Originally Posted by
Mooncatt That's no longer the case for most phones. It's no as simple as popping the cover off and swapping a $10 battery. It's now a case of taking it to a repair shop and spending $150 because it requires them to physically disassemble part of the phone with special tools so they don't crack the fragile glass bodies. That's why these debates are so common now, there's a lot more at stake, especially if you keep the phone long term.
Since my retirement, I have replaced many batteries in many smart phones for friends and disassembled quite a few laptops to replace keyboards, memory, etc.
The pixel 4xl battery replacement is quite simple with some torx screwdriver bits and plastic tools to pull off the back cover (torx screws hold in a lot of brackets). The battery itself is about 30 bucks; not a bad price.
Also, out of curiosity, talking with someone in a local store about replacement, I was told about 70-80 bucks, including the battery...not a bad price.
Is it for everyone? Probably not; however, for many it is a simple few hours and all is well again. Those special tools are very inexpensive.
However if an old retired ex Federal gunslinger can do it at 73; most anyone can. Besides, it is almost as fun as disassembling and cleaning handguns and a lot cleaner.
