4 ms·

The tradeoff is "back cover that comes off in an instant, whenever you want it to" versus "back cover that comes off in an instant, even when you don't want it

The tradeoff is "back cover that comes off in an instant, whenever you want it to" versus "back cover that comes off in an instant, even when you don't want it to."

onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
Why can't the back cover just screw on and off? How often do you need to replace your battery? Maybe twice in 4 years? What percentage of people keep a phone for more than 4 years? 5%?
- billfor 4y ago
  Not so much replacing as swapping for a spare to double life without recharging.
  - userbinator 4y ago
    Samsung even made an ad about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hIoyb9L5g0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hIoyb9L5g0 ...but then stopped making removable batteries after that.
    - toastal 4y ago
      Like Google teasing Apple for removing the headphone jack and then following that anti-usability trend on next year's model.
- 6510 4y ago
  I had a dumb phone back in the days that ran on 4 conventional AA batteries. Opening the lid and swapping 4 batteries is less convenient than swapping a single flat cell but its so much better than being wired to the wall or using a clumsy power bank with a cable that is always to short and to long at the same time. The whole charging ritual is far more absurd than it seems. The screen needs to power down, there has to be a power savings mode. With intense use (normal?) and erratic charging patterns batteries degrade much faster than advertised. I mean, I read "lifespan is 2 – 3 years, which is about 300 – 500 charge cycles" when actually used you get about 5 hours out of a charge. real use say 3 months, running from socket to socket. LOL Cant stop laughing thinking about it, luxurious homes with all the trimmings then have the whole family gather around the extension cord. Like on a construction site. Imagine guns worked like this. We can glue in the cartridge and you'd be able to shoot people for many years? 6 shots should be enough for 3 years when the software expires.
- lucb1e 4y ago
  Nowadays? Never, obviously. The odds of me breaking the phone are so large, and the tools I need specialized enough, that I need a new phone on stand-by anyway. No point replacing the battery if I already bought a new one just in case I break the old one by trying to do something as weird as replacing a wear-heavy part. So it has fallen out of style. There is no market for spare batteries and using them as range extenders is not common use. It seems like an outlandish thing to do now. I think I went through three batteries on my Galaxy Note 2 (first Android phone) before upgrading. Apps dropping support became a problem... nothing wrong with the hardware at the time where I felt forced to trash it. Anyway, carrying an extra battery for long travel days was not a weird thing to do. I also remember non-tech people having spare batteries for Nokias (when they became more capable; not when the only use was calling your mom to say you were going to a friend's after school).
atchoo 4y ago
I never had a problem with a Note 4. The way you could buy cases that replaced the back cover meant for a much thinner profile phone than the typical metal case wrapped in silicone. Replaceable batteries are glorious. I never plugged-in my phone, just flipped the battery with one from the charger when I left the house. Instant 100% battery. Travelling? Just take a few charged batteries at a fraction of the weight of a power-bank and much more convenient.
- dkjaudyeqooe 4y ago
  Somehow this very important use case is lost on modern phone makers.
cptaj 4y ago
My decades of experience with easily removable back covers tells me this is a complete non-issue. The back cover coming off accidentally has never happened to me.
- dsr_ 4y ago
  It happened to me repeatedly with two different phones, but never when I had a protective case on the phone -- and I always buy one.
- Tempest1981 4y ago
  For me, it's more of a fidget-spinner. I keep popping it off and on when bored.
- lucb1e 4y ago
  Moreover, the battery coming out seemed to act as a shock absorber. If you do throw it hard enough for it to come out, and that was rare for me, at least something gives instead of breaks. Ah, the memories of classmates playing soccer with phones in high school... phones could run MSN, browse websites (without JS! The .mobi site owners were just forced to make sites lightweight), play Java-based games, had replaceable screen covers, honestly what more should we want? That it's now open source Android instead of proprietary Symbian is great, but slap a touchscreen on it for web browsing and upgrade it from GPRS to 4G or so, and theoretically we could just have nice things.
- Animats 4y ago
  It has for me, and that was a Caterpillar ruggedized phone.

The tradeoff is "back cover that comes off in an instant, whenever you want it to" versus "back cover that comes off in an instant, even when you don't want it to."

onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago

Why can't the back cover just screw on and off? How often do you need to replace your battery? Maybe twice in 4 years? What percentage of people keep a phone for more than 4 years? 5%?

billfor 4y ago
Not so much replacing as swapping for a spare to double life without recharging.
- userbinator 4y ago
  Samsung even made an ad about it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hIoyb9L5g0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hIoyb9L5g0 ...but then stopped making removable batteries after that.
  - toastal 4y ago
    Like Google teasing Apple for removing the headphone jack and then following that anti-usability trend on next year's model.
6510 4y ago
I had a dumb phone back in the days that ran on 4 conventional AA batteries. Opening the lid and swapping 4 batteries is less convenient than swapping a single flat cell but its so much better than being wired to the wall or using a clumsy power bank with a cable that is always to short and to long at the same time. The whole charging ritual is far more absurd than it seems. The screen needs to power down, there has to be a power savings mode. With intense use (normal?) and erratic charging patterns batteries degrade much faster than advertised. I mean, I read "lifespan is 2 – 3 years, which is about 300 – 500 charge cycles" when actually used you get about 5 hours out of a charge. real use say 3 months, running from socket to socket. LOL Cant stop laughing thinking about it, luxurious homes with all the trimmings then have the whole family gather around the extension cord. Like on a construction site. Imagine guns worked like this. We can glue in the cartridge and you'd be able to shoot people for many years? 6 shots should be enough for 3 years when the software expires.
lucb1e 4y ago
Nowadays? Never, obviously. The odds of me breaking the phone are so large, and the tools I need specialized enough, that I need a new phone on stand-by anyway. No point replacing the battery if I already bought a new one just in case I break the old one by trying to do something as weird as replacing a wear-heavy part. So it has fallen out of style. There is no market for spare batteries and using them as range extenders is not common use. It seems like an outlandish thing to do now. I think I went through three batteries on my Galaxy Note 2 (first Android phone) before upgrading. Apps dropping support became a problem... nothing wrong with the hardware at the time where I felt forced to trash it. Anyway, carrying an extra battery for long travel days was not a weird thing to do. I also remember non-tech people having spare batteries for Nokias (when they became more capable; not when the only use was calling your mom to say you were going to a friend's after school).

atchoo 4y ago

I never had a problem with a Note 4. The way you could buy cases that replaced the back cover meant for a much thinner profile phone than the typical metal case wrapped in silicone. Replaceable batteries are glorious. I never plugged-in my phone, just flipped the battery with one from the charger when I left the house. Instant 100% battery. Travelling? Just take a few charged batteries at a fraction of the weight of a power-bank and much more convenient.

dkjaudyeqooe 4y ago
Somehow this very important use case is lost on modern phone makers.

cptaj 4y ago

My decades of experience with easily removable back covers tells me this is a complete non-issue. The back cover coming off accidentally has never happened to me.

dsr_ 4y ago
It happened to me repeatedly with two different phones, but never when I had a protective case on the phone -- and I always buy one.
Tempest1981 4y ago
For me, it's more of a fidget-spinner. I keep popping it off and on when bored.
lucb1e 4y ago
Moreover, the battery coming out seemed to act as a shock absorber. If you do throw it hard enough for it to come out, and that was rare for me, at least something gives instead of breaks. Ah, the memories of classmates playing soccer with phones in high school... phones could run MSN, browse websites (without JS! The .mobi site owners were just forced to make sites lightweight), play Java-based games, had replaceable screen covers, honestly what more should we want? That it's now open source Android instead of proprietary Symbian is great, but slap a touchscreen on it for web browsing and upgrade it from GPRS to 4G or so, and theoretically we could just have nice things.
Animats 4y ago
It has for me, and that was a Caterpillar ruggedized phone.