If you have not followed it, the European Union will introduce an energy label: we can determine the autonomy of a smartphone. Here are some details about what's coming in June 2025.
Source: Frandroid
In case you haven't been following along yet, the European Union is stepping in with a new regulation that will fundamentally change the way we buy smartphones and tablets.
From June 20, 2025Sellers must provide information on the devices about the energy label, in particular about their autonomy with the letter of the energy efficiency class.
Here are the labels planned from June 2025 with autonomy, durability, resistance, repairability, etc.
This is a revolution for us consumers who often find it difficult to understand what “24 hours of battery life” means in real life.
Until now, it has not been easy to compare the autonomy of smartphones. Each brand has its own rules, which makes direct comparison difficult. For our part, we have our testing protocol that we developed together with Viser, but we don't test all smartphones.
The EU enters the scene with a groundbreaking protocol. No more fuzzy estimates: we are now talking about a method that calculates energy efficiency by taking into account the actual consumption of the phone and the capacity of its battery. Result ? A super accurate range estimate in hours and minutes, with a grade from A to G. Clear and clear.
Here is the protocol in question, which spans many different uses
Here is the protocol that allows you to determine the autonomy of smartphones
The protocol in question was developed with the French company Viser, our long-standing partner. It covers everything we do with our phones: surfing on 4G, checking social networks over Wi-Fi, distracting ourselves with games, making calls and even the time we spend in standby mode.
Source: Frandroid
5G isn't in play yet, but it's coming. To give an idea: testing a phone is a three-day marathon in a cage with a network simulator and Viser software. Several tests must be carried out. Therefore, plan at least a week per device. The cost of this material? 200,000 euros per machine.
Source: Frandroid
And nothing is left to chance, especially no software or hardware updates. As soon as a smartphone undergoes a transformation, be it a revision of its internal components or an update of its operating system (e.g. a switch to the new version of iOS or Android), it must go through the test again. And for good reason: these changes can significantly affect the device's energy consumption and therefore its autonomy.
The network simulator // Source: Frandroid
Manufacturers are forced to jump on the bandwagon because all devices sold from June 2025, whether new or old models (still on sale), must go through the test box. The EU has even set up monitoring committees to keep an eye on things and carry out regular checks. If a manufacturer ignores this assessment, they must pay a fine.
Obviously, this protocol is not without limitations. Currently, testing focuses solely on 4G connectivity and ignores 5G, which is becoming more widespread and whose impact on energy consumption could be different.
Additionally, the brightness of the screens is standardized at 200 nits for all tests, a measurement that does not reflect actual use of devices that can reach much higher brightness peaks, particularly in HDR where they can exceed 3000 nits.
Finally, it is important to remember that these tests are carried out in a laboratory environment that, despite its precision, cannot fully reproduce the varied and sometimes unpredictable conditions of daily use.
However, this remains an important development towards greater transparency and reliability in the assessment of smartphone autonomy, providing consumers with more precise information to guide their decisions.
The European Union's ambition goes beyond mere information. It aims to encourage manufacturers not to play with hubris in continually increasing battery capacity. The challenge is to further optimize the energy consumption of devices.
Early trends show that many smartphones achieve grades between C and E. Some brands like Apple are doing well at the moment: iPhones have a small battery capacity and low energy consumption.
The European Union will put the full list of smartphones online on a dedicated website, along with their respective scores and results. This will be an extremely useful tool for us consumers to make the right choice.
Next is battery life
The EU doesn't stop there and plans to address the issue of battery life (number of cycles before battery capacity falls below 80%). However, the planned protocol is extremely demanding and involves testing over a significant period of time, on the order of 12 to 15 months, to faithfully simulate real-world charge and discharge cycles.
Although this approach is interesting, it faces major practical and financial limitations. Given the time commitment and astronomical costs involved, one might question whether it is really realistic to implement this in the foreseeable future.