I really miss removable batteries and microSD slots on Android

It’s one factor to observe a video of the Fairphone 5 being taken aside, it was one other to carry it in my hand for the primary time and understand how totally different it feels in comparison with immediately’s Android telephones. It instantly jogged my memory of Nokia beneath its two identities: the nice ol’ Nokia of customizable again covers and detachable batteries, and the brand new HMD Nokia of pure Android and barely utilitarian {hardware} designs.

Earlier than even turning on the Fairphone 5, I popped open the clear rear cowl and took out the battery. It felt like I used to be thrown again in time to my first cellphone expertise in 2003. Telephones had been designed round comfort and repairability then; you might take off the again and/or entrance frames and alter your total cellphone’s shade for $20. Batteries lasted round a yr, so that you’d get a brand new one when the unique battery began exhibiting getting old indicators. And mom-and-pop retailers had been all the time prepared with a few screwdrivers for those who wanted to repair one thing.

With the battery out, I noticed one other relic of instances previous — a microSD card slot. Barring a number of smartphones with expandable storage, immediately’s flagships with their $100 further per storage tier made me neglect what this was like. What do you imply I can pop in a $12 microSD card and abruptly, I’ve 128GB of additional storage?! What a improbable money-saving tip!

This received me considering of the subpar expertise that Apple, Samsung, Google, and a number of other different smartphone makers are imposing. When my 128GB Pixel 7 Professional began warning me of full storage a month in the past, I may have simply slotted in one of many empty microSD playing cards from my drawer, as an alternative of fussing with totally different storage-freeing strategies for days till I had a number of GBs to spare. How foolish is it {that a} cellphone constructed across the digital camera can solely take a number of dozen 4K HDR movies earlier than it screams for mercy?

And when my Pixel 7 Professional runs out of juice within the afternoon of an excellent busy day, I may purchase an additional and maintain it charged. Take off the empty battery, pop in the second, and off I’m going. No dangling cables, no charger to hold, and no overheating cellphone. To not point out that I may merely exchange the battery after a few years to maintain my Pixel recent for these 4 years of safety updates.

These options would’ve labored within the early 2010s, however one way or the other progress took us backward. On reflection, I can see firms making an argument towards the three.5mm port, for instance. It was robust to waterproof and it took a variety of precious area inside a cellphone, however you may nonetheless use a USB-C DAC for wired headphones or go wi-fi with some Bluetooth buds. These are viable options and options.

However there aren’t any tangible causes to take away the microSD slot (apart from firm greed and backside strains) nor are there any real looking options to a non-removable battery. The one options are to pay extra for the next storage tier and ship your cellphone in for restore to interchange the battery. (Some right-to-repair initiatives are making the latter extra accessible, however the activity nonetheless usually requires a specialist.)

It’s been 10 years nearly to the day since I relinquished each of those good options. As I switched from a Samsung Galaxy S3 to an LG G2, I discovered myself residing in a world the place I couldn’t purchase substitute batteries or add further storage on a budget. Worse but, I had to determine the right way to rapidly switch all of the images, movies, offline music, and podcasts I used to be storing on my microSD card onto my new cellphone. Spoiler: It took an eternity and a shitty micro-USB microSD card reader/adapter.

From then on, I couldn’t depend on SD playing cards for straightforward storage and transfers anymore. I needed to adapt and bear in mind to frequently use a cable to switch my information again to my pc. I couldn’t carry a variety of information both; the 32GB on my G2 needed to be sufficient for all of my media. I wasn’t completely satisfied about it, however the tech world was shifting in that route and if I wished the opposite cool specs and options, I needed to cope with these drawbacks.

Since then, I’ve jumped between the LG G collection, Galaxy S collection, and Pixel telephones with two constants: no detachable batteries and no microSD slots. I received desensitized to this too. “It’s what it’s.” And to be frank, as a tech author with a bit extra entry to trendy flagships than your common Joe, I didn’t need to cope with the results all that a lot. I swap telephones yearly, earlier than the battery degrades or the storage fills up (usually), and hand over my older machine to relations who demand much less of it.

However with the Fairphone 5 in my hand now, I’m rethinking that complacent place. Why does it take a distinct segment firm and the European Fee to repair an issue that shouldn’t have been an issue within the first place?

Detachable batteries are superior and I can’t wait till cellphone producers work out the right way to implement them by 2027 (the European Fee is forcing them to), hopefully with out sacrificing a powerful IP ranking. And microSD storage is extremely helpful at a time when smartphones can shoot 4K HDR (if not 8K) video. Paying $100-200 further for a similar cellphone with a bit extra reminiscence when expandable storage is so low cost is pitiful.

I don’t suppose I’ll listing a detachable battery or microSD slot as absolute necessities for my subsequent buy, however they’ll critically issue into my resolution any further. Their absence feels extra like an actual con now and the listing of professionals should outweigh it.