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LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

engadget.com

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Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#111

Post by vardump »

IshKebab wrote: post #90
jfrumar wrote: post #2

I'm so glad LG are sticking with a switchable battery - it's a must have feature for me. Lots of people have forgotten what it's like to grab a wall-charged battery, slip it in and run out the door with 100% power in a few seconds. Tethering your phone to the wall sucks. Clunky portable battery packs are the worst. I hope this phone sells well, it has my support.

Honestly that sounds rubbish compared to just having a phone with a decent battery life in the first place. I used to think it was impossible (I had a Nexus 4) but my Z3C has an impressively good battery life - so much so that I rarely think about it. I don't even bother plugging it in for satnav duties. Also it charges at a pretty decent rate - probably takes an hour to fully charge from 0%. Battery swapping is a wo…

Extra swappable batteries take way less space than external battery charging packs. Charging cables are also a pain on the move.

Useful when out of charging range for an extended period, like when hiking or cycling.

Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#112

Post by userbinator »

Press a tiny button on the G5's edge and the bottom and battery easily separate from the phone.

Incidentally, several years ago Chinese manufacturer Jiayu made an iPhone-looking phone also called the G5 and having a dedicated button to release the back cover:

http://amirexpress.ir/index.php?route=product/product&produc...

Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#113

Post by slyall »

dandrews wrote: post #76
tdicola wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And this is a problem because?

Because (at least on my Moto X 2012, Android v5.1 Lollipop) rebooting can take upwards of ten minutes. Some OTA updates apparently trigger an 80-some-odd module "optimizing" run, which I presume is ART doing its AOT thing. If you're in a hurry to use your phone this can be maddening.

One of the reviews I saw said the rebooting time was pretty fast

Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#114

Post by curt15 »

digi_owl wrote: post #49
mikeash wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it really technically difficult to add a supercap? I remember laptops in the 90s with hot-swappable batteries. The feature will add expense and bulk, and if people refuse to make the tradeoffs then that's worthy of complaining, but this particular feature seems totally reasonable to ask for. Same deal with constantly wanting more RAM and CPU. Computers have been getting steadily more powerful at a nearly constant…

I dunno. But i recall reading about a Chinese phone that had two batteries. One was built in, another was sitting on top and was removable. they both charged via a single USB port. Yes, this made it bulky compared to most things on the market right now. And frankly i would love to see less anorexic phones. Heck, my next one may well be the recently unveiled Cat model that has integrated FLIR. This time round it seems…

While not quite phones, some Thinkpads have precisely the battery arrangement you describe.

Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#115

Post by nly »

dandrews wrote: post #76
tdicola wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And this is a problem because?

Because (at least on my Moto X 2012, Android v5.1 Lollipop) rebooting can take upwards of ten minutes. Some OTA updates apparently trigger an 80-some-odd module "optimizing" run, which I presume is ART doing its AOT thing. If you're in a hurry to use your phone this can be maddening.

Yep, ART really trashed boot time.

Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#116

Post by omonra »

I've been a loyal Samsung owner since S3. Didn't upgrade to S6 because they dropped removable battery. Was waiting to see if it's brought back with S7 - it's not.

Will be getting this phone as an upgrade. For me removable battery and SD Card in a flagship phone are a must. Then comes camera quality, then price.

Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#117

Post by omonra »

mmastrac wrote: post #8

This might give people a taste for what really modular devices like Ara can offer, but the fact that it doesn't do battery swaps without powering down is going to make it far less interesting to people. An internal battery to give you 30-60s in an emergency hibernate mode would have been game-changing. Kudos to LG for actually taking this step though. With luck this will whet the appetite for phones that are truly mo…

I'm someone who regularly swaps batteries (a few times a week) and don't give a slightest toss about this feature.

I can wait 30 seconds while the phone is off.

Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#119

Post by ezzaf »

Pxtl wrote: post #106
ryukafalz wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends how long you plan to keep your phone. Lithium-ion cells have finite lifespans, and if you plan to keep your phone for years at a time, or if (like me) you tend to purchase slightly older phones, removable batteries are a godsend. FWIW, though I'm not happy about the non-removable battery, I currently use a Nexus 4. It's gotten worse over time, but I used to be able to comfortably get about 2 days of runtime o…

Well, if you're talking about giving an old phone a new lease on life with a replacement battery as a once-in-a-lifetime service operation, it's fine to break out the tools to replace the battery. If you do battery swaps as a nightly workflow so you can have a day battery and a night battery, then yeah pop-out replacement is the only option

Having disassembled the aforementioned Z3C a couple of times, I disagree that it's fine to have to break out the tools for it ever. It's a tough job, with lovely warnings like this one from iFixit:

"Warning first: Never try to move the battery unless it's broken and need to replace. Because there is very very strong adhesive sticker between battery and motherboard.And too much effort or careless operation will break the motherboard."

It's also difficult to maintain the waterproof seal when reassembling the phone. So while the Z3C has great battery life, you're essentially only going to have that for a couple of years.

Re: LG G5 modular phone: Hi-Fi DAC, battery slide out, connection interface

#120

Post by post_break »

IshKebab wrote: post #90
jfrumar wrote: post #2

I'm so glad LG are sticking with a switchable battery - it's a must have feature for me. Lots of people have forgotten what it's like to grab a wall-charged battery, slip it in and run out the door with 100% power in a few seconds. Tethering your phone to the wall sucks. Clunky portable battery packs are the worst. I hope this phone sells well, it has my support.

Honestly that sounds rubbish compared to just having a phone with a decent battery life in the first place. I used to think it was impossible (I had a Nexus 4) but my Z3C has an impressively good battery life - so much so that I rarely think about it. I don't even bother plugging it in for satnav duties. Also it charges at a pretty decent rate - probably takes an hour to fully charge from 0%. Battery swapping is a wo…

Swapping a battery is measured in seconds. And not only that you can carry extras. Battery swapping is hardly a workaround.
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