topic Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them? in Off-Topic

Removable batteries - do you miss them?

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 16:31:58 GMT

Sometimes the best course of action to resolve issues with electronic devices is to remove the power source to allow the RAM to clear.

With my current phone (Nokia 5) I've had to accept the lack of a removable battery.

Manufacturers say that using non removable batteries allows them more design flexibility by allowing change of shape etc.

I also think that, quite understandably they got sick of seeing news stories and twitter posts about devices going up in flames because genuine batteries with charge control and thermal runaway protection circuitry were replaced with cheap knock offs that didn't have this thus causing many of the publicised issues.

So do you miss the removable battery?

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

MI5 — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 16:34:06 GMT

Can't say that I have.
I have a juice bank if I need to top up when away from a power supply and I never used to carry spare batteries anyway.
There's always a reset button or switch press process to simulate a battery pull too.

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

jonsie — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 16:50:11 GMT

I can't say I miss them in all honesty but what I do miss is the simplicity of taking the back off and replacing the sim card after removing the battery. It's so annoying having to find a suitable needle or sharp pointed thing to mess with a sim carrier!

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

MI5 — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 16:54:25 GMT

@jonsie wrote:
It's so annoying having to find a suitable needle or sharp pointed thing to mess with a sim carrier!

This is so very true......

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

Glory1 — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 17:03:40 GMT

No I don't miss them. And fortunately my phone came with a 'tool' so I can remove my sim card without doing damage to either my phone or fingers.

I think, whether we like it or not, removable batteries are pretty much a thing of the past.

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

jonsie — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 17:12:28 GMT

My little tool was left in the Bangkok-Pattaya hospital when I was flown back home....and yes, I'm talking about the little tool for removing the sim card, not the other one

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

Anonymous — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 18:13:39 GMT

@jonsie wrote:
My little tool was left in the Bangkok-Pattaya hospital when I was flown back home....and yes, I'm talking about the little tool for removing the sim card, not the other one

Your little tool @jonsie? ... that's not the rumour I heard

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

Poppysmum — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 18:59:19 GMT

No i dont miss the removable battery

I use the ejection pin or thats what i got told in 02 shop it was called

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

Glory1 — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 21:51:00 GMT

Yep, same here @Poppysmum 😉

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

sheepdog — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 22:25:05 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

....

Manufacturers say that using non removable batteries allows them more design flexibility by allowing change of shape etc.

....

So do you miss the removable battery?

You mean the emotional industrial design of a rectangular black slab? Yet battery life has got worse with bigger devices that we've been apparantly telling the manufactures have to be thinner. Please Nokia, give us back the crazy designs you used to throw out onto the market that we love you for.

I really find it annoying having to do a reset by performing a multi handed contortion exercise which never worked first time then by some miracle worked. Are you listening LG Google Nexus 4? (power button, volume up or down and insert power cable. Repeat in any random order till the damn thing does something eventually and turns on). Recently discovered that my iPhone 5S resets if you press the home key plus the power button when all I wanted to do was take a screenshot that involves pressing the home button and the power button at the same time.

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

Cleoriff — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 22:41:16 GMT

@sheepdog wrote:

Recently discovered that my iPhone 5S resets if you press the home key plus the power button when all I wanted to do was take a screenshot that involves pressing the home button and the power button at the same time.

Bit of a bummer @sheepdog....

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

jonsie — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 22:47:10 GMT

Ham fisted @sheepdog, you held onto the buttons too long

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

sheepdog — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 22:52:40 GMT

@jonsie wrote:
Ham fisted @sheepdog, you held onto the buttons too long

Ah that's right, I was holding it wrong

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

Sammy_boy — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 23:04:09 GMT

Think you've missed the obvious advantage of removable batteries - replacing them when they die!
As things are if the battery dies/becomes faulty in a modern phone it's very hard to replace. Usually involves heat guns, pry tools, fiddly components and weired-shaped screw heads. I miss being able to simply pop the back off, swap out the knackered battery and off you go!
Very eco-unfriendly now, effectively shortens the lifespan of the phone though i do take the point on cheap, dangerous batteries people would invariably buy!

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

Reman — Sun, 06 Jan 2019 05:52:40 GMT

Because of this whole "Sealed for life" rubbish I'm still using a Galaxy note 3.

I use my phone for GPS while working and being in a cradle on the dashboard is a reasonably harsh environment for a Li-Ion battery to live in. In summer it get's quite warm from the sun, And in winter it's blasted with hot air from the vents that are trying to keep the windscreen from misting up. Heat REALLY shortens the lifespan of lithium batteries. Also, The note's on charge in the cradle, So when I leave the van to do a job and take it out it may only drop 2 or 3% of battery power before being dropped back into the charger. This is also bad for Lithium batteries. Because it's more useful to use my phone this way than carry yet another device for GPS I've always seen the 9 to 12 month battery replacements as just an acceptable cost for the convenience, But the notes getting old now and theirs nothing on the market with a removable battery to replace it with.

I've been told that the reasons for non removable batteries is so that they can have that all important "IP67" water resistance rating, and it allows the phones to become thinner. But as someone who doesn't care if a phones 2mm thicker, And also being someone who's never been stupid enough to drop their phone in the toilet or bath it seems strange to think that a big section of the market is being forced into a position where they'll need to replace their phone every year because clumsy fashion conscious fools can't be trusted not dunk their devices whenever they get within 10 feet of liquid.

The more likely reason is because sealing the phone pretty much FORCES everyone to replace their expensive devices every 12 to 36 months. Apart from the life expectancy of the batteries my note's been a very good phone. It still performs fine for around 95% of the tasks a new replacment phone would do (The 5% exception is pretty much just 3D games, And that's not a deal breaker for most folks), So why would I still upgrade every every year or so?........ Non removable batterys !

Apple worked this money spinner out, Then everyone else followed suit. it's just a way for them to keep making money...... OK, Non removable batteries CAN be changed, But it usually involves sending it away to one of the manufacturers repair centers for about 2 to 4 weeks and it costs about the same as buying a reasonable cheap new Chinese smartphone online (£100 to £130), So what's the point of buying an expensive phone anymore?

Would anyone pay £300 to £900 for a TV if they knew that in 1 to 3 years a once simple to replace fuse would blow, But because the manufacturer wanted you to upgrade, They'd made it so difficult and expensive to replace that most people who'd bought it just threw it away and bought another? So why do we accept this situation with smartphones?

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

Glory1 — Sun, 06 Jan 2019 07:21:47 GMT

You make a very good case for removable batteries @Reman. However, speaking as someone who doesn't have home wifi, only mobile broadband, and uses her phone for everything you do on your laptop/desktop, I'm not that bothered about non-removable batteries. I have to replace my phone every 2 years not because the battery has died but because I use it so much it's worn out.

And when I still had my Note 4 and could replace the battery, I did so 3 times with no visible improvement. The phone was just knackered.

My current phone, Galaxy S8+ is going the same way and even if I could replace the battery, it wouldn't help. So personally, I don't miss removable batteries.

Oh, and I've never dropped my phone in the toilet or bath either. Probably because as much as I love my phone and use it constantly, I never take it into the bathroom. There are some things I can do without it by my side 😊

I also always get a case for a new phone to protect it on the rare occasion I might/have dropped it.

But I can see your point and certainly agree mobile manufacturers have a money-spinner in non-removable batteries. To be honest, I can't see it changing any time soon. After all making money's what it's all about. It's certainly not looking after the consumer, not anymore.

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

Glory1 — Sun, 06 Jan 2019 07:39:30 GMT

Sorry @Reman I realise I've rambled on but didn't answer your final question. Why do we accept this situation. Because the majority of us, me included, can't be a$$ed to do anything about it! Sorry, this is not meant as a rude answer to your serious question just an honest answer. If people cared enough to complain or stopped rushing out to buy the latest £1,000+ phone simply because it's a new phone things might change. But I can't see that happening while a phone is a status symbol rather than something useful to keep in touch with friends or for GPS, like yourself.

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

Reman — Sun, 06 Jan 2019 08:49:53 GMT

Unfortunately that's part of the problem. If a company can still sell a product DESPITE it not having a feature a lot of folks would prefer it to have, Then the manufacturer won't reconsider their decision about omitting it. If they can make their product cheaper and get away with it they will.

Look at the iPhone. A significant percentage of iPhone users were up in arms when the 10 came out and they realised that Apple had deleted the 3.5mm headphone jack........ But most of them still bought one, And not long after that when Apple realised that this change hadn't hit sales they said that "No future iPhones will have the socket". Anyone who really wanted to plug aftermarket headphones into their iPhone could just go take a flying leap. If enough people refused to buy it then the iPhone 11 would have seen an about face by Apple and had the headphone jack.

If a noticeable chunk of Samsung's, LG's or Apples customers didn't upgrade their phones one year and stated on forums that the reason was that they didn't want to spend £300 to £900 on a "Disposable" sealed for life phone I'd almost* guarantee that we'd start seeing user replaceable batteries again.

(* That's only an "ALMOST" in case there could be something in that old conspiracy theory about how manufacturers have been forced to make it impossible to remove the battery from mobile phones because the government want to be able to use them to track bad guys......... I know that sounds paranoid, but if you read up on some of the things the US government have admitted to having done under the heading of "Anti terrorism" the phone battery thing doesnt sound entirely implausible.)

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

Glory1 — Sun, 06 Jan 2019 10:06:15 GMT

It was iPhone users I particularly had in mind, @Reman as they rush in droves to get the latest iPhone months after they purchased the previous release. And yes I remember people moaning because there was no headphone jack but still buying the phone. Now, personally no headphone jack no phone. I listen to music a lot and I don't assume my neighbours want to listen too. So I'm always using my earpods so I can listen without disturbing anyone else. Also stream a lot, so again don't want to disturb anyone else. I was worried Samsung would go the same route but so far not.

Anyway, if people want replaceable batteries they need to speak up and stop buying the latest phone, seconds after it's come out. I will be one of those people, I admit it. But I'm nit bothered about replaveable batteries as already said.

And no it's not paranoid to think the government want to keep track of ALL our movements not just the bad guys. Nothing any government does surprises me anymore. I trust them not one bit.

Re: Removable batteries - do you miss them?

sheepdog — Sun, 06 Jan 2019 16:26:31 GMT

Lets not forget the other silent killer of data slurping that requires always on in the background for no real reason. And the other annoying bit of operating systems being modified to intentionally disrupt battery usage when released. And you thought that security fix update is going to improve your phone's longevity did you....