How many charge cycles should I expect from a non-interchangeable battery?

[AC Question]

I carry 4 or 5 spare batteries with me when I travel, often changing to the 4th one at the end of a typical day. I travel a great deal for my work and carry several charging devices that are sprinkled around my hotel room overnight. Typically, whether the spare is OEM or not, I get about a year of good use out of them before they compress to 30% of their original charge life. I'm very worried that if I now succumb to the inevitable trend toward non-replaceable batteries scheme, the thing I'll be throwing away after a year is the entire $700 phone rather than the $35 battery. Someone tell me I'm worried for no reason, please. I can't be the only one with this issue.

 

[belodion]

So are you saying that if the battery stops working or just needs replacing, you'd have to throw away the phone? In what sense do you mean 'non-replaceable'? 'Completely non-replaceable', or just 'replaceable by a technician'?

 

[smvim]

The 'common' number for our lithium-ion batteries is 500 charge cycles, but keep in mind that's just a theoretical number based loosely on the assumed habits of most consumers. That number can be increased or decreased by a large factor. For instance, if you run your battery down to low single digits every day before recharging, that will definitely decrease that battery's overall lifespan. So just keep in mind that '500' number is just a rough baseline that's influenced by any number of real-world variables. Also, depending on how low the battery is depleted each time before you plug it in to get charged, there's a cumulative aspect to each charge cycle -- a battery that's at 50% means you used up 50% of one charge cycle, or roughly (if you're compulsive enough to always charge your phone when it reaches that 50% point) every two days you use up one charge cycle. The charge cycle aspect is all just basic math but it can't be used as a solid determination of how long a battery will last, the problem being, again, all the variables involved -- user phone habits and usage, the OS and the apps used, average temperatures, and of course build quality of each battery will all have a strong affect on a battery's overall lifespan.
This 'Battery University' site is a good one for detailed battery info, it gets updated regularly too, the problem being there's a lot of outdated battery misinformation out in the Internet:
Basic to Advanced Battery Information from Battery University
Also, if you do some day end up with having to buy a phone with a non-removable battery, you might want to think about buying an external battery.

 

[dgphotog]

Thanks for getting me to sign in in order to fully participate! I have been a member for years, but not taking advantage. I'll change that habit now. To answer your question, I'm anxious about joining the world of fixed batteries because I know all too well how they compress in time, which bricks the phone at some point. I'm a sole-proprietor who travels a great deal and although I plug the phone into the airplane, when power provided, rental cars 100% of the time I'm in them, in meetings when not rude, etc. at the end of a typical travel day, I'm usually on my 4th battery. When the battery compresses after it has reached its cycle life limit, do people send them off to some shop somewhere across the continent and just go without a phone for that period? Seems dangerous for business. I will hold onto my Note 4 as a backup, but there has to be a more sensible solution to this paradigm. No?

 

[dgphotog]

THanks Smvim for that battery primer. I will join Battery University. I hope they don't "charge" too much.

 

[smvim]

... do people send them off to some shop somewhere across the continent and just go without a phone for that period? Seems dangerous for business.

Sending a phone out to have the battery replaced is a common thing but don't ever assume any data on that phone is safe once it's no longer in your possession. Even if you take it to a nearby repair center and you see a 'we respect your privacy' sign on the front desk be very wary. The management may make it policy but the kids in the back room actually doing the work may or may not honor those same rules. Outfits like Geek Squad have multiple law suits in various states due to repair centers that have been caught amassing customer data, some even have set aside dedicated servers for all the photo, video, and music files that get vacuumed up as the staff do the repairs.
If you've got some do-it-yourself urges in you, the ifixit.com site has a some really helpful, step-by-step repair guides. But not all models get listed so it's not a complete, definitive source.
https://www.ifixit.com/Device/Android_Phone
There's also a lot of guides on Youtube but the quality and accuracy ranges from great to bad so you have to be selective.

I'd still suggest you opt for an external battery. When your phone's battery starts running low you can just plug in your external to keep things going. Kind of takes away part of the whole mobility aspect when you have to start carrying around extras to plug into your phone to keep using it but until battery technology gets to the point where they last for weeks at a time and charge up in a few seconds, it's an annoyance we need to put up with as long as we want to keep our gadgets running. Here's a good place to start researching on what might suit your needs:
The Best USB Battery Packs | The Wirecutter

 

[dgphotog]

Thanks again, Smvim for your thoughtful and helpful response. I might at some point go the route of taking matters into my own hands and screw drivers, but I do count on warranties, so I may chicken out. On external batteries, I'm with you. In fact I have a couple of them, one has the capacity equivalent of 3 or 4 of my Note 4 batteries. I got it as a back up for my tablet. I was really asking how the rest of the world handles the ultimate compression of the fixed battery. You've answered me, and I understand the warnings about data privacy. I'll wipe the phone before sending it out. And I suppose I'll do what I can to keep my Note 4 up to date to use while it is being "repaired," as long as it is supported. I so hate this era of Forced Obsolescence we're in.

Thanks again!

 

[belodion]

Thank you for joining and welcome to Android Central.
I closed your other thread, and suggested that you join as a member, because multiple threads can cause confusion, especially when the original thread is active.
Now that you're one of us, you may at some time or other wish to make yourself known in our Introductions forum:

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...ral.com/forumdisplay.php?f=159&share_sfid=159

Also, I agree with the use of an external battery as the best, or at any rate least bad, practical solution.