I'm willing to bet that it'll only be a matter of time before someone cracks one opened and demonstrates how to replace the battery. The only issue I can see is Motorola soldering the battery. I don't see them doing that though as bad batteries tend to be a big reason that people return their phones. So I imagine in order to make their refurb process easy I can't imagine Motorola having to hire refurb sweat-shop employees that know how to solder.
I clicked on the link that I posted and I must admit, the phone looks sleek as hell so by no means am I 100% sold on the HTC. I'm even wondering if the phone's "rootability" is going to be a deciding factor for me.
First I have to say that I have always said that a major advantage android has over the i*hone is the removable battery. Even if it just gets you through a day, what if there is an extended period where you're not near an outlet or don't have your charger? If you've got a spare battery or 2 no problem, but in this case you're stuck.
As far as soldering the battery, if they're not going to solder it in then you have what we have now, a removable battery. Forgetting about what I mentioned above about not being able to swap batteries, the main advantage to having a non-removable battery is the ability to fit a larger battery in the phone. The reason being with a removable battery you need a battery tray for the battery to sit in. Get rid of that and you have more space, albeit not a huge gain.
Now since there is nothing to hold the battery in place it would need to be soldered in place. If they don't solder it there would be a need to have a battery tray to hold it in place, in which case you'd have a removable battery. If that is indeed what they did, then why would you seal the battery compartment off if the battery is easily removable?
You mentioned that battery issues are the reason for a percentage of returns. Apple has a non-removable battery and they have to be replaced as well. I have had 2 ipods and both batteries had to be replaced around the 14 month mark. With an android no problem, with apple send it in and get it back in a week. If you didn't get an extended warranty you're looking at around a $30-$50 charge (what it would have cost me if I wouldn't have had the ext. warranty).
It's not like apple hasn't figured this out, my ipods were the last 2 generations of the ipod classic. So we're talking around 8-10 years they have been producing them with a non-removable battery. Both of the ones I had had to have the battery replaced, and outside of the 1 year warranty. So either you're gonna get the extended warranty or pay to have them replace it out of warranty. Either way, they got more money than just the cost of the device.
The kicker here is a 1 year warranty for the device and a 2 year contract before you can upgrade again. Unless you go full retail and replace it at the one year mark, it's something you may have to deal with. So you'll either want to get insurance or end up paying to have the battery replaced.
Maybe this battery will make it to the 2 year mark, maybe not. Looking at all of the complaints I've seen from Droid1 owners saying the camera doesn't work anymore or wi-fi stopped working, etc., etc. (all of which is before the 2 year period is up) Moto's device longevity doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling. I said somewhere else that if the G-Nex didn't have a removable battery (or microsd card) that it would take them out of the running for me. Same with the Droid Razr.
