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?
Related: Best Android phones
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.
LG G5
While 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
Read more
- LG G5 review
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- LG G5: specs, features, price and availability
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- LG G5 vs Nexus 6P hands-on
- LG G5 vs LG G4 hands-on
- Samsung Galaxy S7 vs LG G5 hands-on
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-facing camera
- 5 MP Dual Lens front-facing camera
- Removable 3000 mAh battery
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- 159.6 x 79.3 x 8.6 mm, 192 g
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LG G4
The LG G4 enters the market promising pristine performance, a design that will have any crowd turning heads, insane battery life and customization like we no longer see in modern smartphones.
In an industry where most manufacturers sacrifice battery life for thinness, LG manages to stand out from the crowd by offering a massive 3000 mAh battery. It also happens to be removable, so you can easily swap batteries at will. Furthermore, it supports expandable memory, which also happens to be a feature under risk of extinction.
Oh, and this phone looks good! You can switch your back plates, but I am sure you won’t want to once you put that genuine leather back in there. Add in the fact that the phone comes with one of the best smartphone cameras in the market and you have a true winner. Of course, you can read our LG G4 review to see what this phone is all about before you fork out your hard-earned cash.
Specs
- 5.5-inch LCD Quantum Dot display with a 2560 x 1440 resolution, 534 ppi
- 1.82 GHz hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor
- 3 GB of RAM
- 32 GB of on-board storage, microSD expansion up to 128 GB
- 16 MP rear camera
- 8 MP front camera
- Removable 3,000 mAh battery
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- 148.9 x 76.1 x 6.3 – 9.8 mm, 155 g
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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
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ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser
While not without its issues, such as display brightness, battery life, and speaker quality, the Zenfone 2 Laser is still a very compelling option in a sea of cheap Android smartphones.
A great software experience, and bonuses like Gorilla Glass 4 and 3 GB of RAM are enough to make this device one of our favorite smartphones priced at $200, and if value for money is what you’re looking for, the Zenfone 2 Laser is certainly a great choice.
Specs
- 5.5-inch IPS LCD display with 1920 x 1080 resolution, 401ppi
- 1.7 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor
- 3 GB of RAM
- 16/32 GB of on-board storage, microSD expansion up to 128 GB
- 13 MP rear camera, 5 MP front camera
- Removable 3,000 mAh battery
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow
- 152.4 x 77.2 x 10.9 mm, 170 g
Read more
- ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser review
- ASUS launches the ZenFone 2 Laser, ZenFone 2 Deluxe and ZenFone Selfie in India
- ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser with 6-inch display launched in India
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!
Check out our related best lists:
- Best Android phones
- Best cheap Android phones
- Best dual-SIM Android phones
- Best Android phones with expandable memory
- Verizon Android phones | Verizon Prepaid phones
- AT&T Android phones | AT&T Prepaid phones
- T-Mobile Android phones | T-Mobile prepaid phones
- Sprint Android phones
- Cricket Android phones
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