I'd love a return to the old snap-fit plastic cases. Besides the ease of battery replacement, those phones seemed much more durable. Maybe because there was something that gave way on impact? I remember watching in horror as the plastic cover of an old LG shot under the display shelving at Home Depot at approximately the same speed the phone hit the concrete floor. I never used a case with one of those phones, nor did I ever crack a screen. It was tricky digging that cover out from under the shelving, however.
Metal cases give way, too— permanently. When they give way, they dent, shrinking the space available for the glass screen and, inevitably, cracking it.
Glass cases/backs obviously easily crack themselves.
Making phone housings out of something other than plastic is an obviously stupid kind of fetishism for certain materials as hallmarks of a vague 'quality' regardless of context.
Idk about the screens. Do we need glass for touchscreens as we know them to work really well? Can they be brighter or something? Or are they largely unnecessary, too?
I'm not sure dust was ever really a problem for most people. Although, for those in sandy/dusty environments (deserts, some industrial situations, etc) I bet it was a problem.
More to the point, though: I don't think it has to be an either/or choice. Casio makes a crapload of 200M water-resistant watches that sell for $50 or less. This includes both plastic (G-Shock, mostly) and full-metal models (MDV-106/107). The secret is (gasp)... a frigging thin rubber gasket. I frankly don't see any reason why we can't have this level of water resistance in a phone.
We would have to sacrifice thinness and lightness, but not by much. I think a lot of people would happily make that trade.
I wish OEMs would do this as well. Polycarb is strong. Safety glasses are made out of it for a reason. Sure, it scratches, but so does glass.
When you dropped one, you had to dig at least 4 parts from around the room. Front & back covers, the battery and the rest of the phone all flew in different directions =)
You can't have the thinnest/sleekest possible phone and an easily removable battery. Have to choose.
Frustrating thing is, mainstream phone manufacturers don't give you a choice. There's no option to buy e.g. an a slightly more ruggedized iPhone that is 15% bulkier but gives you easy battery access. That's a thing I'd buy, even if it cost a bit more.
The quest for "sleekness at all costs" made more sense 15-20 years ago, when full-spec smartphones and laptops were clunkier.
Hopefully the tide is turning. Apple is offering beefier and thicker laptops (M1/M2 Macbook Pros) and likewise now gives buyers an option for a beefier "Explorer Edition" watch. No battery access sadly. But hopefully the pendulum might swing the other way a little now.
https://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/phones/galaxy-xcover/galax...
Edit: This is getting downvoted, but it's a regularly-updated phone line from a mainstream manufacturer with decent specs. You can absolutely vote with your wallet here as OP laid out.
Fairphone is worth a look for this: https://shop.fairphone.com/fairphone-5
Is this true? Plastic covers seemed thinner than the glass/metal shells that have replaced them. Also, from my limited experience, the batteries in the glued-together phones have adhesive strips that secure them inside the case, which again add a little extra thickness.
I could be wrong about those things, but I stand by my assertion that the plastic snap-fit phones were more durable. Durable enough that they didn't need cases for protection, which above all else rob a phone of its thinness/sleekness.
The first time I dropped a glued-together phone, I cracked the screen. I thought it must have been a fluke, since I'd dropped plastic phones tons and they'd always been fine. I was so sure it was a weird one-off I refused to get a case after having the screen replaced. My girlfriend called me an idiot. Two months later, I dropped the phone again. Now I have a case.
Phones currently can be dropped in the toilet with zero damage. It is a real benefit to have waterproofing. I would prefer waterproofing over easily replacing battery that happens rarely.
Second, it's possible to make the battery connections water resistant, so yes, you can have a water resistant phone AND have a replaceable battery in it's own compartment.
Similar thing with dust. Even though a lot of my phones in my teenage years lasted under a year, they always died with dust in their screens. Camping and riding bikes around dirt trails and what not can push a lot of gunk in those things.
I'm happy phones are a lot better sealed. It's a bit of a pain making it harder to swap the battery, but paying a shop $50 parts included to swap it and keep it sealed well is worth it to me. A replacement battery back then would have been like >$30 anyways, going by inflation that's not too much increase in cost.
Unless I forgot one, I think I'm on my 10th mobile phone in total since the late 1990s, so averaging just under 3 years per phone. And I think the interval was shorter in the feature phone days and longer in the last 12 years or so where I'm now on my 4th smartphone.
Maybe it's because I learned to be careful with my phones before smartphones existed, back when dropping it might mean the back cover, battery, and main body flying in different directions. As a result, I'm also the kind of person who might drop his phone/wallet/passport into ziplock bags if I was heading outside with a chance of significant rain...
Why not buy a $100 rugged waterproof case and an external battery?
Same here, but I don't pretend that my experience is typical.
Even if it is, and, say, only 20% of people end up dropping a phone in a toilet or cracking the screen, it seems worth it to build in water and crack resistance.
On a larger object, this level of precision is harder to maintain. Due to spacing between fasteners or other flexing/distortion of the body, the gasket could be overly compressed in some places and loose in others...
A 25% bulkier "rugged" iPhone 15 Pro would still fit nicely in most people's pockets. Unlike an encased iPhone plus external battery pack.
Like a lot of men, I carry a phone and wallet in one pocket and my keys in another. I don't typically carry a bag. Not gonna carry a battery pack too.
Also, an external battery pack achieves one thing (extended battery life) but not the other -- still wouldn't be able to easily replace the internal battery once it has aged out.