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Can anyone shed light on why the battery cannot be replaced like back in the day with (smart)phones? This is a real deal breaker for me, especially with the ver

Can anyone shed light on why the battery cannot be replaced like back in the day with (smart)phones? This is a real deal breaker for me, especially with the very limited battery life you would at least expect that it would be easily replaceable. I don't mind carrying an extra battery pack with me. At all.

aggronn 13y ago
afaik, the story has always been about being able to make the phone thinner.
highace 13y ago
Would you mind carrying a portable battery about the same size as the phone that can recharge the phone via USB? (this is my solution)
- kamjam 13y ago
  Plus a portable battery charges more than just your phone. And with USB being so standard and available pretty much everywhere, it almost seems like a non-issue. It's not like back in the day when you had to have separate car chargers for different phones for example. I've seem USB charging ports in trains, airplanes, airports, hotel rooms, portable camping battery packs and even some power extension cables.
- bentcorner 13y ago
  Yeah, my Nexus is coming today and while I'm not thrilled to hear stories about battery life, I'd be fine carrying around a backup battery. Something like this: http://amzn.com/B005X1Y7I2 http://amzn.com/B005X1Y7I2 seems to be small enough to be pocketable while having enough juice to help you out if you need it. The only problem I would have is remembering to keep the thing charged.
clarky07 13y ago
I find these comments interesting. I see them all the time, yet I have never had any battery issues with my iPhone. (that being said, my wife does tend to run hers down sometimes) Perhaps I just don't look at facebook and instagram enough on my phone, but I never have issues under normal conditions. I'd say I usually have > 50% left at the end of the day, and I very rarely get under 20%.
- bad_user 13y ago
  I don't know how the Nexus 5 is, but my Nexus 4 usually lasts for a day and a half and I'm always checking my email, writing messages, browsing the web and stuff like that. If I keep it idle, then it can last for 3 days, but that never happens. The big problem with smartphones is that if you forget to plug it in at night, the next day you can end up without battery in the middle of the day. I also have a dumbphone that I keep in my backpack for family emergencies. Battery lasts for at least 7 days, so I only have to remember to charge it once per week.
  - rallison 13y ago
    It all depends on how the phone is used. In my case, with a Nexus 4, the battery life is an issue. When traveling, I will often take multiple photospheres (computationally expensive). I will use it to do research on where I am visiting (lots of screen use). I use it for general browsing (more screen use). And in those scenarios, I rarely can go a full day without charging. That said, it seems the portable chargers are the preferred way now. They often hold enough charge for 4-5 phone charges, so that is nicer than carrying around 4-5 batteries. And, I can charge lots of other things with it as well.
    - mdwrigh2 13y ago
      > When traveling, I will often take multiple photospheres (computationally expensive). The computation is actually relatively cheap, it's keeping the camera open and on that's expensive. The camera is, bar none, the most power hungry component on modern smartphones.
    - bad_user 13y ago
      Hey, what portable charger are you using?
  - clarky07 13y ago
    >The big problem with smartphones is that if you forget to plug it in at night I hear that complaint a lot as well. Just not something I've ever had a problem with. I set it on the nightstand and plug it in when I go to bed. I don't think I've ever forgotten to do that.
ChikkaChiChi 13y ago
It's a thinness issue. If you want a removable battery you have to build a clip or latch system to allow the battery to be removable as well as a component shielding so that grubby little fingers don't go in there gumming up the works. Finally, a removable battery will have different receptors on it to allow it to be more easily swapped by laymen as opposed to a ribbon cable which takes a bit more finesse. You CAN replace the battery in these units..you just have to be better at your job than your grandmother replacing her cordless phone battery.
- ajross 13y ago
  The N5 is thicker than the galaxy s4, which has a removable battery and sdcard slot. It's likely more a decision driven by part count and assembly costs. I don't understand why the market doesn't demand this either. It was certainly a major driver of my phone choice.
  - maratd 13y ago
    > I don't understand why the market doesn't demand this either. The only time I ever used a removable battery is to cut power to my phone to do a hard reboot because it stalled. While this is useful, I wouldn't pay extra for it nor would it be a deciding factor. SD Card? Why? What do you people put on your phones? I'm lucky if I break 3GB with apps. Photos, movies, etc. on Dropbox where I have 70GB worth of stuff.
    - themstheones 13y ago
      If you load a buttload of mp3s on there and / or a small library of movies and tv shows, then 16GB is not that much. Especially once you add in a few hundred photos at 3 or 4MB a pop. And some of the more graphically intense games out now surpass the 1GB mark. And various social media apps have fairly large local caches. Examples include instagram, tumblr, and vine. So if you're just using a bunch of cloud services you don't need a lot of space, but not everyone uses their mobile that way.
      - 13y ago
qwerta 13y ago
My 'dumb' phone lasts 25 days on battery.
- bauer 13y ago
  What kind?
- themstheones 13y ago
  How fast can you text on it?
- latj 13y ago
  Over the years I have owned 1 blackberry, 3 models of iPhone, and 4 android devices. About 6 months ago my phone began restarting constantly through out the day. Instead of fixing it I decided to turn it off. The decision was a combination of a lot of things- I save money. I am aware of my surroundings. I think. A lot. Sometimes I talk to people on the train. Or I will print out a paper and not bring anything else with me. "You read this you lazy no-attention mfucka or you sit here and do nothing". I am learning to draw- also on paper. I do not care which wireless company has been revealed this week to have a direct back door for the NSA. No one ever calls me. This is a big deal for me. Even when I had a phone, there is rarely necessity or cause for disruptive synchronous communication. And, for everything I miss about phone ownership, there is almost always something good that came out of it. I miss maps. But I also never learned where anything was. I always depended on my phone even after living in a city for years. I miss being able to immediately find the results to some shitty singing compeition show. Others miss me being more responsive- my response time is now ~5-10 minutes during the work day but on the weekend it might be a few hours. But really, its ok. I would consider a really nice dumb device though.
  - marincounty 13y ago
    Yea, I notice a certain amount of freedom when I'm not walking around with a any hardware.
- krasin 13y ago
  And mine lasts ~40 days (Philips Xenium X130)
jsz0 13y ago
The battery door and clips presented a variety of design limitations that weren't worth the trouble anymore. You can get the exact same functionality with an external battery pack or extended battery life case.
- ris 13y ago
  > exact same functionality You've got a strange definition of "exact same functionality" when it means making the phone effectively double the size & weight for half of its operational time.

aggronn 13y ago

afaik, the story has always been about being able to make the phone thinner.

highace 13y ago

Would you mind carrying a portable battery about the same size as the phone that can recharge the phone via USB? (this is my solution)

kamjam 13y ago
Plus a portable battery charges more than just your phone. And with USB being so standard and available pretty much everywhere, it almost seems like a non-issue. It's not like back in the day when you had to have separate car chargers for different phones for example. I've seem USB charging ports in trains, airplanes, airports, hotel rooms, portable camping battery packs and even some power extension cables.
bentcorner 13y ago
Yeah, my Nexus is coming today and while I'm not thrilled to hear stories about battery life, I'd be fine carrying around a backup battery. Something like this: http://amzn.com/B005X1Y7I2 http://amzn.com/B005X1Y7I2 seems to be small enough to be pocketable while having enough juice to help you out if you need it. The only problem I would have is remembering to keep the thing charged.

clarky07 13y ago

I find these comments interesting. I see them all the time, yet I have never had any battery issues with my iPhone. (that being said, my wife does tend to run hers down sometimes) Perhaps I just don't look at facebook and instagram enough on my phone, but I never have issues under normal conditions. I'd say I usually have > 50% left at the end of the day, and I very rarely get under 20%.

bad_user 13y ago
I don't know how the Nexus 5 is, but my Nexus 4 usually lasts for a day and a half and I'm always checking my email, writing messages, browsing the web and stuff like that. If I keep it idle, then it can last for 3 days, but that never happens. The big problem with smartphones is that if you forget to plug it in at night, the next day you can end up without battery in the middle of the day. I also have a dumbphone that I keep in my backpack for family emergencies. Battery lasts for at least 7 days, so I only have to remember to charge it once per week.
- rallison 13y ago
  It all depends on how the phone is used. In my case, with a Nexus 4, the battery life is an issue. When traveling, I will often take multiple photospheres (computationally expensive). I will use it to do research on where I am visiting (lots of screen use). I use it for general browsing (more screen use). And in those scenarios, I rarely can go a full day without charging. That said, it seems the portable chargers are the preferred way now. They often hold enough charge for 4-5 phone charges, so that is nicer than carrying around 4-5 batteries. And, I can charge lots of other things with it as well.
  - mdwrigh2 13y ago
    > When traveling, I will often take multiple photospheres (computationally expensive). The computation is actually relatively cheap, it's keeping the camera open and on that's expensive. The camera is, bar none, the most power hungry component on modern smartphones.
  - bad_user 13y ago
    Hey, what portable charger are you using?
- clarky07 13y ago
  >The big problem with smartphones is that if you forget to plug it in at night I hear that complaint a lot as well. Just not something I've ever had a problem with. I set it on the nightstand and plug it in when I go to bed. I don't think I've ever forgotten to do that.

ChikkaChiChi 13y ago

It's a thinness issue. If you want a removable battery you have to build a clip or latch system to allow the battery to be removable as well as a component shielding so that grubby little fingers don't go in there gumming up the works. Finally, a removable battery will have different receptors on it to allow it to be more easily swapped by laymen as opposed to a ribbon cable which takes a bit more finesse. You CAN replace the battery in these units..you just have to be better at your job than your grandmother replacing her cordless phone battery.

ajross 13y ago
The N5 is thicker than the galaxy s4, which has a removable battery and sdcard slot. It's likely more a decision driven by part count and assembly costs. I don't understand why the market doesn't demand this either. It was certainly a major driver of my phone choice.
- maratd 13y ago
  > I don't understand why the market doesn't demand this either. The only time I ever used a removable battery is to cut power to my phone to do a hard reboot because it stalled. While this is useful, I wouldn't pay extra for it nor would it be a deciding factor. SD Card? Why? What do you people put on your phones? I'm lucky if I break 3GB with apps. Photos, movies, etc. on Dropbox where I have 70GB worth of stuff.
  - themstheones 13y ago
    If you load a buttload of mp3s on there and / or a small library of movies and tv shows, then 16GB is not that much. Especially once you add in a few hundred photos at 3 or 4MB a pop. And some of the more graphically intense games out now surpass the 1GB mark. And various social media apps have fairly large local caches. Examples include instagram, tumblr, and vine. So if you're just using a bunch of cloud services you don't need a lot of space, but not everyone uses their mobile that way.
    - 13y ago

qwerta 13y ago

My 'dumb' phone lasts 25 days on battery.

bauer 13y ago
What kind?
themstheones 13y ago
How fast can you text on it?
latj 13y ago
Over the years I have owned 1 blackberry, 3 models of iPhone, and 4 android devices. About 6 months ago my phone began restarting constantly through out the day. Instead of fixing it I decided to turn it off. The decision was a combination of a lot of things- I save money. I am aware of my surroundings. I think. A lot. Sometimes I talk to people on the train. Or I will print out a paper and not bring anything else with me. "You read this you lazy no-attention mfucka or you sit here and do nothing". I am learning to draw- also on paper. I do not care which wireless company has been revealed this week to have a direct back door for the NSA. No one ever calls me. This is a big deal for me. Even when I had a phone, there is rarely necessity or cause for disruptive synchronous communication. And, for everything I miss about phone ownership, there is almost always something good that came out of it. I miss maps. But I also never learned where anything was. I always depended on my phone even after living in a city for years. I miss being able to immediately find the results to some shitty singing compeition show. Others miss me being more responsive- my response time is now ~5-10 minutes during the work day but on the weekend it might be a few hours. But really, its ok. I would consider a really nice dumb device though.
- marincounty 13y ago
  Yea, I notice a certain amount of freedom when I'm not walking around with a any hardware.
krasin 13y ago
And mine lasts ~40 days (Philips Xenium X130)

jsz0 13y ago

The battery door and clips presented a variety of design limitations that weren't worth the trouble anymore. You can get the exact same functionality with an external battery pack or extended battery life case.

ris 13y ago
> exact same functionality You've got a strange definition of "exact same functionality" when it means making the phone effectively double the size & weight for half of its operational time.