I am very interested with the Z1. The only thing holding me back is a removable back cover so that I can easily change batteries when the battery is no longer good. Is it easy to remove the back cover to get access to the battery? Or must I pay sony for that?

does not work when battery is going to die.

I don't mind not having the waterproof part. It is easier to replace faulty batteries than to go to specific shop. Sony batteries are good, but I find myself replacing batteries every 18 months on my SGS2. Also, I tend to use the same thing for a long time. Hope that Sony makes a version with removable cover.

been looking at that as well. I think I will wait another generation or so until the camera features come down or price goes down. I don't care so much about waterproof since I've dunked my sgs2 in water and used the rice technique to bring it back to life. I only care about the camera, screen and battery.

My friend has a HTC 1x with non-removable battery. Cost him RM150 to change the battery at the shop since you can't do it yourself.

Thanks again. Hoping the Z1 specs will trickle down to midrange phones this year.

Can a current owner of Z1 tell me how do you replace the battery? Is it replaceable in the first place or is it fixed like that? My friend bought a HTC One Max and it cost hime RM170 for non ori battery from normal shop. He says ori battery can cost more than that. I like the phone, I just don't like the non-removable battery part.

Thanks for the link. Need quite some effort to get the back opened and closed again.

I thought powerbank method will kill the battery faster? I like the camera of th Z2. S5 can still swap batteries. Wait to see which one has the best review though