LG G4 is alone: Is a removable battery still a must have feature for you?

We are now four months into the year and have already seen a number of flagship devices from HTC, Sony, Samsung, and Huawei. All of these phones have numerous differences that set them apart, but at least one thing in common: they don’t offer user-replaceable batteries.

Samsung has long been one of the last bastions of hope for those looking for power user features like removable batteries and microSD. For a while it seemed likely that both of these traditional smartphone features would go the way of the dinosaur, with many major OEMs like LG, HTC, and Motorola moving away from supporting these options. Thankfully, the trend towards ditching microSD has slowed, with HTC jumping back on the microSD train with the One M8 and LG with the LG G3. The same can’t be said for removable batteries.

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This leaves the LG G4 as the sole option for those who want a major 2015 flagship with support for removable batteries.​

Removable batteries are increasingly less common, with Samsung devices and the LG G3 some of the only major flagships in 2014 to offer user-removable batteries. Now fast-forwarding to 2015, Samsung has ironically dropped support for removable backs, batteries, and microSD with its Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge flagships. This leaves the LG G4 as the sole option for those who want a major 2015 flagship with support for removable batteries. Sure, there are likely a number of mid-rangers or lesser known devices with the feature even today, but the bigger players in the industry just don’t seem to care about removable backs anymore.

Read also: LG G4 availability – what we know so far

With battery demands increasing with QHD displays and quad, octa and hex-core processors, it seems a bit odd that we’ve reached a point where removable backs and batteries are now quite a rarity. It still remains unseen how the rest of 2015 will play out and whether the Note 5 will follow the GS6’s footsteps but we have to ask — do you still care? Is a removable battery a nice ‘extra’ for you as a consumer, or an absolute must have? Let us know what you think in the poll below.