the worst are all the items these days that come with lithium batteries that aren't designed to be replaced. Sourcing high-quality replacements is a pain, getting the correct size requires taking the thing apart and measuring (and half the time these cheap items break during disassembly if they're ultrasonically welded or glued, even with good spudgers and a very experienced hand), and replacements sometimes need to come from AliExpress in larger quantities.
These items are so cheap that they're not worth repairing if you can't do it yourself, so opening up a shop fixing $10 milk frothers for 30 minutes of US labor rate wouldn't be worth it. They COULD use standard size li-ion cells, and indeed I try to buy flashlights that do (and have ironically had a couple of emitters die on >$50 flashlights that have this capability), but it's cheaper to get some crappy batteries down the street at the Shenzhen electronics market and just stuff those in there.
I really hope that the next move from the EU is something to address this. They're already on the case with phones ( https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/24/23771064/european-union-b... ) but so many other small electronics have this problem too. It's basically unavoidable at this point and I hate it.
Big shout-out to whoever required the Apple AirTags to have NORMAL COMMON-SIZE REPLACEABLE batteries. The Tile business model where they were sealed one-time-use electronics and you'd just trade them in was bad / lazy design. And yes; I know some tiles have replaceable batteries now, they still don't work as well as AirTags, and AirTags still don't fit well in wallets, and the other FindMy-compatible wallet-sized trackers don't have the Ultra-Wideband radio that enables the precise locating that makes AirTags so good.
Sourcing specialized and industrial components is a PITA.
The worst is when manufacturers use customized ASICs with no replacements. So either some entrepreneur is extracting them for resale or else you're stuck finding an identical donor.
AirTags don't work with older Duracell "child-proof" CR2032s because they're just slightly undersized. It's not the coating because I removed it with solvents and was able to manually press them into the contacts, but no about of bending the cover's "wing springs" would position them correctly. [0]
WASD V3 keyboards used a proprietary USB-C cable that is longer than commercially available.[1,2,3] I also asked support about replacing a USB-C receptacle but they ghosted me. Furthermore, they promised a Mac firmware update utility that never arrived.[4] My conclusion is that it's fly-by-night startup rather than a business. :[
I have an old Logitech MX Revolution (non-BT) that sellers still offer rechargeable batteries and pads for. Props to them for keeping classics alive.
These items are so cheap that they're not worth repairing if you can't do it yourself, so opening up a shop fixing $10 milk frothers for 30 minutes of US labor rate wouldn't be worth it. They COULD use standard size li-ion cells, and indeed I try to buy flashlights that do (and have ironically had a couple of emitters die on >$50 flashlights that have this capability), but it's cheaper to get some crappy batteries down the street at the Shenzhen electronics market and just stuff those in there.
I really hope that the next move from the EU is something to address this. They're already on the case with phones ( https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/24/23771064/european-union-b... ) but so many other small electronics have this problem too. It's basically unavoidable at this point and I hate it.
Big shout-out to whoever required the Apple AirTags to have NORMAL COMMON-SIZE REPLACEABLE batteries. The Tile business model where they were sealed one-time-use electronics and you'd just trade them in was bad / lazy design. And yes; I know some tiles have replaceable batteries now, they still don't work as well as AirTags, and AirTags still don't fit well in wallets, and the other FindMy-compatible wallet-sized trackers don't have the Ultra-Wideband radio that enables the precise locating that makes AirTags so good.