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Comment by hkmurakami | Hacker News Reader

One thing that's great about the GN phone is that you can swap out the batteries to obviate the need to carry around a portable battery. You can't do this with the N4 (can't take off backplate) or the N5 (you can take off the backplate, but there's a metal brace holding the battery in place).

My friend still has his GN phone from its original launch and carries 2 extra batteries with him at all times (he's a real estate broker so he needs to always be available via phone)

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Just curious: what does a real estate broker do where he needs to be away from electricity for the time it takes to replace his batteries twice? Maybe he works in a big city and uses public transit?

Many people who own and use smartphones don't know they can charge them while driving by attaching them to the car's power by way of a cigarette lighter power adaptor.

The irony of the cigarette lighter outlet in a modern car is that it's not likely to be used for its original purpose, but it won't disappear from cars because it's a convenient way to charge a small electronic device.

It will disappear. A lot of new cars in Europe already have a USB port built into the dashboard.

That sounds more practical. A lot of equipment exists that assumes the presence of a cigarette lighter socket, but I wouldn't be surprised if they declined over time because the USB socket is cheaper and more versatile.

It'll be fun when people start buying USB-powered cigarette lighters because they've been obsoleted from cars :)

The joke going around is "can you unplug your book, I need to charge my cigarette": the lighter will be obsoleted too in favour of e-cigs. Generally it's better for things not to be on fire.

> Generally it's better for things not to be on fire.

Maybe in your bubble.

When gas stations are selling e-cigs, how is that a techie-bubble at all?

A lot of new cars in Europe also have front, rear and trunk 12V sockets.

I wouldn't buy one without at least two of those.

My 2009 BMW has a USB. Works great as a charger.

> The irony of the cigarette lighter outlet in a modern car is that it's not likely to be used for its original purpose, but it won't disappear from cars because it's a convenient way to charge a small electronic device.

I subscribe to a car-sharing service that uses exclusively Volvos and they all have USB ports. And the cigarette lighters are marked "12V" instead of "cigarette lighter". I can see the 12V ports disappearing in favor of USB in a couple years.

That would be a major shame since there are AC power inverters that run off of 12V ports in cars. Some people rely on those for different reasons. For example, it's a really nice way to recharge a laptop while traveling.

With USB PD, you can recharge your laptop through USB, which will now provide up to 100W. No doubt there will be USB PD - AC power inverters for other use cases when 12V ports are obsoleted.

In my last rental car they skipped the middleman; there was no 12v port, but there was a 120V AC socket, as well as the usb.

I drive a Jeep Wrangler. 2012+ they have a 120v AC outlet, cigarette lighters (one in the front, and one in the back where you can connect refrigerators and such), and multiple USB ports. Including a USB port inside the center console which locks, allowing you to charge your phone securely while away from your vehicle with the top off.

It's also worth noting that an adapter that connects the 12v in any car to a USB outlet can be had for less than $10 on Amazon.

If the only reason for not getting the Nexus is the ability to change batteries, he could just carry around one of those portable phone charger batteries, and then he could enjoy a Nexus and be always charged.

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/portable-devices/other-devi...

Grandparent post: One thing that's great about the GN phone is that you can swap out the batteries to obviate the need to carry around a portable battery.

I do the same thing, deliberately have a phone that has user-swappable batteries. Why? I can insert a second battery that is fully charged instead of having to plug in the external battery (along with keeping track of the charging cable) and let it charge the internal battery. As a nice side bonus, I can also buy batteries which are larger than the stock battery. My Galaxy S4 GPE has aftermarket batteries available (mine is from Anker) that are essentially two stock batteries strapped together, or 5200mAh of capacity versus 2600mAh stock. Yes, the phone gets one "battery height" thicker but having two solid days of my normal use is outstanding.

If his need is the actual PHONE (as in, the part you make calls with), I think he'd be better off with an old RAZR or other flip-phone - those things are a dime a dozen and last days if not the better part of a week on a charge, while making tons of calls.

(So, I'm old - can you even get these anymore?)

Im not sure about the old RAZR specifically, but there are still a number of feature phones available that not only will provide similar battery life you are talking about, but also require a much cheaper plan.

But as a real estate agent, he is probably leveraging other uses from his smartphone that would make this an unattractive option. I guess it would either be carry a smartphone and a feature phone, or a smartphone with some spare batteries.

I bought a Samsung E2370 as a hiking phone for 70USD. The usual one-day battery time is no good if you plan to hike for weeks. According to the specs it has 90 day standby. According to the web site its only 65 (not sure why it differs).When I had it idling on my desk I had to charge it after 70 days. I guess this is what you get with a modern bulky battery if you just scale down on features.

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