now worn a hole through, or the mouse switch that\u2019s beginning to double-click on the side of my mouse?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It sounds like the answer is: Logitech isn\u2019t actually ready to trust consumers with repairs themselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cMouse switches means you have to open up the whole mouse, and you\u2019re most likely going to break something,\u201d he says. Replacing the grips means cleaning up old adhesive and replacing it with new adhesive \u2014 \u201cthat\u2019s a process for you to do it well.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t want to like, sell you a part just for you to screw it up and then be sad about it,\u201d Piispanen says later.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That said, he says he sees the passion in the community, how some people are willing to void their warranty to modify their Logitech gear, and he seems to take my point that Logitech isn\u2019t fulfilling its \u201cwear and tear\u201d right-to-repair promise<\/a> yet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He says that \u201cthe bigger question\u201d is how Logitech can design new products that don\u2019t wear out as quickly. \u201cThe mouse you\u2019re talking about, that was seven years old, and I salute you for really wanting to keep on using it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But he also tells me he\u2019ll take a look at those mouse grips: \u201cI want to see what spare parts we\u2019re lacking that is wear and tear, because if we\u2019re talking about things that we actually could do, I want to look into that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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