How come they made Phones that you can't take the battery out of? Change to put in new battery?

[Android Central Question]

The Galexyphones and such, one can not change or remove battery!

 

[Mike Dee]

No question this was pushed by intelligence agencies.

It's not a global conspiracy and intelligence agencies have no say in how an OEM designs their batteries.

 

[slybarman]

Intelligence agencies have no say in the design of how an OEM designs their batteries.

Uh huh. And the NSA has had no hand in writing code or chip design either.

 

[Mike Dee]

Uh huh. And the NSA has had no hand in writing code or chip design either.

You have evidence of this?

 

[the_boon]

Well, when manufacturers remove a useful, if not necessary feature, people will be upset for a long long time.

Especially when they claim it to be done in the name of "courage" like Apple with the 3.5 Jack.

Then there's also rubbery/plastic backs which were lighter and far more durable than glass, as well as notification LEDs..

So many good useful features were dropped, and often not replaced by something objectively better.

Want water resistance? The phone needs to stay sealed for best performance.

Samsung's recent XCover Pro has a removable battery and I'm sure they proudly market its water resistant feature.

But yes a sealed design is probably better for that, naturally.

 

[slybarman]

You have evidence of this?

The backdoors didn't plant themselves. Go back and re-read the snowden documents. "Smurf Suite" just for one. Snowden also said the NSA specifically asked Apple to build them a backdoor. Apple said no - not everyone said no.

 

[BergerKing]

Note 5 was one of the first sealed back Samsungs, I remember all the whizzing and groaning about people not giving up their leatherback Note 4s, oh what a furor that was! Note 5 was my first Note, and it was excellent!

 

[Airstream25]

I greatly prefer removable battery phone for these reasons;
1. extend the life of the phone after the original battery wears out
2. permits oversize battery and custom back to provide longer service
3. removing the battery ensures the phone is completely off

 

[Mike Dee]

The backdoors didn't plant themselves. Go back and re-read the snowden documents. "Smurf Suite" just for one. Snowden also said the NSA specifically asked Apple to build them a backdoor. Apple said no - not everyone said no.

Regardless of your conspiracy theories that's not why the market shifted towards removable batteries and they still make devices that have removable batteries. They also make laptops with sealed batteries. It's about profits and planned obsolescence. For anyone who is paranoid they are ways to prevent being tracked by cellular. I'm not important enough for the NSA to track me but If the NSA wants to find me or what I'm doing they don't need my cellphone.

 

[Mike Dee]

I greatly prefer removable battery phone for these reasons;
1. extend the life of the phone after the original battery wears out
2. permits oversize battery and custom back to provide longer service
3. removing the battery ensures the phone is completely off

Yeah, this discussion pops up every so often. Regardless of the many valid points you made, we aren't going back to removable batteries across the board anytime soon.

 

[DarqStar]

What year is this, 2014? Hard to believe there's still a debate about this.

It's a debate we should return to. Having to send in a phone for a battery replacement is a pain sands some times they send you a totally different (disappointing) phone.

 

[DarqStar]

Theyv say it's too make them waterproof. In reality it feeds the built in obsolescence of phones so you need to carry power banks, charger cases (if they exist for your model) or but a new phone if out of warranty. Otherwise in extended warranty they send you another model you don't want when you want battery replacement

 

[me just saying]

Theyv say it's too make them waterproof. In reality it feeds the built in obsolescence of phones so you need to carry power banks, charger cases (if they exist for your model) or but a new phone if out of warranty. Otherwise in extended warranty they send you another model you don't want when you want battery replacement

if you need to carry a power bank, you would still have to carry the extra battery. what can you do with the extra battery when changing phones? most are not compatible with other phones besides most charger banks can recharge the phone more than once and can be used with different phones.

I too complained when they stopped making removeable backs, I missed being able to change the back cover without increasing the phone size like when you use a cover. but then time moved on...

 

[anon(50597)]

What year is this, 2014? Hard to believe there's still a debate about this.

It gives people things to complain about, make up conspiracy theories and waste time on the internet.

 

[B. Diddy]

It's a debate we should return to. Having to send in a phone for a battery replacement is a pain sands some times they send you a totally different (disappointing) phone.

How long do you hang onto your phones? I would say the vast majority of phone users upgrade their phones after about 2 years, and the typical battery will be fine at that timepoint. As long as the battery isn't abused, they typically last at least 3-4 years before starting to show signs of degradation.

Its also worth keeping in mind that as a phone gets older, it will become less and less compatible with current apps, as support for the version of Android it was left with gets deprecated. That starts to happen around 5-6 years out.

We can debate all we want, but I doubt it'll change the minds of the phone manufacturers.:-\

 

[the_boon]

As long as the battery isn't abused, they typically last at least 3-4 years before starting to show signs of degradation.

3-4 years before showing signs of degradation??

I see tons of posts about people with their 1 - 1.5 year old phones already noticing diminished battery performance.

Most people don't even adopt recommended charging habits and they can often use the fast charger that came with the phone which isn't necessarily the best for the battery. Degradation will start to happen way before 3-4 years in those cases.

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

2014 in phone years feels like eons ago... What phone was I even using? Either the Nexus 5 or LG G3... Times are a-changin'!

I was using a Lumia 925. Windows Phone all the way back then. And it had a sealed battery, wireless charging and an amazing camera.

 

[Mike Dee]

3-4 years before showing signs of degradation??

I see tons of posts about people with their 1 - 1.5 year old phones already noticing diminished battery performance.

Most people don't even adopt recommended charging habits and they can often use the fast charger that came with the phone which isn't necessarily the best for the battery. Degradation will start to happen way before 3-4 years in those cases.

Fast charging does not degrade the battery on modern devices unless they decide to exceed the recommended C rate of charge which is based on battery size. If people get their way with excessive fast charging that will be true.

 

[B. Diddy]

3-4 years before showing signs of degradation??

I see tons of posts about people with their 1 - 1.5 year old phones already noticing diminished battery performance.

Most people don't even adopt recommended charging habits and they can often use the fast charger that came with the phone which isn't necessarily the best for the battery. Degradation will start to happen way before 3-4 years in those cases.

Well, I did say "as long as the battery isn't abused."

 

[Laura Knotek]

I was using a Lumia 925. Windows Phone all the way back then. And it had a sealed battery, wireless charging and an amazing camera.

Same here only I had the Nokia 920.

 

[Mooncatt]

Fast charging does not degrade the battery on modern devices unless they decide to exceed the recommended C rate of charge which is based on battery size. If people get their way with excessive fast charging that will be true.

The recommended C rate is around 0.8 for best longevity, and accelerated wear really kicks in over 1C. My V60 charger is capable of 1C max, which I don't use. Everyone was so excited about the Samsung (funny side note, my autocorrect tried to replace Samsung with "damaging") 45W charger for the N10+ but that is just over 2C at full speed. Yes, the C rate is based on battery size, but manufacturers are already cutting it too close for comfort. The screenshot of that relevant info is at https://batteryuniversity.com/index.php/learn/article/ultra_fast_chargers