"Charge Opportunistically" vs Removable Battery

[bearxor]

I have no objection to removable battery. Yay!

1. removable battery with fully charged back up battery.
2. sealed battery and carry a power pack for travel.

both options are better than:
3. sealed battery, sit on the floor at terminal two near restroom because my phone is about to die and this is the only outlet available.
4. removable battery, forgot to charge backup battery, sit on the floor at terminal two near restroom because my phone is about to die and this is the only outlet available.

This is exactly how I feel. These people aren't travelers. They're amateurs.

 

[lopri]

@zaap: Those are beautiful shots and beautiful wallpapers. I thought the photos are from a commercial or something. You must have steady hands or a good camera. What is the theme you applied to your Note 3? Looks very very nice. Does that calendar scroll?

 

[Zaap]

If it had a nonremovable battery you probably could have seen 3,500mAh instead of 3,200mAh.

This is all pointless to this entire discussion.

If I have a 3500mAh battery vs. my *gasp!* 3200mAh battery (wow, such a difference) and it's internal and 5% charged and yet I immediately need it for another 8 or more hours- I'm screwed either way. I've got to amend my plans and tether my phone to something. (Unless we're talking about getting charge times down to 5 minutes or something.) Or carry around a big stupid battery pack while pretending to myself that that's more convenient than a much smaller removable battery that's ready for use immediately without altering anything about the phone or any way I need to use it.(Again, a warped reality that either/or thinking leads to.)

I'd rather have the option of just swapping the battery and not altering my plans of use in the slightest.

I don't like piddly itty-bitty phones with tiny screens that I can't do anything on vs. a phone the size of the Note 3, so your declaring it an exception in order for your 'much bigger' point to somehow work doesn't really matter. It exists. There'd be no making it "much smaller" with a non-removable battery. It's thin and light as it needs to be, with all the bennies of a removable battery. Win-win.

 

[Zaap]

@zaap: Those are beautiful shots and beautiful wallpapers. I thought the photos are from a commercial or something. You must have steady hands or a good camera. What is the theme you applied to your Note 3? Looks very very nice. Does that calendar scroll?

Haha, thanks. Nothing special- I just a shot of my N3 sitting on the headboard with a Canon T3i and a kit lens. I would normally take a quick photo just with the phone itself... except it is of the phone.

I'm just using Nova Launcher, with Nox theme for the system icons. Just started using the Zooper widget for the calendar, clock and stats. So far I'm liking it. Nope, calendar doesn't scroll (just highlights each day) but I like using Jorte calendar's widgets for a full calendar on another home page.

 

[Apex]

Are you kidding, the note 3 is about as large as you could go and still consider it a phone, of course it can fit a huge battery that's removable, it's a big phone period. If it had a nonremovable battery you probably could have seen 3,500mAh instead of 3,200mAh.

That sounds about right.

The Korean LG G2 comes with a 2610mAh removable battery (vs the 3000mAh one the US/International one comes with). It's also 0.24mm thicker than the US model, though maybe some of that is due to the microSD card slot.

For me (I have a G2), I prefer the 3000mAh non-removable, simply because I've never been able to drain the entire battery in a day's usage. However, I could definitely see how being able to swap would make more sense if I running out of juice regularly.

 

[mnewsham]

For me (I have a G2), I prefer the 3000mAh non-removable, simply because I've never been able to drain the entire battery in a day's usage. However, I could definitely see how being able to swap would make more sense if I running out of juice regularly.

That's essentially my experience as well, I have nothing against removable batteries, but with larger nonremovable batteries I just haven't seen the NEED for one in my use.

 

[KeithTalent]

I would prefer to just have longer lasting batteries, but as things are now, I absolutely must have a removable battery. I go on very long runs and walks, using GPS, apps, and my screen for longs periods, so my battery drains rather quickly. Charging is not an option, so just having a back-up battery in my pocket makes the most sense. They are small, thin, and easy to carry around.

As long there are phones with removable batteries, those will be the phones I buy.

KT

 

[thedosbox]

I honestly am offended by the concept that "opportunistic charging" is the answer for non-removable batteries.

I'm offended that you're offended that other people may have a different preference.

 

[podspi]

Another plus to removable batteries are that you can easily replace... the battery.

The battery is a consumable, therefore I want to be able to replace it. Forget about day to day use, you can't replace your internal battery with a battery pack. True, most people update their phones often, but the time is coming where current phones will be good enough for years, and at that point I bet the thing driving many people to upgrade will be because their internal battery is hosed.

 

[sweenish]

Another plus to removable batteries are that you can easily replace... the battery.

The battery is a consumable, therefore I want to be able to replace it. Forget about day to day use, you can't replace your internal battery with a battery pack. True, most people update their phones often, but the time is coming where current phones will be good enough for years, and at that point I bet the thing driving many people to upgrade will be because their internal battery is hosed.

This is the argument for easily replaceable batteries I like best.

 

[Zaap]

^True, but non-removable doesn't always mean *completely* non-removable. Often (as with iPhones) it just means not really convenient to remove. But often you can replace it with a bit of surgery if the battery is actually hosed.

I'm sure there must be phone models though where an internal battery is totally soldered in and can't be replaced at all. If so, that would truly suck for longevity.

 

[Zodiark1593]

Another plus to removable batteries are that you can easily replace... the battery.

The battery is a consumable, therefore I want to be able to replace it. Forget about day to day use, you can't replace your internal battery with a battery pack. True, most people update their phones often, but the time is coming where current phones will be good enough for years, and at that point I bet the thing driving many people to upgrade will be because their internal battery is hosed.

My own phone (LG G2X) is an example of that. Got it from mom when she upgraded, battery was swollen, but replaced it for $30. If the battery was soldered, It would be SOL.

 

[WelshBloke]

"opportunistic charging" is just an euphemism for "my battery is too small for my usage pattern".

I like removable batteries because I can use different sized batteries for different patterns.
For my standard work shifts and day to day use I use a Samsung 3000mAh battery in my S3.
If I'm going out at night and wearing a suit I'll put the slim standard battery in.
If I'm going camping I'll slap a huge arse fatty on there.

 

[PowerYoga]

I'm sure there must be phone models though where an internal battery is totally soldered in and can't be replaced at all. If so, that would truly suck for longevity.

Those would be like ticking time bombs. Batteries are one of the most volatile components in the phone, and if you don't charge it on a regular basis the battery tends to break down and degrade in the best case scenario. It would make whatever phone that this is soldered to prohibitively expensive to replace and would likely never happen.

 

[Brian Stirling]

The concept of opportunistic charging is just dumb if it means the battery is so small that you HAVE to top it off once or more most days -- better to have a bigger battery and NOT have to do that.

OTH, if you forget to charge or you've been supper heavily hammering the phone all day and the charge drops I see no shame in plugging it in or swapping the battery.

I'm not as bugged about soldered in batteries as I once was since the battery life for Android phones has gotten better over the last few years, but if the battery isn't large enough to comfortably go all day with heavy use then it should be removeable.

When you get to the 5" class of phones there's enough volume to handle at least 3000mahr and that should be the bottom line and I can see upwards of 4000mahr. As I've said many times I'd gladly trade a little increase in thickness for a honkin battery that won't let me down when I need it...


Brian

 

[TheStu]

^True, but non-removable doesn't always mean *completely* non-removable. Often (as with iPhones) it just means not really convenient to remove. But often you can replace it with a bit of surgery if the battery is actually hosed.

I'm sure there must be phone models though where an internal battery is totally soldered in and can't be replaced at all. If so, that would truly suck for longevity.

I think that the HTC 8x is that way, with its stacked design. The battery is actually sandwiched between the display and PCB.

 

[lopri]

"opportunistic charging" is just an euphemism for "my battery is too small for my usage pattern".

I think this is an accurate summation. (albeit slightly euphemistic ) Thus one should choose a right device, preferably after some research, to her/his usage model.

I chose the Nexus 5 despite my strong urge to go with the Note 3. There are many reasons, but chief among them is that I have a tablet with a data plan, which I can take with me without much inconvenience. It's not a phone, to be sure, but it can split battery time as well as data (in the same data pool) with the N5, mitigating somewhat the N5's penchant for battery consumption during active use.

There are things that will reach the ceilings on devices (e.g. screen sizes), but battery life may remain polarizing topic because we spend more and more time on smartphones and tablets.

 

[Nec_V20]

I have a pair of 50000 mAh battery packs from which I can charge two devices simultaneously. One of the power packs is always on charge whilst I carry the other one around.

I have very rarely used it for myself. Mainly I help out folks whose phones have run out of juice because they are too bollock stupid to plug them in to charge them before going out.

We did end up having an impromptu party at a friends new flat and she didn't have any music. So I got out my Tab 2 7.0, Mini Kai Bluetooth speaker and Corsair Voyager Air Wifi/Gigabit Ethernet/USB 512GB external hard drive, we got in some booze and started to party.

When the speakers were running low I charged them, then the tablet started getting low and I had that on charge and also the external hard drive. It went on for a good eleven hours or so.

 

[bearxor]

50,000 or 5,000?

I'd imagine 50,000 would be pretty large but man would it sure charge a lot of stuff

 

[mnewsham]

50,000 or 5,000?

I'd imagine 50,000 would be pretty large but man would it sure charge a lot of stuff

Yeah 50000mah would be enough for all of those devices for days! xD

 

[gorcorps]

50,000 or 5,000?

I'd imagine 50,000 would be pretty large but man would it sure charge a lot of stuff

Yeah 50000mah would be enough for all of those devices for days! xD

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E9LV4UG/..._ospOsb1PFB8V3

 

[bearxor]

Yeah, I went and looked it up. That's still pretty huge.

Obviously, there's a market for one that big, but I wouldn't want to lug one around unless I was going to be away from an outlet for weeks.

 

[Nec_V20]

50,000 or 5,000?

I'd imagine 50,000 would be pretty large but man would it sure charge a lot of stuff :d

50,000

 

[Nec_V20]

Yeah, I went and looked it up. That's still pretty huge.

Obviously, there's a market for one that big, but I wouldn't want to lug one around unless I was going to be away from an outlet for weeks.

Yeah but you wouldn't mind my lugging it around for you to get a charge if you ran out.

It's not all that big actually it is LxBxW 135mmx70mmx20mm and fits easily enough into my jacket.

 

[bearxor]

You can charge my 5,000mah charger with it, lol!