Iszi wrote:
I personally sort-of miss the days when phone batteries were easy to swap out, and you could actually charge the battery independent of the phone. Certainly phones should be able to last an entire day, even under heavy use, but when they don't (or at any other time your battery is low and chaining your phone to a charger would be inconvenient) it would be very nice to have the option available of just swapping in a fresh battery.
I understand there are special phone cases, and "quick charge" packs, and other accessories that can be used to fill in the gap here. But it always frustrates me when I realize that there's a feature actually lost in the transition from old tech to new. It would be better if such things could be facilitated by the device out-of-the-box. Sure, I understand I should have to purchase a spare battery if I want one. But I'd like if manufacturers would make it such that I have an easy way of charging the battery without having to have it inside a phone, and design the phone in such a way that the battery is easily (or at least capable of being) removed.
Not long ago, I had to get a replacement for a Samsung SYNC via wireless phone insurance. The phone screen had become non-functional but the phone worked otherwise. When I got the new phone, I kept the old phone around as a "battery charger". This worked great because the phone actually could carry a charge long enough (from a few days, to sometimes a whole week) that I'd forget to charge it until it's almost dead as I'm walking out the door in the morning. The phone back came off easily, and I just swapped the battery out. A short wait for the reboot, and I'm good to go.
Today, I have a Lumia 920. The battery isn't even user-serviceable. If I want a quick boost to 100% in a rush, I need to buy a third-party device to do it (if such is even available). Even then, I'd need to leave the third-party device attached for some time to charge the phone and I'm fairly certain that charging it any amount faster than its normal charging speed is not healthy for the battery.
Under normal conditions, the Lumia 920's battery will just barely last me a whole day. I attribute this longevity at least in part to the fact that I am obsessive about disabling features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Location Services, and NFC until I actually need them. When I turn one of these on, it only stays on for as long as I'm actually using it and then I immediately shut it off. (e.g.: To check into Foursquare, I turn Location Services on, do my check in, then turn Location Services right back off.) However, if I really use my phone for any amount of web browsing, casual gameplay, or streaming media, I usually end up having to charge it in the afternoon.
This being my first smartphone, I already feel myself longing for those batteries with week-long lives again. The convenience of Qi wireless charging helps soothe that ailment a bit, (I'm really a bit surprised at how much of a relief it is to just sit the phone down on the charger instead of having to mess with the plug) but I'd still rather be able to just swap out the battery and be 100% good to go in an instant.
</rant>