Korean operators, like American operators, sell their phones with huge subsidies. Unlike American operators, however, Korean operators often sell devices with a bunch of accessories included. When you buy a flagship phone, you’re practically guaranteed to also get a spare battery and a dedicated battery charger. These sort of accessories usually don’t leave Korea, but that’s now changing. From Samsung’s very own website, you can spend $50 and buy a Galaxy S4 spare battery and it included a separate charger just for the battery itself.

Are Samsung’s phones better because they come with batteries that you can replace? This is a religious topic, with one camp believing sealed batteries come from the devil, while the other side says we need to go with sealed batteries to improve capacity and structural integrity.

Personally, I prefer replaceable, but that’s only because there aren’t enough stores where one can go and get their battery replaced for a fair price in just a handful of minutes. No one likes the idea of having to surrender their smartphone to a customer service point who then holds it hostage for two to three days. With replaceable batteries, you pop into the shop, buy the battery, and swap it out in less than 30 seconds.

If Samsung switches to seal batteries, will I stop buying their phones? No.