Modern high-end Android phones with a removable battery?


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You aren't going to find removable batteries on many high end devices anymore because it's really just not necessary at all anymore and weakens the design. Actually, I'm mostly at a loss aside from the Galaxy line. The Note has a removable battery, and I'm looking forward to the Optimus G Pro soon, it will be removable as well. Past that I think about all of them have gone non-removable.

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You aren't going to find removable batteries on many high end devices anymore because it's really just not necessary at all anymore and weakens the design. Actually, I'm mostly at a loss aside from the Galaxy line. The Note has a removable battery, and I'm looking forward to the Optimus G Pro soon, it will be removable as well. Past that I think about all of them have gone non-removable.

They are absolutely necessary for many people. It's frustrating being away from home for the day and having your battery die on you.

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You aren't going to find removable batteries on many high end devices anymore because it's really just not necessary at all anymore and weakens the design. Actually, I'm mostly at a loss aside from the Galaxy line. The Note has a removable battery, and I'm looking forward to the Optimus G Pro soon, it will be removable as well. Past that I think about all of them have gone non-removable.

I think more of the higher end phones have a removalable battery then do not right now, maybe I am totally wrong...

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They are absolutely necessary for many people. It's frustrating being away from home for the day and having your battery die on you.

Buy an external battery. It works for any device, not just one phone, it's easier to charge, it charges your phone without having to turn it off, and it's just as easy to carry around as an extra battery. Just find one with about 5000mAh and you'll get 1-2 charges from it, they cost about $30-$50 and are easily portable. Swapping batteries is a thing of the past now.

I think more of the higher end phones have a removalable battery then do not right now, maybe I am totally wrong...

I would have maybe thought the same as well until I read this and started thinking and looking. HTC One, One X+, no. Nexus 4, no. RAZR HD, no. Optimus G, no. Sony Xperia Z, no. That's most of the "high-end" phones. Last generation started doing away with removable batteries, this generation has almost completely done it.

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Buy an external battery. It works for any device, not just one phone, it's easier to charge, it charges your phone without having to turn it off, and it's just as easy to carry around as an extra battery. Just find one with about 5000mAh and you'll get 1-2 charges from it, they cost about $30-$50 and are easily portable. Swapping batteries is a thing of the past now.

I would have maybe thought the same as well until I read this and started thinking and looking. HTC One, One X+, no. Nexus 4, no. RAZR HD, no. Optimus G, no. Sony Xperia Z, no. That's most of the "high-end" phones. Last generation started doing away with removable batteries, this generation has almost completely done it.

I don't want a device hanging off of my phone via. a cable whilst I'm walking around using my phone.

An alternative is a "battery case/sleeve", which is what I currently use for my iPhone. However, the case/sleeve takes up a lot of space in my coat pocket when I'm not using it, since it's the same dimensions as my iPhone (only thinner and lighter).

So the best way to carry more power for a modern smartphone is by far carrying a fully charged second battery in your pocket. It's a no-brainer.

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I don't want a device hanging off of my phone via. a cable whilst I'm walking around using my phone.

An alternative is a "battery case/sleeve", which is what I currently use for my iPhone. However, the case/sleeve takes up a lot of space in my coat pocket when I'm not using it, since it's the same dimensions as my iPhone (only thinner and lighter).

So the best way to carry more power for a modern smartphone is by far carrying a fully charged second battery in your pocket. It's a no-brainer.

Well, unfortunately then you don't have many choices in high-end phones. You want a non-high end feature on a high-end phone. There's no reason an external battery wouldn't work fine unless you want to make it an issue just because. You say you don't want device hanging off of your phone via a cable, but I don't think you're walking for 12 hours at a time, and with your phone in your hand the entire time, are you? If you get a modern external battery with high output like 2A, you can charge your phone incredibly fast. Mine will charge my phone in about an hour. Even just 15 minutes gives me another couple hours worth of battery. And you don't have to wait until it's at 0% to top it off if you think you'll be on the go for a while. I assure you if you tried it you'd find no problem with one.

A battery case is just silly because it adds bulk 24/7 vs just the hour I need to charge. That and again, that's device specific so you'd have to rebuy every time you get a new phone, and I couldn't hook it up to my iPad if I happened to need to charge it, etc.

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Well, unfortunately then you don't have many choices in high-end phones. You want a non-high end feature on a high-end phone. There's no reason an external battery wouldn't work fine unless you want to make it an issue just because. You say you don't want device hanging off of your phone via a cable, but I don't think you're walking for 12 hours at a time, and with your phone in your hand the entire time, are you? If you get a modern external battery with high output like 2A, you can charge your phone incredibly fast. Mine will charge my phone in about an hour. Even just 15 minutes gives me another couple hours worth of battery. And you don't have to wait until it's at 0% to top it off if you think you'll be on the go for a while. I assure you if you tried it you'd find no problem with one.

A battery case is just silly because it adds bulk 24/7 vs just the hour I need to charge. That and again, that's device specific so you'd have to rebuy every time you get a new phone, and I couldn't hook it up to my iPad if I happened to need to charge it, etc.

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Why do people act like having a charger in their car/office to charge the phone while there is such an inconvenience? It isn't and doesn't impede your use of your phone, it's just pure laziness or something else

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Why do people act like having a charger in their car/office to charge the phone while there is such an inconvenience? It isn't and doesn't impede your use of your phone, it's just pure laziness or something else

Honestly I'd rather have a charger at work/car/home then carry around another battery with me all the time and have to worry about keeping 2 things charged... good point.

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Well, unfortunately then you don't have many choices in high-end phones. You want a non-high end feature on a high-end phone. There's no reason an external battery wouldn't work fine unless you want to make it an issue just because. You say you don't want device hanging off of your phone via a cable, but I don't think you're walking for 12 hours at a time, and with your phone in your hand the entire time, are you? If you get a modern external battery with high output like 2A, you can charge your phone incredibly fast. Mine will charge my phone in about an hour. Even just 15 minutes gives me another couple hours worth of battery. And you don't have to wait until it's at 0% to top it off if you think you'll be on the go for a while. I assure you if you tried it you'd find no problem with one.

A battery case is just silly because it adds bulk 24/7 vs just the hour I need to charge. That and again, that's device specific so you'd have to rebuy every time you get a new phone, and I couldn't hook it up to my iPad if I happened to need to charge it, etc.

So now your advocating against walking around with a battery, which are reasonably small, instead opting for people to walk around with a cellphone charger? Charging for 15 mins? Really? Do you understand the harmful effects that has on the battery's lifespan? Not everyone can keep a cell phone on a charger at work, just fyi.

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So now your advocating against walking around with a battery, which are reasonably small, instead opting for people to walk around with a cellphone charger? Charging for 15 mins? Really? Do you understand the harmful effects that has on the battery's lifespan? Not everyone can keep a cell phone on a charger at work, just fyi.

Modern cellphone batteries don't care how long or not they are charged, they just charge, that used to be an issue, but it was fixed before smartphones became popular

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Modern cellphone batteries don't care how long or not they are charged, they just charge, that used to be an issue, but it was fixed before smartphones became popular

my last two cell phones had to have their batteries replaced within the two year lifespan. Also my sister's iphone needed to have the battery replaced as well.

It was always similar to this issue where the battery begins to swell:

sony-ericsson-bst-33-swollen-wm.jpg

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I recently bought a used Galaxy S3 on ebay. The phone was in perfect condition except the battery could barely make it through the day just sitting in my pocket doing nothing. I purchased a new battery on Amazon for $10 and now I can easily make it through the day using about 20% battery. If I couldn't replace the battery myself, I would have to send it off and pay the manufacturer god knows how much and be without a phone during that time.

I previously owned an LG G2x. This phone occasionally locked up and the reset buttons (power + volume up) wouldn't work. The only way to reset it was to remove the back cover and pop the battery.

Furthermore, both phones had a removable MicroSD card slot. This made moving all of my files and apps to my new phone effortless. Plus, if my phone ever dies on me unexpectedly, I can simply remove the MicroSD card to recover my files. The ability to add up to 64GB of additional storage to my phone for $50 is also a nice plus, as opposed to the extra $100-150 the manufacturers will charge you for this much additional storage built-in. (Google Nexus 4 costs $50 more for a mere 8GB of extra storage)

It's not being lazy or whiny. A removable battery/cover is just damn convenient. And no, it doesn't make the Galaxy S3 thick, heavy, or cheap. Non-removable batteries are just a nice way to scam you out of more of your money.

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my last two cell phones had to have their batteries replaced within the two year lifespan. Also my sister's iphone needed to have the battery replaced as well.

Not sure what you all are doing to your batteries, I have an original Galaxy S that still holds charge and lasts most of the day under normal usage

I've never had a battery need to be replaced because it lost charge, and I'm on my 6th or so smartphone

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Not sure what you all are doing to your batteries, I have an original Galaxy S that still holds charge and lasts most of the day under normal usage

I've never had a battery need to be replaced because it lost charge, and I'm on my 6th or so smartphone

maybe your switching phones so often you dont notice it? I encourage you to google "battery swelling" and you will see that I am not alone. This is pretty common, and certainly was not resolved before smartphones became "popular". My current phone, Galaxy S2 (sprint) had the same issue, and required a new battery. You will find TONS of posts of people on XDA with the same problem. Just b/c it hasnt happened to you, doesnt mean that it doesnt happen to others.

here's an iphone 3gs that was posted on reddit.

pIejq.jpg

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maybe your switching phones so often you dont notice it? I encourage you to google "battery swelling" and you will see that I am not alone. This is pretty common, and certainly was not resolved before smartphones became "popular". My current phone, Galaxy S2 (sprint) had the same issue, and required a new battery. You will find TONS of posts of people on XDA with the same problem. Just b/c it hasnt happened to you, doesnt mean that it doesnt happen to others.

here's an iphone 3gs that was posted on reddit.

<image snipped>

You can tell that iPhone was battered over its life, though.

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They are absolutely necessary for many people. It's frustrating being away from home for the day and having your battery die on you.

Get a higher capacity battery, you can get higher rated batteries for the S3 that come with a new back cover that bulges out slightly.

gI_81155_37556.jpg

3000MaH one on left, original 2100MaH on the right.

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You can tell that iPhone was battered over its life, though.

regardless, that doesnt change the issue at hand. Batteries have not been perfected as was claimed. They still do swell up. Having the ability to swap a battery is a very nice feature, not only b/c a person can use an external charger and never have to worry about plugging up their phone near a wall, but b/c batteries do go bad eventually and its nice to be able to get to it without having to take the phone completely apart, (although I have no issue with doing that, and have done it several times).

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So now your advocating against walking around with a battery, which are reasonably small, instead opting for people to walk around with a cellphone charger? Charging for 15 mins? Really? Do you understand the harmful effects that has on the battery's lifespan? Not everyone can keep a cell phone on a charger at work, just fyi.

What? I don't think you read what I said very well. I'm not talking about a cell phone wall charger, I'm talking about an external battery to charge with. And charging for 15 minutes doesn't hurt it in the slightest. Not to mention, most non-removable batteries aren't really that difficult to replace if you really have to. I find it rare that modern Litium Ion batteries go bad before the the lifespan of the device is up these days, though I do know it happens. My Macbook battery is sitting on my counter bulged up needing to be discarded and replaced, but it was probably 4-5 years old before that happened.

The best way to keep your phone battery from looking like any of the ones pictured is to not leave it on the charger for prolonged periods of time.

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I find it rare that modern Litium Ion batteries go bad before the the lifespan of the device is up these days, though I do know it happens. My Macbook battery is sitting on my counter bulged up needing to be discarded and replaced, but it was probably 4-5 years old before that happened.

My current phone is 3 year old, and the phone before that lasted for 4+ years. My current laptop is about a year old, but the only reason it was replaced was because a 5 year old laptop was stolen. My desktop PC was built in 2009, and my game systems are all from before 2009.

In the instance of every-single-electronic-item that I own, having a 2 or 3 year ticking time-bomb would cause a premature end of life of the device.

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regardless, that doesnt change the issue at hand. Batteries have not been perfected as was claimed. They still do swell up. Having the ability to swap a battery is a very nice feature, not only b/c a person can use an external charger and never have to worry about plugging up their phone near a wall, but b/c batteries do go bad eventually and its nice to be able to get to it without having to take the phone completely apart, (although I have no issue with doing that, and have done it several times).

If your battery was swollen i'm sure the manufacturer would replace it for free, the last thing they want is a PR nightmare about phones exploding in peoples pockets/purses.

I've had my SGS2 for about 2yrs now and still don't need to swap batteries, lasts all day long just the same as when I first got it.

Got my Nexus 4 without even thinking about it.

-------

To the op though and on topic..

The SGS3 and 4 seems to be your only option really, all of the newest phones seems to have batteries built in lately.

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Honestly I'd rather have a charger at work/car/home then carry around another battery with me all the time and have to worry about keeping 2 things charged... good point.

I usually keep a charger nearby but rarely need one on my Note 2.It's not a big deal if I do need one.

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So far, I think I can only see that the Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4 offer this :(

Galaxy Nexus has removable battery.

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I feel your pain! I agree! All brands that use high-quality materials and make good looking high-end phones make phones with non-removable batteries :( HTC One, Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, LG Optimus G etc... We don't have a choice. Why Sony? Why HTC? Why LG? Although tempting, I personally will not be buying any of these phones and will be sticking with the ugly looking GS4 and why is this? Because of flexibility. If Sammy made a non-removable battery phone, I would have gone with one of the other companies' phones but now I will wait until the price of GS4 drops and will be buying that instead all because of removable battery + expandable storage. Also, USB OTG is a must! I am not in a hurry to get a new phone so I may as well wait until the price of SGS4 drops.

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