Flashback: The phone that ran on AA batteries

07 February 2021
We take a look at phones that used one or two AA or AAA batteries. Then we take a detour to look at other weird ways to power a phone.

Sort by:

  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • jWm
  • 13 Apr 2024

YUKI93, 08 Feb 2021I wonder what would happen if there is a SpareOne with 4G L... moreprobably won't happen, honestly just buy a $20 tracfone and keep it constantly plugged in

    • J
    • Joe
    • gyW
    • 09 Feb 2021

    YUKI93, 08 Feb 2021That is why when it comes to repairability, I heavily salut... moreUnfortunately, the way Fairphone works is that another SD 7xx phone will set you back >$600 and most people will then choose Xiaomi, BBK or Samsung cause they want a better bang for their buck

      • s
      • sdcn2
      • yP%
      • 08 Feb 2021

      Hi there,
      There were several Alcatel models with GSM network technology, you could buy them in very few telephone companies with "prepaid as the first option and contract for the wealthy", the mobile device including the sim card. I remember them for their large size with a walkie that these also included batteries or batteries, like the Alcatel.

      Alcatel years 1995-2000.
      Other brands.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • rJX
        • 08 Feb 2021

        "Looking at it, we think this was more of a way to promote Sanyo’s Eneloop batteries than an actual attempt to sell phones."
        Looking at the other phones, looks like this is the only phone that people might have wanted to buy.

          ericwang, 07 Feb 2021I hope one day we can research a phone that can take the ba... moreYou mean like the LG G5?

            Fromhell, 07 Feb 2021To this date I still don't buy Smartphones where you c... moreThat is why when it comes to repairability, I heavily salute Fairphone. It is that stupidly simple to repair. If Fairphone made the next successor powered by a Snapdragon 700 Series chipset and ship it to more countries outside Europe, 11 out of 10 I'd instantly buy one.

              I wonder what would happen if there is a SpareOne with 4G LTE bands.

                I hope one day we can research a phone that can take the battary out of the phone.So when we needed,we can put a new battary in the phone to keep it working and charge the old battary.
                Also I hope we can have a charger that can charge different battary from different phone in that day.
                That seen like somthing we will have in the future!

                  • D
                  • AnonD-909757
                  • pZV
                  • 07 Feb 2021

                  I literally thought about it this morning not knowing it existed (my mind got wild free from thinking about a power bank I bought for an Arduino project, then I thought about using AA batteries, then I made the link between this and smartphones).
                  And I thought it would be a good argument against people advocating for fast charging and small batteries, like :
                  We'll make a phone that run on AA batteries, so rather than ruining batteries for us, you'll just change your AA battery and get effectively "instant recharge" that way.
                  So, knowing it does exist made me smile 🤣

                    gambit1977, 07 Feb 2021Still remember my first phone, Alcatel One touch Easy and m... morei had the club one and ditched it to get a Nokia 5110 cuz is was so popular back then which i still got it tbh even along with my beloved nokia 3330....battery was well a week or so....

                      I couldn't see myself using this phone. I do not have AA batteries just randomly laying around, and they're really expensive (where I live anyway) so yeah.

                        Do people buy these phones?

                          My 23 year old Alcatel OT Easy works with penlite batteries too, however it's running out of juice at a very hard pace. But when I put my SIM card in the phone it still works, after 23 years. Here's the phone: https://www.gsmarena.com/alcatel_ot_easy-34.php

                            To this date I still don't buy Smartphones where you can't easily replace the battery. Only exception was a XZ1 Compact which I bought used for a few bucks out of nostalgia
                            Before I buy a new Smartphone I look for disassemble videos. If it's too complicated to repair/replace parts (like Battery) I simply don't buy it.

                              I had Motorola M3288 back in days. It was my first mobile phone and had huge NiMH battery wich could be replaced with 4 AA batteries. It was a pretty terrible phone but I loved it. :)

                                Still remember my first phone, Alcatel One touch Easy and my ex One touch Club. Using AA and AAA batteries

                                  Well, I had a motorola phone, before the time of gsm and sim cards, it used 3 AAA Ni Cd rechargeable batteries, which was very convenient in the event of a low batt emergency, those Ni Cd batts needed several hours to get fully charged

                                    I've never seen any of them until now.

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • 6wN
                                      • 07 Feb 2021

                                      travis999, 07 Feb 2021Or buy a second hand HTC HD2, a fully capable modern smartp... moreMy sister had HTC HD7. Good phone but not fully capable like you said. It was very limited and ugly. For me fully capable means Android phone because iPhone is very limited too.

                                        There were lot of beautiful phones made by Philip which can take external AAA batteries. Xenium models mainly had them. Here is one:
                                        https://www.gsmarena.com/philips_xenium_9@9j-2316.php

                                          1 of 2