Metal designs, thinner profiles and pleasant aesthetics have surged in the smartphone market, but they come with a sacrifice some of you may not be willing to live with. Removable batteries have become a dying breed.
Even if battery life is generally improving, being able to carry extra batteries and swapping them to your liking is an advantage that is hard to give up. In an industry in which all the best phones tend to sport a unibody design, where are the handsets that still offer the versatility of a removable battery?
Look no further; we have curated a list with our very favorite smartphones with a removable battery. Let’s take a look at these gadgets and see if any of them are for you.
Upcoming: LG V20
We still haven’t gotten the chance to publish our full review of the LG V20, but we do know it’s already one of the best smartphones out there.
The V20 is basically the phone for power users. It has a a big Quad HD display, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor, plenty of RAM and on-board storage, dual 16MP rear-facing cameras, and a removable 3,200mAh battery. Of course, the unique Second Screen makes a return this year, along with the addition of Quad DAC, military standard durability, and it’s already running Android 7.0 Nougat.
LG is still keeping the official US launch date under wraps, but we’re pretty sure it’ll come to market sooner rather than later. If you’re interested, you can sign up for updates from B&H at the link attached below.
Specs 5.7-inch IPS LCD display with 2560 x 1440 resolution, 513ppi
Secondary display: 2.1-inch IPS LCD display with 160 x 1040 resolution, 513 ppi
Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor
4GB of RAM
32/64GB of on-board storage, microSD expansion up to 256GB
Dual 16 and 8MP rear cameras, 5MP front camera
Removable 3,200mAh battery
Android 7.0 Nougat
159.7 x 78.1 x 7.6mm, 174g
LG G5While the Galaxy S7 series is a minor refresh in terms of design, the LG G5 sees a massive departure from the design language used in the G series, ditching the rear volume/power setup that first debuted with the LG G2. The G5 also adopts a unibody metallic design that has a removable cap for access to the removable battery and a port for modules that allow users to expand the phone’s capabilities by adding a camera grip and other special accessories.
The distinctly different design of the LG G5 may not be for everyone, but there’s little denying that LG has went out of its way to try and innovate in a market where big changes like this aren’t all that common.
Spec wise, we’re looking at a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 with 4 GB RAM, a 5.3-inch Quad HD display, and 32 GB storage with microSD for expansion. The specs here are certainly impressive all across the board. It’s also worth mentioning that LG has revamped its software, making it faster and less bloated.
Specs 5.3-inch IPS LCD display with 2560 x 1440 resolution, 554 ppi
Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor
4 GB of RAM
32 GB of on-board storage, microSD expansion up to 200 GB
16 and 8 MP dual rear cameras
8 MP front camera
Removable 2800 mAh battery
Android 6.0 Marshmallow
149.4 x 73.9 x 7.7 mm, 159 g
LG V10
If you aren’t completely satisfied with the LG G4, perhaps the V10 will suit your needs. It has the same powerful Snapdragon 808 processor and 16 MP rear-facing camera as the G4, but with a few extra features included. Most notably, the V10 sports a secondary “ticker” display LG calls the Second Screen. This extra display aims to provide its users useful information without the need to turn on the main screen. It will display app shortcuts, notifications, and even weather and battery percentage information. Although the placement is a bit wonky, we’re sure you’ll be pretty happy with the added benefit of having a secondary display.
The V10 also has two front-facing cameras for wide-angle selfies, a fingerprint scanner that’s actually really reliable, a MIL-STD-810G Transit Drop Compliant rating for shock absorption, and a 32-bit Hi-Fi DAC electronic processor with support for Qualcomm’s QFE2550 closed-loop antenna tuning solution. It’s also the first smartphone ever to come with a manual mode for taking video.
Specs Main display: 5.7-inch IPS Quantum Display with 2560 x 1440 resolution, 513 ppi
Secondary display: 2.1-inch IPS Quantum Display with 160 x 1040 resolution, 513 ppi
Hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor
4 GB of RAM
64 GB of on-board storage, microSD expansion up to 2 TB
16 MP rear camera, 5 MP Dual Lens front camera
Removable 3000 mAh battery
Android 6.0 Marshmallow
159.6 x 79.3 x 8.6 mm, 192 g
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
Although a bit older, the Galaxy Note 4 offers good screen real estate and S Pen features for those who use their smartphones as a productivity tool.
The Note 4 still has pretty good specifications, including a 5.7-inch QHD AMOLED display, 3 GB of RAM, a 16 megapixel camera and a microSD card slot. Certainly a match for the selection of 2015 flagship smartphones, as well as plenty 2016 handsets.
Specs 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display with 2560 x 1440 resolution, 518ppi
2.7 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor
3 GB of RAM
32 GB of on-board storage, microSD expansion up to 128 GB
16 MP rear camera, 3.7 MP front camera
Removable 3,220 mAh battery
Android 6.0 Marshmallow
153.5 x 78.6 x 8.5 mm, 176g
Those are our favorite smartphones with a removable battery! Do you have a favorite that is not listed? Is having this feature even a big deal to you? Hit the comments to let us know!
