User choice is always good, but for me, I prefer the water resistance rather than a swappable battery.
this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2023
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Can't say I have ever needed the water resistance, but I also never drop my phone, so I guess I'm in the minority.
I don't need swappable batteries because they wear out. I need them cuz I'm ADD and constantly forget to charge my phone. Having a spare fully charged battery when I have to head to work on my 60-90 minute commute is invaluable.
You can have a swappable battery and water resistance. Samsung galaxy s5 had a removable plastic cover and IP67 water resistance, so if the manufacturers tried they could easily have them both.
Also, if you do any repairs on a new phone you lose water resistance (unless you replace the silicone), while on the s5 you could just replace the battery and would just need to press the cover back on. After the repair the phone would still be water resistant, unlike the new phones with glass backs.
The only weakness with the S5 was the charging port having a cover that could easily break off, but modern ports these days are waterproofed, so they could just make one of those.
Personally, if they remade the S5, with a modern board and charging port (rather than the Micro-USB 3.0 monstrosity), I'd be very tempted to buy it. The IR blaster and everything else was just nice to have.
I had some use for the IR blaster, it's a damn shame the technology is no longer here. Audio jacks too.
I've missed swappable batteries so much. The convenience of having another loaded battery with you, increased drop resistance due to parts flying, replaceability. So good.
If you're worried of water resistance, get a water-proof case or be more careful with the device costing you possibly hundreds of dollars.
I feel like if a device is designed well there doesn't need to be a tradeoff. Removable batteries and water resistant would be amazing.
I’ve never lost a phone to water damage in my lifetime either before or after batteries became more difficult to swap.
I have bought some old used electronics lately. Having an easily accessible and replaceable battery in the Game Boy Advance SP and the Nintendo DSi is very nice though.
I’d probably replace the battery on my phone right now if I could.
I held onto my older GalaxyNote for this very reason. During the good times of PokeGo it was like having a super power to just switch out my battery and be back to 100%.
I'm all in for replaceable batteries. But don't think swappable batteries are possible with modern devices.
It's a question how "modern" you need your device to be as well. Despite being a small company, Fairphone is capable of producing fully repairable devices that are working great by my standards at least.
It's another thing engineers need to think about when designing phones, but most advances the last few years have been in terms of pointless gimmicks anyway. If they can produce phones with foldable screens, chances are they could manage replaceable batteries as well if only they wanted to.
Fairphone is awsome but it also has 4000mAh battery for a fairly heavy device. Nowdays Android phones come with 5000mAh batteries and 50W+ charging.
I'd be happy with 2 batteries and external charger, no need to charge fast and dirty.
Oh gawd yes. I love the EU.
The question is will this new system work like it used to be, as in can you just buy a battery from some seller in china or is it going to be similar to what we have now where the batteries are paired to the device.
The article never said a company like Apple couldn’t pair the battery to the device and charge €100 for it.
The article goes into it a bit but the downside to user replaceable batteries is that they are bigger while not giving more charge, you have to include the plastic casings to ensure that they aren’t damaged when being pulled out or dropped or thrown in bags so you do end up with a thicker device and while some devices may allow a hotswap if the phone is plugged into a charger that’s not guaranteed.
I also question the viability of it leaving the EU market, take Apple for example, they already make a different model for the US market and a different model for the china market and a different model for the international market for the 12,13, and 14 lines, they could just make it a Europe only model as it will likely effect the design of the phone in some ways. USB-C I can see coming to all models as it’s something that doesn’t affect the design as much and it’s already on their other devices. But we’ll have to see.
At this point I’d say for any skilled repair person replacing a phone battery shouldn’t be too hard but I guess this can make it easier. For the iPhone 14 lineup you heat up then remove the display, pull the battery pull tabs, life the battery and put in the new one then reseal the display and your good.
While having easy to swap user replaceable batteries seems nice on paper I worry it will lead to chunkier devices. I’m more in favor of right to repair, or basically requiring the parts such as batteries and displays have to be available to everyone including third parties at a reasonable price and ensuring that third parties can actually do the repairs without having to say call up a customer support line to recalibrate the battery(ie pair it to the device); cough couch, apple self service repair.
*disclosure; I’m a certified Apple partner repair technician and as such my view point may be skewed.
It'll definitely lead to chunkier devices, I just don't really care. Like, smartphones are insanely thin rn, I'd much rather have one that's more capable and built to last that's a few mm thicker
the eu hes already been through this whole rodeo with the charger debacle, they'll not allow a loophole like that
Its not really as easy for non apple repair techs to change the battery. If anyone but a certified person does I bet that would void any water resistance part of the warranty, possibly if anyone but apple specifically does it?
Easily changeable batteries that don't compromise water resistance would be really great, but that will definitely make them bigger.
And fortunately the Euros are choosing sustainability over convenience, which is the ethical and smart move. The whiners can STFU as far as I'm concerned.
If people won't choose to do the right thing I have no problem with limiting a tiny bit of consumer choice.