Lab – The smartphone sustainability note includes new elements for more precision

It will not have escaped you that the universe of smartphones has evolved in recent weeks. In the wake of household appliances, which have employed it for over 30 years, the energy label is coming to mobile telephony within the European Union. On the program therefore, a notation of letters A to G, according to a specific scale that we detailed in the article below.

It goes without saying that Digital is closely interested in the longevity of the products tested, and especially that of smartphones: we have been applying, for more than two years, a rating of sustainability to all mobiles passing through our laboratories. It is far from anecdotal: it counts for 20 % of the overall note of smartphones.

The repairability index is reverse

The arrival of theSmartphones energy label Allows us to develop our rating, which now includes new criteria. To our usual list are added:

• The global energy class obtained by products (A to G)
• His score of resistance to falls (a to e)
• His repairability score (a to e)
• The number of battery cycles before its load capacity falls under the 80 % threshold (below this percentage, it is estimated that the battery must be replaced for comfortable use)
• The resistance score of scratch screens, on the Mohs scale (from 1 to 10; the higher it is, the more resistant the window)

These five new information, which result from the data delivered by the manufacturers of smartphones themselves, replace in our notation therepairability (which is not based on the same scale as the new repairability score). If it had previously constituted part of our notation, the latter is doomed to disappear, since the smartphones launched after June 20, 2025 replaced it with the energy label.

As a reminder, other elements allow us to note the sustainability of smartphones. We rely on their water resistance and dust (IP index), but also on the allocation of a standard of shock resistance, vibrations and temperature differences (MIL-STG-810). We specify the duration of hardware warranty applied by the manufacturer to its device, the number of years of software updates and security patches, the presence/absence of mini-jack, USB-C and charger. Finally, we take into account the ecolabels claimed by smartphones: their EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) certifications), TCO, but also responsible Minerals Initiative (from minerals used in the context of the manufacture of mobiles). We finally rely on the Ethical Consumer classification of manufacturers.