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Comment by oconnore | Hacker News Reader

Why are you disappointed? It sounds like a device you bought a few years ago has a longer useful lifespan than you thought. You get to have a state of the art phone for less money when you own it longer.

I wonder if devices will start to be built better, with more replaceable components as the rate of spec improvements in mobile devices slows down.

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I'm a little disappointed too. Don't get me wrong, my N5 is great and it doesn't have many disadvantages... but the stuff people really want should be more doable now. For example, a replaceable battery? Maybe an included thumblonger so you can reach the top-left corner :P

I have an LG G3 which I paid $50 for (upgrade price) which included an extra battery and battery charger (promo period). Being able to swap in a fully charged battery in seconds is something I now depend on when I travel - I never have any battery life anxiety. The lack of swappable batteries on most phones is a huge turnoff for me.

Not the OP (although I feel exactly the same), but I'm disappointed because the battery life on my Nexus 5 is going nowhere but down... but I am not going to buy a new phone with exactly the same RAM and storage (and no SD card slot). The features they have added I don't care about (fingerprint scanner, better camera).

I may well buy a new phone, but there is zero chance it will be a 5x.

Same thing happened to my battery, so I bought a new one and followed a YouTube video to replace it myself. Although the battery isn't meant to be replaceable, the process was not too terribly difficult. Maybe consider that as an option, too.

I've read others describe the same, but when I went to look for a part I've been overwhelmed by the purchasing process. There seem to be several sources for this part and I have no idea how to guarantee its quality. I know the replacement is easy enough, having already had to disassemble the phone to replace the display.

Can you tell me where you found the battery you are using now?

I'm disappointed by the 5X. I was planning to replace the Nexus 5, but the 5x really does not appear to be a good value. If I can really get usable battery life out of the Nexus 5, I'll gladly keep using it, because there's very little else about it that seems in any way deficient.

To be honest I didn't spend a lot of shopping around on batteries. I bought the one I found on Amazon that seemed to be made for Nexus 5, and it works: http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00NCJMQXK

The Android M preview improved the battery life on my Nexus 5 considerably.

Don't tease. If that's true, it's fantastic news - battery life of less than a day, with fairly low use, is the biggest drawback of the N5.

It's not a tease. At today's event, they specifically said the Nexus 5 gets 30% better battery life with Marshmallow, mostly due to the "deep sleep" when you leave the screen off for a long time.

I replaced my Nexus 5 battery last night. It cost very little, took about 15mins and so far the battery life is looking great.

I followed this guide (without their tools): https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Nexus+5+Battery+Replacement/260...

I was having the same experience where I was getting super disappointing battery performance and was ready to replace it, when I read an article where the author claimed it is very unlikely the battery is at the end of its life (wish I could find it) and it is even more unlikely that a battery you buy off of eBay/Amazon will be better than the one you already have.

Turn off Google Fit, turn off always on OK Google hotword detection, clear the Google Play Services cache.

I've heard of some people replacing their Nexus 5's battery with one from the LG G2. If you're handy you could maybe try that. Here's the link from reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Nexus5/comments/2yr8q2/swapped_my_n...

My phones seem to last 24-30 months; they just eventually take enough damage from being in my pocket and moved around all day every day that they die. And battery life goes to crap. I too was hoping for a nice nexus 5 upgrade.

Yow. Here's a perspective from someone who has only owned two iPhones:

I purchased the first gen on release day (2007) and carried it my pocket every day without a case until the 5 came out in 2012. I still have it, it still works.

I bought my iPhone 5 in 2013 and carry it my pocket every day without a case. It has some cosmetic damage.

Not fanboy-ing; I think it's legitimately interesting that most smartphones are still designed the way early cell phones were: plastic case around components, clipped or screwed on, flimsy from day one.

I suggest that the difference between yourself and x0x0 is mostly personal, not a difference in phones.

My wife is hard on her stuff; even with a case, her phones (one iPhone, two Android) need replacing every few years.

I don't use a case, and except for slightly lower battery life, my Android phones still look brand-new 4 years later.

I used to destroy phones fairly quickly until I stopped keeping my wallet and keys in the same pocket as my phone.

I treat my smartphones like garbage and have only ever broken my iPhone 6 (shattered screen). I still have all of my Android phones since the original T-Mobile G1 and they all still work.

Now that Nexus has the fingerprint sensor I'm never getting another iPhone.

Yeah, the nexus 5 is noticeably less well built than my partner's iphone. There are gaps around pieces of the frame and lint gets in; the plastic takes more damage; etc.

Mediocre phones today should be better than mediocre phones from two years ago.

They are, the $90 phones of today are amazing compared to two years ago (Doogee Y100X for example, surprisingly decent phone other than the camera).

I would hope so. Once the specs all start to converge, then durability will be one of the last selling points they could use.

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