Would you buy a new phone where you can't take the battery out?

[Danielx64]

So I am looking at new phones, and I narrowed it down to those 2:

http://www.ztemobiles.com.au/A462.htm

http://www.ztemobiles.com.au/feature_Blade_QLux.htm

The Telstra 4GX Plus is newer while the Telstra 4GX Buzz is older but it lets you take the battery out.

Both have 4GX and can take a 32GB memory card.

So yeah what would you do?

 

[Maddox]

If it came down to it I'd go for the latest. Many high-end phones now have fixed batteries so it has a tendency to be the norm. I'm not too fussed about being able to remove the battery as long as it lasts for the life of the phone - that latter to me is as long as I have it lol.

 

[pierce]

New phones needing to be ultra slim cannot have removable backs.

It wouldn't surprise me if our cosey EU overlords don't look at Samsung and say - battery must be removable in new electronic goods.

 

[LeadCrow]

I wouldnt recommend devices lacking a removable battery generally, especially expensive ones. Batteries degrade over time with even casual usage after all.

However, its be ok if its near-mint or a reliable model whose battery will last longer than I own it. But even then batteries would have to be remplacable.

 

[Joeychgo]

I've had my iPhone 5 for 4 years --- battery is fine. Not removable - No problems with it either.

 

[davemacc]

A replaceable battery is only really useful if you are going to be carrying and using a spare battery. Modern lithium batteries will easily go for 2 years before beginning to degrade.
Most of the time a drop in battery life can be traced back to the way the phone is set up or to apps on the phone. A back up and reset every 3-6 months does wonders.

I am not really familiar with ZTE devices but the battery in those phones does seem quite small, although the specs seem to be quite low as well, which might allow for the smaller capacity. I assume that they are mid range devices as opposed to high end.

 

[Danielx64]

A replaceable battery is only really useful if you are going to be carrying and using a spare battery. Modern lithium batteries will easily go for 2 years before beginning to degrade.
Most of the time a drop in battery life can be traced back to the way the phone is set up or to apps on the phone. A back up and reset every 3-6 months does wonders.

I am not really familiar with ZTE devices but the battery in those phones does seem quite small, although the specs seem to be quite low as well, which might allow for the smaller capacity. I assume that they are mid range devices as opposed to high end.

I'm more incline to say that they are in the low end range (but I could be wrong). Both of then are $100AUD so they not the most expensive (but there is not many that is cheaper).

The spec for the Buzz shows up to 10hrs talk time and up to 300 hours standby time. Not sure if that's good or not. But then I put my phone on charge every night as well.

I guess that the 4GX Plus would have the same talk and standby time but I don't downloaded the manual yet.

 

[pierce]

I remember when I was a kid if we got 10 minutes out of a battery we were the happiest thing since sliced bread!

Now it doesn't last 6am to 12 midnight its junk... despite being connected to the internet, vastly more complex than a flashlight...

 

[Creaky]

Not bothered in the slightest, phones I've had recently couldn't remove the battery.

 

[Jake]

Well the older phone says it has android 5.0.2 which has a ton of unfixed security issues. I'm using an iPhone 7 plus without a removable battery, I think the last phone I had with a removable battery was an old galaxy

 

[zappaDPJ]

As a matter of interest, what are the benefits of having a removable battery?

 

[Jake]

As a matter of interest, what are the benefits of having a removable battery?

Probably a similar benefit of having a microsd slot instead of flash storage, just not sure what benefit is there

 

[LeadCrow]

It helps keep phones in use longer. When a battery dies on you, you just buy a new one instead of replacing the whole phone. Obviously OEMs hate that.

 

[davemacc]

Well the older phone says it has android 5.0.2 which has a ton of unfixed security issues

AFAIK all the published vulnerabilities with all versions of lollipop were patched, mainly with ota background fixes. I know some vulnerabilities require a kernel update but that would be the manufacturers responsibility.

I'm more incline to say that they are in the low end range (but I could be wrong). Both of then are $100AUD so they not the most expensive (but there is not many that is cheaper).

I don't know much about the Australian market but €100 gets you a mid range spec phone on a small monthly bill in Ireland. Looking at the specs they would be relatively low end on screen size etc.

 

[mysiteguy]

Benefits of a removable battery:

You can carry a spare battery to extend phone use when charging isn't convenient. They are extremely small and can fit in a wallet.
You can keep the phone longer than the average battery life span without having to put up with decreased charge capacity.
You can swap out the OEM battery for a higher capacity battery.

 

[LeadCrow]

Aside the desirability of removable batteries, one should prefer picking devices running Marshmallow.
The combo of old Android version (lacking Doze and more privacy-friendly permission execution) and non-removable battery makes both options less interesting, especially with less than 2GB RAM.

 

[Jake]

Aside the desirability of removable batteries, one should prefer picking devices running Marshmallow.
The combo of old Android version (lacking Doze and more privacy-friendly permission execution) and non-removable battery makes both options less interesting, especially with less than 2GB RAM.

Any reason you prefer marshmallow over nougat?

 

[Danielx64]

Well the older phone says it has android 5.0.2 which has a ton of unfixed security issues. I'm using an iPhone 7 plus without a removable battery, I think the last phone I had with a removable battery was an old galaxy

That's a point, so I take it that I wouldn't be getting updates for it now? What's Android 6.0 like?

As a matter of interest, what are the benefits of having a removable battery?

Probably a similar benefit of having a microsd slot instead of flash storage, just not sure what benefit is there

Well if there ever been a problem with the battery then I can get that replaced without needing to replace the entire phone - look at what happen with Samsung

Aside the desirability of removable batteries, one should prefer picking devices running Marshmallow.
The combo of old Android version (lacking Doze and more privacy-friendly permission execution) and non-removable battery makes both options less interesting, especially with less than 2GB RAM.

I'm not too worried about ram as I would only be doing internet surfing, downloading and making calls and sending texts. I got no interest in using the facebook/twitter or any other of those apps. (unless internet surfing use a lot of ram).

 

[Jake]

That's a point, so I take it that I wouldn't be getting updates for it now? What's Android 6.0 like?

6.0 added a bunch of optimizations that increase battery life, and Android 7.0 (which was released in August) improves the battery saving features and adds a multi window view and some other things. 7.1 (released a few days ago) improves all of that. If you get a phone with Android 5.0.2 you're almost 2 years behind on updates.

Well if there ever been a problem with the battery then I can get that replaced without needing to replace the entire phone - look at what happen with Samsung

That's not even close to comparable. They did send out replacements with new batteries and those had issues too. And if a phone is having issues with their battery exploding you'd be better off getting a new phone than just replacing the battery and hoping for the best. There are a lot of fail safes throughout the phone to protect the battery, so I'm not sure 100% of the blame is on the battery anyways

If you're really worried about quality you probably shouldn't be buying a $100 phone from some budget manufacturer

 

[lordi]

non removable doesn't mean you cant replace it,
so yeah if the phone specs is good, I would consider to buy it