I swirched to fairphone almost exclusively because their phone has an easily swappable battery (it’s very modular and easily repairable on top of that)
But if I’m not mistaken then there are new EU regulations coming that demand all batteries be replaceable, so hopefully this won’t be an issue for much longer
The first thing I did with my Fairphone was to root it, and tweak the internal BMS/charge controller settings via a terminal. My ~4 year old device battery pretty much still runs like new, still get 2 days of standby.
From what I read on the FP forums though, users running stock tend to swap out their batteries every 1-2 years, like I had to on my old Galaxy S5. Most manufacturers’ default battery charge profiles target the longest runtime, causing batteries to really degrade quickly.
For consumers that upgrade every 1-2y they won’t notice this issue, but for those of us who want their phone to last longer than that, we notice this really quickly… in these cases having a swappable battery is a must
On the topic of modularity, I had my FP’s vibration motor die on me, that was a very easy fix of literally opening up the device, swapping the module, and done. Absolutely love it!
On my device the charge is set to cut off at 91%, with the maximum charge current set to 500mA. If I’m in a hurry though I typically boost the max current to 1.1A, or the manufacturer’s 2.7A if absolutely necessary (although I think that’s a bit high personally).
To be honest a 1A max charge current would be a good balance between charge time and battery longevity IMO - the main purpose of the lower charge current is to reduce internal battery heat during charging, change the growth characteristics of lithium dendrite clumping within the battery, and reduce the chance of the battery swelling.
I also try to not discharge below 30%.
I’m not an expert on any of this at all though, I just mainly follow Battery University and some takeaways from a handful of research papers analyzing Lithium-based batteries
You could easily spend a half hour getting it replaced for the battery+ $10 in labor if you actually cared and weren’t trying to score internet points.
But people here will bitch like it’s impossible to have a guy look at your phone for a half hour.
Next time you service anything yourself, remember that it could’ve just as easily been designed such that you would be forced to pay some randy to do it for you. Really stop and think if that would be preferable, and then consider that you’re arguing against right to repair here.
They don’t have to. Nobody designs their apps to work with specific ROMs, they design it to work with Android. Custom ROMs are still android ROMs, they’re just managed by open source communities instead of phone OEMs.
But if you have the ‘wrong’ version of android, the app will simply refuse to work. These kinds of apps are understandably picky because of security. And you can’t expect banks/governments to make exceptions for a small minority who uses a custom version of android.
That does not depend on the version, but on google’s safetynet. Apps can check with it if your phone runs an approved installation, which means not just being limited to the original ROM, but one that still contains all the garbage data mining apps that will also drain your battery and your mobile data plan, besides taking away your privacy.
If only batteries where still that easy to replace. I’d never buy a new phone again.
With many phones its still somewhat easy, but you need to take the risk of e.g. breaking the back-cover (specially when its made of acryl or glass).
The EU has mandated that every phone should have an easily replaceable battery by 2027
Need to go to the EU then
Like with the usb-c law, this will likely be worldwide
It’s why I haven’t bought one since 2016.
I swirched to fairphone almost exclusively because their phone has an easily swappable battery (it’s very modular and easily repairable on top of that)
But if I’m not mistaken then there are new EU regulations coming that demand all batteries be replaceable, so hopefully this won’t be an issue for much longer
I wonder what this is gonna look like on AirPods. I think (?) this applies to them too.
Just make the stem a bit thicker so they can fit an AAA battery each
Haha well the battery life would sure go up
Yesss Fairphone is pretty awesome and still powerful :)
The first thing I did with my Fairphone was to root it, and tweak the internal BMS/charge controller settings via a terminal. My ~4 year old device battery pretty much still runs like new, still get 2 days of standby.
From what I read on the FP forums though, users running stock tend to swap out their batteries every 1-2 years, like I had to on my old Galaxy S5. Most manufacturers’ default battery charge profiles target the longest runtime, causing batteries to really degrade quickly.
For consumers that upgrade every 1-2y they won’t notice this issue, but for those of us who want their phone to last longer than that, we notice this really quickly… in these cases having a swappable battery is a must
On the topic of modularity, I had my FP’s vibration motor die on me, that was a very easy fix of literally opening up the device, swapping the module, and done. Absolutely love it!
What kind of settings do you need to use, to optimise for battery service life?
On my device the charge is set to cut off at 91%, with the maximum charge current set to 500mA. If I’m in a hurry though I typically boost the max current to 1.1A, or the manufacturer’s 2.7A if absolutely necessary (although I think that’s a bit high personally).
To be honest a 1A max charge current would be a good balance between charge time and battery longevity IMO - the main purpose of the lower charge current is to reduce internal battery heat during charging, change the growth characteristics of lithium dendrite clumping within the battery, and reduce the chance of the battery swelling.
I also try to not discharge below 30%.
I’m not an expert on any of this at all though, I just mainly follow Battery University and some takeaways from a handful of research papers analyzing Lithium-based batteries
You were able to limit the charge/discharge to stay within 20/80% or something like that? That’s awesome, i should look into doing that myself
I have the Fairphone 5. Limiting the charge to 80% is actually a feature without rooting!
You can also disable fast charging in the same menu to prolong battery life.
Damn, i thought i had the fairphone 5 as well, but it was “fairphone 4 5G” 😅
Time to throw away my ~1 year old phone to buy the newer model! /s
Yep, I stay within 30%-91% where possible, and also limit the charge current to 500mA since the device defaults to 2.7A which I think is a bit high…
As @[email protected] mentioned it’s probably in the settings menu for your device if you’ve got a newer phone.
On the FP3, the phone’s hardware supports it, but it’s not implemented anywhere in the settings sadly - only way to access it is by rooting
2027, iirc
You could easily spend a half hour getting it replaced for the battery+ $10 in labor if you actually cared and weren’t trying to score internet points.
But people here will bitch like it’s impossible to have a guy look at your phone for a half hour.
Why are you bitching about people wanting better, more servicable products? Fucking insanity…
I don’t think they are better 🤷♂️ and it takes 10 minutes to replace a battery every 3 years.
Most others didn’t either. It’s some nerd rallying call. It’ll change nothing consumption wise. And I’m forced to fall with the downgrade.
Oh ok, so you’re just too stupid to understand the benefits of self-repair. Got it.
You can replace the battery. It takes 10 minutes if you bother to learn. Nobody is forcing anybody to make solid back phones either.
Unhinged shit.
What are you, a corpo shill?
Next time you service anything yourself, remember that it could’ve just as easily been designed such that you would be forced to pay some randy to do it for you. Really stop and think if that would be preferable, and then consider that you’re arguing against right to repair here.
I’d rather it built in not something to wear out. I’m glad you have decided my meds are anti right to repair. Good Lord lol.
IME the battery isn’t the issue, especially if you get a phone with a big battery to begin with.
It’s the lack of updates that’s the issue which means you can no longer use certain critical apps (banking, government, etc.) on your phone.
The phone becomes obsolete before the battery ever dies.
You can always switch to some custom rom after you stop getting updates
Know any banking apps that work with a custom rom?
What about your national governments designing an identification or tax related app that works on a custom rom?
Good luck with that.
Your banking apps starts to only work on latest Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max+ and only on Verizon 5G network.
OH, I’ll guess I have to switch, there is no other option for me.
Some banks have decent mobile sites. But it does suck to have to resort to that.
It won’t turn out well having only a few companies acting as gatekeepers.
They don’t have to. Nobody designs their apps to work with specific ROMs, they design it to work with Android. Custom ROMs are still android ROMs, they’re just managed by open source communities instead of phone OEMs.
But if you have the ‘wrong’ version of android, the app will simply refuse to work. These kinds of apps are understandably picky because of security. And you can’t expect banks/governments to make exceptions for a small minority who uses a custom version of android.
That does not depend on the version, but on google’s safetynet. Apps can check with it if your phone runs an approved installation, which means not just being limited to the original ROM, but one that still contains all the garbage data mining apps that will also drain your battery and your mobile data plan, besides taking away your privacy.