Guardian tech reviews in 2022: better to repair and longer-lasting devices - The Guardian

With a twelvemonth afloat of pressures connected our wallets, comfortableness and climate, exertion took a backmost spot successful 2022. But alteration for the amended is dilatory happening arsenic large tech firms aftermath up to the demands of consumers wanting better, longer-lasting and much sustainable devices.

Trends established successful the past mates of years continued to summation pace. Recycled worldly has go mainstream. Devices containing astatine slightest immoderate recycled plastic, metallic oregon minerals are disposable successful astir each category. The scope of materials being reused is expanding – an important measurement towards a circular system adjacent if it is simply a precise agelong mode distant from being afloat realised.

One side-effect of the tightening system was the acceleration of the inclination for the reuse of devices. Trade-ins for caller purchases exploded successful availability arsenic manufacturers and retailers sought to promote sales, often offering heavy discounts successful speech for aged devices that would past beryllium refurbished, resold oregon recycled to recoup immoderate residual value.

Changes successful plan to assistance repair

The iPhone 14 and 14 Plus whitethorn look the aforesaid arsenic erstwhile versions connected the outside, but wrong they were redesigned for the better. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

Ensuring devices stay successful usage for arsenic agelong arsenic imaginable is the champion enactment for the satellite and wallet alike. People are holding connected to their phones for an mean of 4.2 years, according to information from CCS Insight, making entree to affordable and effectual repair options crucial.

Apple made a astonishment measurement successful the close absorption this year. The extracurricular of this year’s iPhone 14 looked identical to erstwhile models, but a new interior design enables it to beryllium opened from either the surface oregon backside. That makes communal repairs specified arsenic replacement of smashed backmost solid oregon the artillery quicker, easier and cheaper.

It is not rather the perfect of modular, user-repairable plan demonstrated by the Fairphone 4 successful 2021. But the displacement from Apple is simply a large woody due to the fact that the iPhone sells successful greater numbers than immoderate different telephone and typically wherever it goes, manufacture follows.

Taking isolated a telephone is challenging but with capable skill, the close tools and spare parts, it tin beryllium done astatine home. Photograph: Apple

Apple besides expanded its DIY repair programme to the UK and Europe successful December. Taking isolated an iPhone oregon Mac is not recommended for novices, but the determination provides easier entree to genuine replacement parts and repair manuals for technicians. Apple is inactive using integer lockdowns to hamper unauthorised repairs, truthful determination is much enactment to beryllium done.

Other manufacturers besides made changes to aid repairs this year. Among them, Microsoft promised to supply work guides and spare parts for its Surface laptops and tablets, and made immoderate parts idiosyncratic upgradable specified arsenic the coagulated authorities thrust (SSD). Valve provided easy entree to authorised and DIY repair for its handheld gaming PC the Steam Deck, including spare parts, acquisition manuals and tools. Meanwhile, France’s repairability index continued to unit the merchandise of much authoritative repair documentation from reluctant manufacturers.

The Framework Laptop looks similar a regular notebook PC connected the extracurricular but you tin unfastened it up for repair and upgrade components yourself, similar a desktop PC. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

One of the highlights of the twelvemonth was the Framework Laptop, which really delivered connected its committedness of a notebook PC that you could instrumentality isolated to not lone repair but upgrade yourself. Not lone was the archetypal mentation a amazingly bully laptop, the institution kept its committedness and made disposable components to upgrade its 11th-gen Intel chips to the latest 12th-gen models. Long whitethorn it continue.

True wireless earbuds proceed to beryllium a debased point, however. Many are excellent products that are extremely convenient, durable and past a agelong time. But very, precise fewer are repairable, making replacement of their consumable batteries intolerable and rendering them yet disposable. It is peculiarly disappointing fixed the measurement successful which they sell, with much than 252m sold past twelvemonth and 170m successful the archetypal 9 months of 2022, according to information from International Data Corporation’s (IDC) instrumentality tracker.

Longer-lasting devices

The artillery successful the OnePlus 10T tin complaint successful 19 minutes and volition past up to 1,600 afloat complaint cycles – much than doubly regular cells – but its bundle enactment falls short. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

While hardware typically lasts longer – provided you do not driblet it – batteries inactive typically lone support 80% of their archetypal capableness for astir 500 complaint cycles. That is wherefore your phone’s artillery beingness gets shorter towards the extremity of its 2nd year.

Improving ratio truthful you bash not person to complaint the artillery arsenic often is 1 mode of making it past longer. But changing the operation of the artillery and implementing systems to sphere its wellness during charging tin stave disconnected degradation for longer, too. OnePlus enactment a artillery successful the caller 10T that tin clasp astatine slightest 80% complaint for 1,600 afloat cycles, efficaciously making the telephone past astatine slightest 6.5 years.

Sadly the steadfast lone supports the 10T with 4 years of Android updates from merchandise meaning that, portion the hardware whitethorn beryllium susceptible of moving for longer, the telephone should not beryllium utilized aft August 2026 owed to imaginable information problems.

Software enactment remains a peculiar occupation for phones. While Apple, Google and Samsung supply astatine slightest 5 years of information updates for their high-end and mid-range phones, determination are galore much that headdress retired astatine arsenic small arsenic 2 years, which is pitiful. The longer a telephone receives bundle enactment the longer it tin enactment successful circulation adjacent if that means with a second oregon 3rd owner.

More businesslike for satellite and wallet

Modern devices specified arsenic the Sky Stream container are becoming much vigor efficient, making them amended for the satellite and cheaper to run. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The Guardian

The thrust to amended artillery beingness of portable devices has had a knock-on effect connected the ratio of plugged-in devices, too, arsenic they typically usage akin chips and technology.

Tasks that utilized to beryllium demanding and necessitate power-hungry processors tin present beryllium performed by cheaper, low-power chips. That mostly means much modern devices are more businesslike and outgo little to run. Sky’s caller satellite-free Stream TV box is simply a bully example, consuming a 3rd of the energy of its satellite-fed Sky Q box erstwhile watching television.

With the outgo of surviving situation throwing a spotlight connected vigor usage, this is simply a affirmative inclination that is lone going to continue.