The EU now requires that all smartphones and tablets sold in the Union have the new Energy Label on their packaging. It also created a database called “European Product Registry for Energy Labeling” or “EPREL” for short. That is valuable information and we are now including it in our specs pages to help you research phones before you buy.
EU Energy Label info is now included in our specs pages
First things first, this is an EU thing so only models sold in the EU have this data. Also, the data is provided by the manufacturers with the tests performed either by the manufacturer itself or by a third-party lab.
This means that the data doesn’t come from an independent source. That said, any inaccurate info should be updated as soon as it is spotted – the EU will hold manufacturers responsible for providing accurate information and it may use third-party labs to do its own verification.
It should also be noted that some makers – the biggest one being Apple – are not happy with how the testing procedures are defined. Cupertino claims that some tests are under-defined or even undefined. You can read more about that here. The European Commission will take input from manufacturers and may update the testing procedures in the future.
To help you better understand what all these numbers and letters mean, we have updated our Glossary with explanations and details on the key info listed on the label. Start here: EU Energy Label. Then, you can get into the more detailed articles on energy efficiency class, battery endurance (both endurance on a single charge and longevity in terms of charge cycles), screen protection (measured as hardness on the Mohs scale), repairability and free fall repairability (the latter focuses on functional damage over cosmetics when a device is dropped).
You can find the EU Energy Label info for phones and tablets (where available) listed at the bottom of the specs table under the “EU Label” heading.