Replacing battery on Sony Xperia E5

[Marrea]

Can anyone advise me on how difficult it is to change a battery on a Sony Xperia E5?  I have had the phone for just over three and  a half years and it is now switching off  at 46%.  I assume this is because the battery is getting worn out and the only solution is to buy a new one.

I see subtel.co.uk sell a battery plus tools for £11.95 but I’m just wondering whether I’m up to actually doing the swap.

[BandOfBrothers]

As it's a non removable battery I wouldn't suggest to attempt this as you may introduce dust inside and could cause internal damage to the mother board, internal ribbons and battery damage on trying to remove the current one.

Perhaps try a full factory reset after backing up which may help.

The battery does not have an infinite amount of cycles so it could be that.

I would suggest a reputable repair shop or even ask the manufacturer.

If your intent on proceeding then at least lol at YouTube tutorials and use a Google search @Marrea 

[hrym]

If this was mine, I'd be comparing the cost of a professional repair versus replacement.   If it's similar, you could have a look for YouTube videos and other guides to doing the work - you can decide if you fancy it, and there are also firms that will supply you with specialist tools.

£11.95, plus probably the cost of some tools doesn't sound a lot if you're prepared to risk the loss of the phone, but it would have to be on that basis and an interesting exercise.

[Marrea]

Many thanks indeed BandOfBrothers and hrym for your comments.  I think it would probably be rather unwise of me to attempt changing the battery myself.  So I think it comes down to either a professional repair or maybe, bearing in mind I have had the phone for a while now, looking to get a new phone.  I don’t know if there are any phones these days which actually come with user replaceable batteries. I think had I known at the time that the E5 did not, I would not have bought it.  I do actually quite like the phone though so I need to give this some thought!

[hrym]

As far as I'm aware, all smartphones now have sealed batteries, but you should be able to get 3-5 years of usable life out of them.   The amount of work (and therefore cost) of replacement is similar - if it's (say) £50 professionally, that's 50% of the price of a £100 device, but 10% of a £500 one.   Software demands tend in increase along with hardware capabilities so, outside battery life, a device probably has no more than 5-6 years of practical use.

In your position, I might be inclined to give self-replacement a go.   If it works, bingo!   If not, all you've lost is the cost of the battery and possibly some special tools, assuming you were otherwise going to replace the phone anyway.

[Marrea]

hrym

Many thanks for your further comments.  I don’t think I’m ever likely to spend £500 on a phone!  I’m only a casual user.  I find these days everyone expects you to have a mobile phone so you can receive texts, and codes which then have to be entered as an additional layer of security on websites.  I also find it useful to be able to access, say, the Amazon app to check on when items are going to be delivered, etc.

I have come across this article:

https://medium.com/@digitalkansal01/why-phones-dont-have-removable-batteries-anymore-38d03bfe2e98

and read with some cynicism the last couple of sentences, which is exactly what I was beginning to suspect: built-in obsolescence!

I’m still undecided about what to do at the moment.  I’ll probably in the first instance make a few enquiries locally and see what the going rate for battery replacement is and take it from there.

[hrym]

There are various reasons why batteries aren't replaceable.  Yes, obsolescence is one, but consider:

Waterproofing
Reliability (fewer mechanical connections)
Demand for ever slimmer devices
Battery life (does the battery last as long as the usability of the device?)

Lack of demand (if no-one's buying batteries, it's not worth keeping up a supply chain)
- that latter is a function of people upgrading their phones before they fail anyway, but there's evidence that this is happening less, partly due to cost, but also maturing technology - components are fast/bright enough for longer and OS upgrades offer fewer new features.

It's always worth finding out the cost of replacement from an independent repairer to assess the saving over buying a new device.   As I said before, at the moment, practical usability (due to software etc demands) is probably 5-6 years, so fitting a new battery to a 4 or 5 year old one may not be worthwhile regardless of the cost relative to value.