New smartphones now have a higher likelihood of having a fixed internal battery today (Sony Xperia S, HTC One X, Motorola RAZR, iPhone) because it gives manufacturers more flexibility in the design and offers less potential user damage as well as reducing costs amongst many other reasons.
We of course hear many different viewpoints here and to be honest for many of us whether the battery is removable or fixed does not have a huge bearing in reality. Yes removable has advantages as does fixed so which side of the fence do you sit on?
Fill out our poll below and leave some comments below and we will see what the consensus is in another post in a couple of weeks.
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Can’t say I’ve ever swapped a battery out because it was flat, and it’s been a while since I’ve used an extended swappable battery – way too much hassle. I travel with a couple of external batteries in case I get stuck powerless(!)
I simply don’t buy phones without removable batteries; it’s a tactic that does not reduce costs or allow more flexibility: if it did we’d see this “glued” approach with budget models too, that reach all walks of life.
What it does do, however, is take power away from the user. It prevents people that benefit from spare batteries from taking advantage of them. Not all make use of them, but those that do are lost, or have to deal with more expensive external appendages attached to the phone: what a joke if you want a quick swap and put it in your pocket again.
In the second-hand market, non-removable batteries make replacing the battery a chore as its useful life expires with age and use. There is absolutely no benefit to them, except for the manufacturer, who wants to profit more from dissection and replacement. It’s a shame that people are being conditioned that this approach actually has advantages for them.
Much like fixed storage with no MicroSD expansion, manufacturers are hoping you don’t notice you’re being short-changed here and don’t seem to care about ‘green’ when it means they can make more ‘green’.
Fixed sounds like its beneficial for the company. Removable seems more customer friendly.