4 ms·

What a shame that there's no standardized battery format (similar to AA, AAA etc..., but thin like for in phones) so that at least the batteries of those unused

What a shame that there's no standardized battery format (similar to AA, AAA etc..., but thin like for in phones) so that at least the batteries of those unused phones could be re-used elsewhere or replaced if the battery is EOL. But this would also be useful just to allow removing them to prevent the fire risk of old phones. Same would actually be useful with the screens, just have a few standardized physical rectangular screen sizes and make them swappable between phones so if one breaks you can re-use the one from your previous phone... (supporting different resolutions should be trivial for the OS)

graftak 3y ago
Closest you’re probably gonna find is a Fairphone phone, it has user replaceable modules quite similar to what Framework does for laptops.
- fsflover 3y ago
  Pinephone's battery is compatible with the one from J7 Samsung phone from 2015: https://beta.pine64.org/documentation/PinePhone/Battery/ https://beta.pine64.org/documentation/PinePhone/Battery/.
mensetmanusman 3y ago
Standardization has the downside of pausing development. Eg higher resolution screens that are being experimented on for VR but need a market to support. A standard sized battery would also affect on the screen sizes to choose from for designers.
- Aardwolf 3y ago
  Not by that much, look at a phone battery soldered to a phone PCB today, it'll fit in most form factors. If there are a couple of different standardized sizes, it could fit anything, and also allow combinations of multiple. Look at PC monitors: you can attach all kinds of monitors with different resolutions to PC's, and there exist some pretty exotic ones with eye trackers etc... too, and of course also various VR headsets can be connected too.
- jonnycomputer 3y ago
  Absolutley true. However, the form factors really haven't changed that much in the last decade; at some point, it makes sense to standardize, even at the cost of further innovation. I am absolutely grateful that my plumbing and electrical fittings are standardized. I'm grateful that most (old-school) electrical devices use the same four kinds of batteries, and get really frustrated at the coin-batteries that come in 20 something different sizes, because I almost never have the right size around. And I'm grateful that we charge almost all of our devices by a small number of USB connectors. Because standardization is also a boon to innovation, or rather, a lack of standardization can get in the way of innovating, especially at the level of interoperating services and hardware.
- yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
  I dunno; if phones were more like PCs, you could have a screen on the front that was a fixed physical total size and connected via standard connectors and still have a lot of room for variations, up to and including changing the number of pixels in that fixed size. That would still fall down when faced with ex. in-screen fingerprint readers or maybe punch-hole cameras (and variations thereof) but the majority of phones don't have those so you'd still win overall.
alkonaut 3y ago
The battery is normally the first part to go, so a battery replacement is the best way of making a 5 year old iPhone feel like a new iPhone. And really battery replacements is a bit too tricky with most phones, but I don't think standardization is the answer. Rather some acceptable treshold for repairability would be good. E.g. that you can buy replacement batteries for N years, that the phone accepts third party batteries, and that a pro or half-skilled person can replace the battery with some tools in 30 minutes without voiding the warranty even for a new phone. If those conditions apply then I'd much rather have that than a battery hatch or a standardized battery.
toast0 3y ago
Nokia had a decent set of 'standard' batteries. Major makers wouldn't use them, because they had their own range, but minor makers would often just use a nokia battery shape (sometimes with branded batteries, sometimes with existing knock-offs, sometimes with actual Nokia batteries). Of course, now that nobody wants to make a reasonable phone with a removable back, it's not that helpful. One hopes the EU regulations push us back on course.
- diggernet 3y ago
  Not even just minor companies. I have an old Garmin bluetooth GPS receiver that uses a Nokia battery.
Scoundreller 3y ago
You have the same kind of problem with electrified lawn/power tools. Can’t use your Dewalt battery on your Makita whatever or whatever electric chainsaw. I wish these batteries could just slide in and out of an electric car so you’re not having batteries sit around doing nothing. Maybe usb-d can solve all this!

graftak 3y ago

Closest you’re probably gonna find is a Fairphone phone, it has user replaceable modules quite similar to what Framework does for laptops.

fsflover 3y ago
Pinephone's battery is compatible with the one from J7 Samsung phone from 2015: https://beta.pine64.org/documentation/PinePhone/Battery/ https://beta.pine64.org/documentation/PinePhone/Battery/.

mensetmanusman 3y ago

Standardization has the downside of pausing development. Eg higher resolution screens that are being experimented on for VR but need a market to support. A standard sized battery would also affect on the screen sizes to choose from for designers.

Aardwolf 3y ago
Not by that much, look at a phone battery soldered to a phone PCB today, it'll fit in most form factors. If there are a couple of different standardized sizes, it could fit anything, and also allow combinations of multiple. Look at PC monitors: you can attach all kinds of monitors with different resolutions to PC's, and there exist some pretty exotic ones with eye trackers etc... too, and of course also various VR headsets can be connected too.
jonnycomputer 3y ago
Absolutley true. However, the form factors really haven't changed that much in the last decade; at some point, it makes sense to standardize, even at the cost of further innovation. I am absolutely grateful that my plumbing and electrical fittings are standardized. I'm grateful that most (old-school) electrical devices use the same four kinds of batteries, and get really frustrated at the coin-batteries that come in 20 something different sizes, because I almost never have the right size around. And I'm grateful that we charge almost all of our devices by a small number of USB connectors. Because standardization is also a boon to innovation, or rather, a lack of standardization can get in the way of innovating, especially at the level of interoperating services and hardware.
yjftsjthsd-h 3y ago
I dunno; if phones were more like PCs, you could have a screen on the front that was a fixed physical total size and connected via standard connectors and still have a lot of room for variations, up to and including changing the number of pixels in that fixed size. That would still fall down when faced with ex. in-screen fingerprint readers or maybe punch-hole cameras (and variations thereof) but the majority of phones don't have those so you'd still win overall.

alkonaut 3y ago

The battery is normally the first part to go, so a battery replacement is the best way of making a 5 year old iPhone feel like a new iPhone. And really battery replacements is a bit too tricky with most phones, but I don't think standardization is the answer. Rather some acceptable treshold for repairability would be good. E.g. that you can buy replacement batteries for N years, that the phone accepts third party batteries, and that a pro or half-skilled person can replace the battery with some tools in 30 minutes without voiding the warranty even for a new phone. If those conditions apply then I'd much rather have that than a battery hatch or a standardized battery.

toast0 3y ago

Nokia had a decent set of 'standard' batteries. Major makers wouldn't use them, because they had their own range, but minor makers would often just use a nokia battery shape (sometimes with branded batteries, sometimes with existing knock-offs, sometimes with actual Nokia batteries). Of course, now that nobody wants to make a reasonable phone with a removable back, it's not that helpful. One hopes the EU regulations push us back on course.

diggernet 3y ago
Not even just minor companies. I have an old Garmin bluetooth GPS receiver that uses a Nokia battery.

Scoundreller 3y ago

You have the same kind of problem with electrified lawn/power tools. Can’t use your Dewalt battery on your Makita whatever or whatever electric chainsaw. I wish these batteries could just slide in and out of an electric car so you’re not having batteries sit around doing nothing. Maybe usb-d can solve all this!