Why don't E-readers have a Replaceable Battery

[Frenzie]

Originally Posted by ottischwenk

Do you want to scientifically charge and discharge just to double the battery life at best?
It is enough for me to use the device and to charge at about 40-50%

While I don't particularly want to bother with that myself, I'd buy a battery that took care of this for me. It wouldn't surprise me if 0% and 100% were more like 20% and 80% in most modern devices regardless.

[ottischwenk]

There is only one problem to convert this scientific view into reality: there is no precise measuring device available for the remaining charge - so you have to stick to the indications of an approximately calculated value.

[MGlitch]

Y’all really digging deep on this when there are folks who have ereaders without replaceable batteries that are multiple generations old and are still very functional.

At some point the cost of replacing the battery, especially at the rate some seem to say they are, is going to cost more than had you simply held out and replaced the device.

To say nothing of the waste replacing batteries which aren’t dead but have only a moderately diminished capacity creates.

It’s a bit like trying to min/max your way through a game of tic tac toe.

[jago25_98]

I agree. But I also disagree.

I agree that it's easier to just throw away working electronics and replace them as a consumer.
However, I think it's harder to deal with the damage that creates as a society.

Batteries may last a long time but they can't last forever. The need replacing at some point.

Also, what about instant recharge? On my drill I just swap the batteries. On my radio I just swap the batteries. No need for this fast charge guff and cell management. And when drill batteries give out the cells can be broken down and recycled much easier.

The EU are considering this issue in an e-waste law. Good in them.

Originally Posted by MGlitch

Y’all really digging deep on this when there are folks who have ereaders without replaceable batteries that are multiple generations old and are still very functional.

At some point the cost of replacing the battery, especially at the rate some seem to say they are, is going to cost more than had you simply held out and replaced the device.

To say nothing of the waste replacing batteries which aren’t dead but have only a moderately diminished capacity creates.

It’s a bit like trying to min/max your way through a game of tic tac toe.

[twowheels]

Originally Posted by mdp

EDIT: it must anyway be noted, that such "number of total charge cycles" must be very high for high quality batteries, because for tethering - for frequent charge and disconnection - I use the original battery which came with the phone: it has become very markedly fattened, but as a battery it still works like a charm after 5 years of "mistreatment".

Am I reading this correctly? You're using a phone with a swollen battery? If so, safely and properly dispose of that battery ASAP! Put it in a metal tin away from anything flammable and call your city about disposal of hazardous waste -- that thing's a ticking time bomb ready to explode! This isn't something to be proud of, it's something to be very afraid of!

[Deskisamess]

Originally Posted by melissaazevedo

On the other hand, the life span of such a battery lasts for 2 years allowing manufacturer to introduce new phone models. In E-reader issue, it's most probably due to less power consumption

Life span?

My husband is using a 6 year old iPhone 6, I'm using a 4 year old iPhone 7+. We also have a Paperwhite 2nd gen bought in 2013 that works perfectly.

It's not like the older devices just stop working. The batteries may have degraded a bit, but it's not a noticeable problem in normal usage.

That old Paperwhite would most likely outlast my 2nd gen Oasis that has abysmal battery life.

[MGlitch]

Originally Posted by jago25_98

I agree. But I also disagree.

I agree that it's easier to just throw away working electronics and replace them as a consumer.
However, I think it's harder to deal with the damage that creates as a society.

Batteries may last a long time but they can't last forever. The need replacing at some point.

Also, what about instant recharge? On my drill I just swap the batteries. On my radio I just swap the batteries. No need for this fast charge guff and cell management. And when drill batteries give out the cells can be broken down and recycled much easier.

The EU are considering this issue in an e-waste law. Good in them.

True, but with how batteries last in current ereaders typically going well beyond three generations of release before seeing a notable degradation in performance, and the batteries they are using now, it's better that the end user can't replace them. We can recycle the ereader itself instead, at least in the US (and so I imagine in other countries).

I'll agree that other battery types might be better, though this would also depend on the charge life of these batteries. Replacing the current ones which get decent charge life with ones that'd see the need for more frequent charging would have negative consequences.

Originally Posted by melissaazevedo

In simple words, Non-removable batteries doesn't require back panel and make the device thinner while allowing the device manufacturer to use less high-quality materials. On the other hand, the life span of such a battery lasts for 2 years allowing manufacturer to introduce new phone models. In E-reader issue, it's most probably due to less power consumption

Originally Posted by Deskisamess

Life span?

My husband is using a 6 year old iPhone 6, I'm using a 4 year old iPhone 7+. We also have a Paperwhite 2nd gen bought in 2013 that works perfectly.

It's not like the older devices just stop working. The batteries may have degraded a bit, but it's not a noticeable problem in normal usage.

That old Paperwhite would most likely outlast my 2nd gen Oasis that has abysmal battery life.

I agree with Deskisamess here, I have had several eink devices over the years, and while I replace them at a faster rate than most, it's because I want the new features of a new device rather than anything else. I've gifted some away to friends and family, and those devices are still going strong. I still have a Kobo Aura H2O first edition which is alive and well though it's mostly a test device now as I've migrated to the Forma.

I'd go further though and say that most reputable companies (Amazon, Kobo, Nook, etc) aren't using lower quality materials for the casing of their device. Also it's not the removable of a removable backplate that allow for thinner devices, especially not in the case of ereaders. All the current ereaders are still thick enough that they could easily have a removable back, even the wedge shaped ones like the Forma and the Oasis.

[Quoth]

There isn't any inherent difference in thickness between a removable back using clips moulded in or a removable back using screws or one that's glued / welded.

Also a screwed on clipped in battery like in the Kindle DXG or Kindle Keyboard actually needs no more depth than one using double sided sticky tape (many tablets) and both use a little less than a hurriedly glued in cell. Glue is simply used because it's fast and cheap, not because it's saving depth.

Backs that are kept on by screws rather than click together clips (easily opened if you know where they are even with a guitar plectrum) cost marginally more in time to assemble and materials (the screws, there need not be inserts). It's partly to stop people casually opening them as a €3 calculator may have a screw on rear cover. That's being done now for safety to stop small children opening the hatch and swallowing the one or two coin cells (Lithium) or two or three button cells (Alkaline).

I've just today fitted a new cell pack to a Kindle DXG and I've replaced the cell packs in two Kindle Keyboards this Spring. The DX or DXG is less obvious how to open, the plastic part has tabs under the rear panel (plastic so RF can work), you have to press a tool just at the two correct places and then move small cover away. Then there are two screws almost invisible at right angles holding the back (rather than the 3 obvious screws), which then slides down slightly like the back on a cheap calculator. Two screws and no soldering on the cell pack.
A lot of tablets, phones and some ereaders use soldered on cell wires and glue or fierce double sided tape. It's unacceptable as the screen can be easily broken, or seal on the cell torn. That has to stop. It's purely to save assembly time though it does give more flexibility on cell replacement than one using a plug and especially with the cell packs that have a sensor or controller in them.