Something that made many people fans of Samsung phones for years was how the firm clung on to the removable battery design long after everyone else was doing sealed unibody handsets. This ended, however, with the Galaxy S5; the Galaxy S6 and onwards have been sealed devices with non-removable battery cells. Naturally this has annoyed anyone who loved removable batteries.
Portable and re-chargable battery boosters are nothing new, of course, but Samsung seems to almost be making a nod towards this mindset with its newly launched, own-brand battery pack.
The Samsung Battery Pack is a particularly small and slim-line model design wise, presumably in a bid to keep it as handy as the old practice of carrying spare cells. It's a large cell in terms of charge, however, with a 5,100mAh rating, and it supports Samsung Fast Charge.
It has two USB ports, one is standard full-size USB and the other is USB Type-C, however, to make matters even more versatile it ships with a microUSB-to-USB cable and a microUSB-to-USB-C adapter included. It also has a handy strap, and if your phone doesn't support Fast Charge it will charge at standard 2A output.
The long and the short of it is a design which seems to function a lot like old hot-swapping of battery cells on the go, except in this case you plug it into your phone and boost it back up.
Of course, this is only one dimension of the removable battery appeal.
The Battery Pack doesn't solve the other perks a removable battery used to offer such as a battery pull when the phone misbehaves, or more importantly, the ability to replace the entire internal battery if it becomes faulty - AND quickly, cheaply and easily at that; you can replace a faulty battery on a sealed phone but you have to take it to a shop, it takes time, and it costs money.
This is what most people who liked the old swappable design seem to miss; the peace of mind that they can change a faulty battery with no hassle.
Still, there's a lot to like about the Samsung Battery Pack if your main issue is needing spares to boost longevity on the move.
The Samsung Battery Pack is only available in the US at present, although we do expect it to arrive elsewhere soon enough. It costs $59.99.
