Ngl, the cringiest article by “no-free-chargers evangelist”
Ngl, the cringiest article by “no-free-chargers evangelist”
A gigantic wall of text just to say we don’t have free chargers for whatever reason. IMHO they totally miss the point of the controversy…
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Consumers partly killed replaceable batteries by demanding things they couldn't deliver. Waterproofing
Ehhhh...no, not buying it. We had water-resistant phones before the switch to non-removable batteries. For example, the Galaxy S5 (the last Samsung flagship with a removable battery) had an IP67 rating. The current Galaxy S24 has an IP68 rating. Go ahead, ask your average consumer what the difference is between IP67 and IP68, and how much they care.
Oh yeah, and the S5 also had a headphone jack and SD slot. You can do all these things and still have water resistance, so let's all please stop perpetuating these myths. If you're not on Apple's or Samsung's payroll, you do not need to lie for them.
Yeah, consumers didn't kill it the companies did. Same with audio jacks and SD slots. All things to push towards buying accessories, storage upgrades, and pushing people towards buying new phones as battery related issues pop up by making battery swaps an extra hassle needing servicing.
Yeah, I've replaced phones in the past that were perfectly fine except the battery was terribly degraded. With an iFixIt repairability rating of 2 stars and a new battery costing more than the phone was worth, it just didn't make sense to fix it.
My current phone is only two years old and while it's still "fine", the battery life is noticeably lower than it used to be. I doubt it'll remain useful for another two years.
Many brands now provide software support for longer than the hardware will remain useful (thanks to non-removable batteries). Strange times!
What's your usage pattern for those devices? Almost full discharge + fast charge?
Asking because I only noticed a very small degradation (judging by reported charge %) in a flagship device after 3 years. A midrange phone from 2020 with heavy usage (charged twice a day sometimes, often using a fast charger) for 2-3 years did not have noticeable battery degradation. A low-end device from 2016 had no noticeable degradation after 4-5 years. Another 5+ years old second-hand phone had some, but nothing catastrophic. The only case of bad battery degradation (shutdown at 20%, unreliable gauge, etc) I have only seen in 10+ year old devices.
Typically, I use a slow-charger overnight (a plain ol' USB type-A charger, which I think means 5W max), then top-up as needed during the day with USB-PD fast chargers. I generally do not top up to 100% during the day. I have adaptive charging enabled in settings.
That said, I'm a heavy phone user, and I've never had a phone that reliably lasts me a full day. According to aBattery, my current phone is at 750 charge cycles, which is just about 1 per day since I bought it. I'm not up to date on all the latest developments in battery tech, but I think it's normal for a battery to drop to 80% of its original max charge after 500 cycles. I don't think I have a dud on my hands, just an ordinary battery that is aging as expected. Like I said, it's still "fine". It hasn't started unexpectedly shutting off or anything like that.
I still have my old Pixel 2 (now 7 years old) that I occasionally use as a wi-fi device. I used that phone heavily for 2 years and very lightly for the remaining 5. I'm lucky if the battery lasts half an hour at this point; it's basically a desktop device now.
That said, I’m a heavy phone user, and I’ve never had a phone that reliably lasts me a full day.
Same. This time I just said "fuck it", and got a phone with huge battery. I mean, really huge. Lasts me 3 days when kept between ~ 20 - 90%. God knows what that percentage really means though.
It still shows 3.68V at "5%", and keeps charging long past "100%", so the way to ensure actual full charge is only with a USB tester. It also has some weird bugs with charging, so I recommend using a regular dumb 5V-only adapter or charge-only cable. In short - repeating split-second overvoltage on QC adapters, and no PC data after charging with original adapter until restart.
I don't need to charge it during the day, so this is OK enough.Anyway, most people would probably not want this. The battery is 22,000 mAh. Yes, really. And the phone is also 27.5 mm / 1.08 inch thick and 647g / 1.43lbs heavy. As I said, most people would probably not want this.
For comparison with your Pixel 2, it's like 3 and a half of them stacked thick, and 4 and a half of them heavy.
Ulefone Armor 24. A cheap bug-ridden experience. However, a unique one.
10 years ago, all I wanted was a brick-sized phone with a battery that won't quit. Now that we have cheap and reliable portable power banks, it's dropped down on my priorities list.
I guess a 22Ah battery would have a longer effective lifespan, too. I mean, if it drops to 50% capacity after a few years, that's still more that double most phones. So that would potentially solve my longevity issue.
And just for fun: There's also Unihertz Tank 3 Pro which additionally has 5G and... A BUILT-IN PROJECTOR, because why not. But it's also quite a bit more expensive. Of course, more performance for that price too.
Look at Samsung Galaxy XCover FieldPro: https://news.samsung.com/us/samsung-introduces-galaxy-xcover-fieldpro-rugged-smartphone-thats-built-tough-field-ready/
It was basically Samsung Galaxy S9 but in a rugged body, targeted for first responders and alike. Highlight:
Powered to last the day. With a replaceable 4500mAh battery and POGO pin charging, running low on charge is never a concern. XCover FieldPro ships with an extra battery and is field replaceable, meaning staff can easily swap out batteries while at work.
MIL-STD-810G, Anti-shock, IP68 Water and Dust Resistance
You can't really make an excuse for "waterproofing" after making device like this.
I'd really love something like this honestly. Physical navigation buttons and dock charging. Mmmmm. It makes so much sense on rugged phones.
Thanks for the higher sensitivity "glove mode", but give me buttons as well, damn it!That's actually a couple versions behind. I've got an XCover 6 Pro for work and I absolutely love it. The notification light and customizable buttons are my favorite.