Is the removable battery that important?

[adriandb]

I've always had iPhones, but I've never had battery issues. I use my phone heavily, but also work a desk job so I keep my phone charging at my desk. It also charges when I'm in my car. My battery is rarely below 30%.

Even when I had phones with removable batteries (Treo 650) I never removed the thing, it's just unnecessary for me so it's also a non-feature for me.

 

[adriandb]

I felt I had to get this off my chest. Anyone agree?

Nope. Not really.

 

[tgp]

I felt I had to get this off my chest. Anyone agree?

I don't agree. In theory it makes sense, and before I had a phone with a non removable battery I would've made a list pretty much like this one. But now after having several phones with non removable batteries (Android, Nokia (WP), and iPhone), I'd say in real life it's not necessary for the most part. Of course, in certain situations and for some people being able to pull and/or swap batteries makes sense, but probably not many users actually do that. When I had an LG Optimus V I pulled the battery all the time, but I never carried a spare. I had to pull it because it was a low-end phone and I was constantly modding and flashing, and it would lock up quite a lot. With a high-end phone this isn't much of an issue.

 

[mysterygirl]

I'm reading this thread literally minutes after taking delivery of a new external battery bank. It's slim, will easily go with me where any extra battery would have gone, and it will provide another full charge to my phone. I was once of the opinion that a removable battery was important for those rare occasions and long days when I needed to swap in another battery because I needed the extra juice. PROBLEM SOLVED!

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Android Central Forums

 

[msndrstood]

The removable battery issue makes me kinda angry.

1. There is no good reason to close it.
Often cited reasons are "thinner devices" (samsung stuff is pretty thin), "nicer look" (matter of opinion), "less likely to break", (iphone 4 had a glass back).

2. People who don't think it's a big deal, great. Continue with your life.
Don't tell the company to make products worse because you don't mind.

3. The battery dying completely after a few years isn't even a big deal.
Yes, most companies will replace it for you, and you can sometimes even do it yourself with a screwdriver (ie Nexus 4), but again, not the issue at hand.

4. You can use hard buttons to reset a phone.
That's not why I want to remove the battery.

5. All this crap about getting your phone to last the whole day is crap.
They won't last the whole day. Unless you're not using it to it's full potential. Again, to those people, continue with your life and do not push that opinion on those of us who clearly use our phones more than you.

6. When your battery dies, charging doesn't always make sense.
On a bus, on a plane, in a forest, walking to the store etc. bringing a spare battery in those situations actually makes a lot of sense. Again, people who don't do this, great. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be available to those who do.

I felt I had to get this off my chest. Anyone agree?

I agree. I've been places with my old NS4G and drained it completely and the power bank too, so yes, I'd rather have the option to swap my 3800 mAh extended batteries (I have 2 for my Gnex) when I'm at an outside all day event and no where near an outlet. Yes, I am a heavy user, so I definitely want a choice. I'd love to have a battery last 24 hours in a Nexus, but it doesn't. So until battery technology improves to the point that it doesn't stress me out, I'll be packing that spare. To those that don't need or want to swap batteries, you have a choice too.

Ain't Android life great?


What?! ...I'm msndrstood.
via Gnex

 

[robertopod1968]

I'm buying an HTC one. But I do like removable batteries. I haven't found a portable charger that can recharge a phone to full in 5 seconds. I have had phones with non removable batteries before and I know I can get thru without. It is nice to go zero to full as fast as you can change them though.

 

[bjb_nyj101]

not everyone works inside a building all day. If you do and have access to a charger, good for you. Some people work outdoors and don't. And others like to spend their weekends outdoors camping, hiking, etc., and a non-removable battery is a deal breaker for them. If you are a couch potato it may not be a big deal to you but if you are backwoods camper, it is.

If there is a phone that a "backwoods camper" really likes, a non-removable battery wouldn't be a deal breaker. There are so many external battery packs on amazon for ~$20, all of which can charge your phone AT LEAST twice.

In the last 3 years, I've had GS2, GS3, One X. I swapped batteries often on the S2 because battery life was terrible. I didn't even bother buying a spare battery for the S3, and obviously now with the One X I can't. I, like most people, don't need removable batteries. You can look at all the iPhones sold over the last 4 years to see that. Now HTC and Motorola going with non removable batteries, as well as HTC and Nokia on the Windows Phone side, it's only a matter of time that Samsung goes away from removable batteries. Everything happens in trends.

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

Two AA batteries and $3 worth of parts (regulator, diode, connector) will charge my phone twice when I'm camping. It's cheaper, and easier to do by the light of a fire than swapping a battery. To me, that's a much better deal than carrying two spare batteries.

 

[Cattails_r_Edible]

The removable battery issue makes me kinda angry.

1. There is no good reason to close it.
Often cited reasons are "thinner devices" (samsung stuff is pretty thin), "nicer look" (matter of opinion), "less likely to break", (iphone 4 had a glass back).

2. People who don't think it's a big deal, great. Continue with your life.
Don't tell the company to make products worse because you don't mind.

3. The battery dying completely after a few years isn't even a big deal.
Yes, most companies will replace it for you, and you can sometimes even do it yourself with a screwdriver (ie Nexus 4), but again, not the issue at hand.

4. You can use hard buttons to reset a phone.
That's not why I want to remove the battery.

5. All this crap about getting your phone to last the whole day is crap.
They won't last the whole day. Unless you're not using it to it's full potential. Again, to those people, continue with your life and do not push that opinion on those of us who clearly use our phones more than you.

6. When your battery dies, charging doesn't always make sense.
On a bus, on a plane, in a forest, walking to the store etc. bringing a spare battery in those situations actually makes a lot of sense. Again, people who don't do this, great. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be available to those who do.

I felt I had to get this off my chest. Anyone agree?

Nope! You are in a small minority! Most of us appreciate a more solidly built phone! If I need to charge when off the grid, I will just use my HTC power stik!

Remember what the doormouse said, feed your head!

 

[pete6032]

I think people are missing the point here. If I buy an HTC one on a 2-yr contract that means the phone needs to last for two years. As I understand it, a li-polymer battery will need to be replaced after 700-800 charge cycles. If you charge your phone on average 1.5x per day that means the phone will not last for 2 years before the battery needs to be replaced, and the battery in the HTC one is virtually un-replaceable except by the OEM.

 

[JRDroid]

If my phone can get me through a day of typical use, I don't care if it has a removable battery or not. I don't get people who flip out about having to plug their phone in every night. I plugged my phone in every night back when I had flip phones that could have gone a week between charges.

I feel similarly about removable storage. If a phone has enough space for all my crap, I don't care if it has an SD slot or no. Under 16 GB NEED an SD slot. 16 GB, it depends on the person, I can usually get by on 16 GB, but there are times I wish I had more (loading up movies for a road trip for example). 32 GB or 64 GB phones don't need memory card slots. If you need more storage space than that, you are taking too much crap with you.

 

[Cattails_r_Edible]

No need for removable batteries!

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 2

 

[smooth4lyfe]

It's better to have than not to have... The option of it is great. For example a car doesn't NEED a car stereo, or it doesn't NEED hearer seats, but the option is much valuable. If u have a removable battery and u don't wanna remove it then don't remove it, but the option can only help u. Why take away that option for good?

Sent from my Galaxy Tab 7.0

 

[piggypigs]

I have a Maxx HD, (yes having a battery that size essentially invalidates any argument at this point, haha!), but before that, I owned a Droid 4 with a non removable battery.

With the direction that battery tech is going, the argument for NEEDING a removable one is slowly diminishing. Think about it, of all the flagship phones (RAZR HD, S3, DNA/One/ and Nexus 4), only one has a removable battery. Yes, that one has a huge market share, but its not because of the battery.

As long as you provide ample juice for a day, there really is no need to be able to remove it, IMHO. And this is becoming easier to do with the way software and processing is advancing (read: lighter UIs and less energy dependent processors). Now, there will ALWAYS be that group of people that either need longer than a day of charge (campers/outdoors-overnighters) or just beat down on a phone with streaming movies and data intensive apps. To them I say, 1. Buy a portable battery like this for long trips, and 2. If you're in a place where you can settle and beat on your battery (aka within a wi-fi network), then you are close enough to an outlet should you need it.

Direction of battery tech? What direction? Battery tech is one of the slowest in terms of innovation and improvement, partly because they are faced with hard real world limit, until someone find a new way to generate portable electrical power. So for the foreseeable future, the battery power is NOT going to get better.

As for the other phones that copied iFruity phone so slavishly in their design decision, it really does not say anything good about them. Android has always been about choices and TAKING AWAY choices used to be an iFruity thing, but now these companies seems to be getting away with it as well.

As for the need for a battery, other than the use of a second battery, there will be a need to replace the battery of the phone one or one and a half year down the road, when the battery life starts to deteriorate or even totally conk off. And a premium phone that is 18 month old will be perfectly serviceable AND if all things fail, can serve as a hand me down phone very well.

 

[piggypigs]

Nope! You are in a small minority! Most of us appreciate a more solidly built phone! If I need to charge when off the grid, I will just use my HTC power stik!

Remember what the doormouse said, feed your head!

solidly build phone .. from HTC? O you mean those gaps between the speaker plate and the main body of HTC One? And worse, now some are reporting loose speaker plate that is shaky and falling off. And how about those insensitive capacitive buttons?

The original poster was right, it is a matter of choice and Android is about having choices! It used to be that only iSheep will diss someone for asking for choices, but now it seems that even android geeks are getting into that act? Never thought I will see that day.

 

[chrisxpierce]

Not important, as I'm always near an outlet at home, and when i'm in my work truck.

 

[benhmadison]

I think people are missing the point here. If I buy an HTC one on a 2-yr contract that means the phone needs to last for two years. As I understand it, a li-polymer battery will need to be replaced after 700-800 charge cycles. If you charge your phone on average 1.5x per day that means the phone will not last for 2 years before the battery needs to be replaced, and the battery in the HTC one is virtually un-replaceable except by the OEM.

I don't think longevity of the battery life is a concern. Look at how many people are using Iphone 3g and 3gs models that have been being used for 4 plus years. at 600 plus charging cycles the battery starts to loose original capacity but is not shot by any means.

 

[monsieurms]

Lets get a serious debate about this. I have the rezound with the extended battery. I was not happy with the direction HTC was going with their non-removable batteries. However after some thought I realized I never remove my battery. ?

When it's important, it's critical. That doesn't mean it's important all the time or even most of the time. But when it becomes critical, that's a big issue. Why lose flexibility?

I was with someone on a business trip. He had an iPhone that died every couple of hours. When my battery wound down, I just flipped in another. He wasn't having a lot of luck charging in the car and getting net benefit. And even with an external battery pack, eventually you have to keep that charged, too. It's an extra complication and something big to carry. With a removable battery, a couple of ounces, fits in any pocket, no issue. Particularly convenient walking around a city. I can hardly hook up an external battery then, right? There are times when external has advantages and times when it doesn't. I like keeping my options and hedging my bets.

There is another issue as well, mentioned above. A lot of folks treat their batteries badly. When the battery starts to lose it, what do you do if it is a fixed battery? Unnecessary hassle.

The removable battery issue makes me kinda angry......

. Anyone agree?

Yes, well put.

 

[Haalcyon]

Having a removable battery is definitely not a necessity. The iPhone and others have tought that. However, being able to choose if you want to upgrade (w/a higher capacity) your battery that's definitely a nice option to have. However, with the advent of Mophie and its clones even battery upgradeability isn't much of an issue.

I think having a removeable battery is just icing on the cake. I've always been partial to icing myself.

Sent from me LTE Note 8.0

 

[monsieurms]

Surprising that this thread comes up in the HTC forum.

Maybe it should be reposted in the S4 forum for the counterpoint.