It's About the Battery

Apple did it with the whole non-removable or fixed battery because Steve Jobs didn't want anyone tinkering with the hardware. He gave direction for simplifying technology for the general mass with "it just works", and no hassle to knowing what goes on inside or trouble about what other things to buy like a memory card.

The fixed battery gave the advantages of a smaller and thinner body, less expensive to make without the extra housing, and ligther. Sony, HTC, and other followed suite with this idea to produce their own uni-bodied smartphones.

Until we have a technology that finally can hold 10 times more capacity for power using silicon base commercially, there's no where around the most practical method of maintaining the power hold ability by swapping batteries from time to time.

Apple was the first to implement the fixed battery concept. Making the device thinner was not the main idea for the first iPhone at 13mm thickness. The reason was that no one would tinker what's inside. Steve Jobs was very protective of that.

Then they did it with their laptops. The fixed battery for a laptop worked since only roughly 5% of people actually got spare batteries. The laptops became thinner without the extra housing for the removable batteries and they could be moved elsewhere in the chassis. This is good for laptops.

So now we have roughly half the thickness of the original 13mm fixed battery smartphone,and that achievement WASN'T done by the iPhone.

But there's are injustices of what a built-in battery system for SMARTPHONES holds.

1. Weaker and tinier battery.

With the more power demanding hardware, and new OS features, you'd think they would increase the batteries. Instead, they have resorted to "it got 20% thinner" and "it's waterproof" but in reality it's just water-resistant of about 1m depth and anything beyond that, water seeps in. Is a shorter usage time what you want with a 2mm thinner device? Switching off features like LTE just to get by the day?

2. Exorbitant prices for replacing built-in.

It would happen long after your warranty expires. Warranty for my region is only 6 months to a year. Battery degradation happens after more than a year. It'd cost you more than twice the amount at the service center. For big OEM batteries like the Note series, it's only around $25.

3. DAYS or even over a week to have them replaced.

Fixed batteries aren't always stocked, and hence the ordering time needed to get them. You can imagine too the millions the manufacturer has sold and you'd be not the only one in waiting. In the meantime, what do you think you'll be using as a smartphone? How much time you'd think going to the center and coming back again to get your device back?

4. Making us carry power banks, power jackets or plug in more, away from home.

I thought the whole point of mobile devices is being wireless. What use is that thinner design form factor when you end up carrying extra stuff thicker than your device itself? Power jackets just can't give you an equivalent 100% charge, heats up everytime and becomes dead weight.

5. Limiting capabilities & features and LTE signals.

Steve Jobs NEVER officially signed off with LTE for the iPhone. Verizon's CEO said so, only after Jobs passed away. We got iPhone5 users complaining about LTE signals not and switching to the 3G signal often. Apple never intended its users to download torrents, unless you do some hack configuring with the settings. They just don't want you draining that tiny 1500mAh battery they put in.

The removable battery system is very practical and much more efficient.

1. Better battery cycling and thereby longer life.

2. Seconds to get a full charge back than wait 2 hours to charge.

3. No need to carry the charger or a heavier power bank.

4. You have a choice of a third party extended battery, even trippling the capacity.

5. Safer to charge on a cradle than on the device as about 10% of batteries have chances to be unstable.

Charging the spent battery at home

6. Reduces the chances of theft while charging outside the house.

7. An extra battery is smaller and thinner to carry inside your pocket.

Fancy carrying the power bank on the right, or just that spare battery? 

8. When your battery finally gives up, you just buy a new one.

9. No need to pay for more expensive internal battery and wait for days to have it installed.

10. Your device becomes practically wireless without the need to plug in via the micro USB most of the time if you just charge the spent battery via the battery cradle.

A fixed battery gives the advantages of a smaller and thinner body, less expensive to make without the extra housing, and ligther. But it has less practicality to me. You'd have to get this which does not give you a full charge and becomes dead weight, or carry a bulky power bank