Like many of you, I have the problem that it is not possible to buy replacement batteries for the Librem5 in Europe (even from third party manufacturers). It is possible in principle to ship them from the US, but at a very high cost (>250 euros per shipment). However, the cost scales very well as you can ship multiple batteries together. So I wanted to ask if there is any interest in ordering batteries together. I would contact Purism and a logistics company and then organize the shipping inside of Europe.
I don’t live in Europe, but I would just like to add that as someone living in the United States with 4 batteries and 3 chargers from my Liberty Phone, the extra batteries are totally worth it.
The feeling when I need to leave the house for a while and I swap from 15% to 99% is wonderful and puts the Samsung phone I had previously totally to shame. I don’t even charge my phone anymore, I just rotate batteries.
Theoretically I would be interested but not currently. I’m fine charging the battery or using an external power bank for now. So I would only need a battery as replacement when it has degraded too much.
However getting one now wouldn’t make much sense since batteries also degrade over time while not in use.
You are right, but the question is, how long Purism can supply the batteries. Also the degradation should be not too high, if you store the batteries with ~70% charge.
I am using the PinePhone quite often in docked mode and this is putting additional stress on the battery. Therefore, a backup would be nice to have
Where did you find the information about the exorbitant cost of shipping batteries to Europe.
I have had my Librem5 since February 3, 2021 and I can feel that the battery is starting to have weaknesses.
I was thinking of ordering a new one and I just saw on the store
" NOTE for customers outside US: We will not be able to ship any orders that contain ONLY batteries, without containing a laptop and/or phone, due to regulations. Any such order will be cancelled and refunded. If you already have an order for a laptop or a phone, order for the battery will be combined with that order. "
the exorbitant costs of shipping result from exactly the note, that you have mentioned. There are companies, that offer a proxy-buying service in the US circumvent such restrictions. I asked those companies for a quote regarding shipping, that was around 250 euros, due to the declaration of batteries as a dangerous good.
Aren’t those batteries not just more or less common products that can be bought somewhere else in Europe? I think it’s better to try to figure this out since people will run into this issue over and over again.
On the other hand - instead of using a service that costs 250+€ it’s even better to find a customer who wants to buy a Librem 5 and ship it together without third party services. It doesn’t even need to be a new customer.
No clue. If anyone can confirm and provide a link to a reliable online shop that is not ebay, it would be great. I wasn’t able to find one that currently sells Librem products when I was looking for the OpenPGP card a few weeks ago. There are batteries for sale in ebay that ship from China, €29 + shipping, if I remember correctly so that could be an option. Screen protectors can be found in amazon, cases too, probably but I am not sure since I made my own.
Nope, they do not deliver. I have already contacted Cameron Sino directly ( The only alternative manufacteror for L5 batteries) and they are out of production. So no other option, but buying from Purism exists.
Yes, if somebody would order an L5 from the US and then we could add batteries would be the best option, but unfortunately I don’t see such an opportunity.
I might go on a vacation to Europe later this year. If I ordered a bunch of Librem 5 batteries and took them with me on my tourist trip on the plane in a carry on, would we expect me to get kicked off the plane? If not, could I share them with people somehow?
This is just a brainstorm. I am not guaranteeing that I will do this.
Edit:
Also, how do the laws work on this? If I was going to be kicked off the plane for bringing batteries, what if I bring a Librem 14 or similar laptop shell with the internal laptop guts removed and just a bunch of Librem 5 batteries in it? As I recall, TSA requires that the laptop is bootable to travel, so you can prove it’s not some other kind of device pretending to be a laptop… in theory. But in practice, I was stopped at TSA a few years ago with my laptop, and I honestly looked at the guy who had pulled me aside when it wouldn’t boot and I said, “Umm, yeah, you know, sometimes it doesn’t boot, it’s Windows,” and he 100% bought it and accepted it and let me go on my way. In reality, as I recall, the laptop wasn’t booting because it had an aging battery that no longer held a charge. But would I be able to pass by with the same excuse again, this time with Librem 5 batteries stuffed inside the case? I wonder how that works
