Also batteries have come so far this past decade it almost seems like a non issue.
I’ve actually have the opposite experience. I didn’t mind integrated batteries a decade ago, because the hardware improved at such a fast pace that it became obsolete before the battery gave up.
But now the hardware improvements are not so fast and a decent phone will be usable for many years, at which point the battery (at least for me) is the first point of failure.
I would much rather take battery replacement over some water and dust protection as ip54 should be enough for daily use (fairphone 4 for instance does have ip54). The only time I’ve needed more protection is when I needed to take family photos in a pool
I’ve actually have the opposite experience. I didn’t mind integrated batteries a decade ago, because the hardware improved at such a fast pace that it became obsolete before the battery gave up.
But now the hardware improvements are not so fast and a decent phone will be usable for many years, at which point the battery (at least for me) is the first point of failure.
I would much rather take battery replacement over some water and dust protection as ip54 should be enough for daily use (fairphone 4 for instance does have ip54). The only time I’ve needed more protection is when I needed to take family photos in a pool