A guide to a longer lasting Smartphone.
A guide to a longer lasting Smartphone.
This is a guide to a longer lasting Android device, from choosing one to how to preserve the life of the one that you have.
Choosing a long-lasting and repair friendly phone:
To get the best shot at longevity, start with a high quality device from a manufacture with a history of long term device support, and one that regularly releases there modifications to the kernel source code. A device that has an unlockable bootloader (XDA developers Forums is a good place to see about ROM support), and is user repairable (See iFixit's Smartphone Repairability Scores) will allow you to keep the software & hardware going the longest. Both the Google Pixels, and Fairphone's line are a good place to start. Fairphone is the USA is sold though Murena
Before you use your phone
- Get a good sturdy case like an Otterbox
- Apply a screen protector. I recommend Glass, Sapphire is the best (but very expensive).
Battery
Lithium-ion (LI-on) battery's wear out faster when near the upper and lower charge levels (read why here: Battery University), so avoid charging or discarding the battery fully, aiming for around 20~80% is a good target.
Never leave your phone in a hot car or in the Sun, extreme heat exposure reduces the lifespan of the battery & is generally bad for other components.
Charging
- Avoid fast & wireless charging by using a older charging block that only outputs a few(1~2) Amps. (to reduce the heat the battery endures)
- Use a magnetic charging cable to reduce the wear on the plug (Like Volta), you need a bulky case to have it flush to not make the phone uncomfortable to hold though.
- When/If you use a regular charging cable don't move the phone around when it's plugged in, movement wears the plug much sooner.
Use a charge limiting feature. (Listed in order of recommendation.)
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If your phone has a built smart battery charge management feature, use that. (Most modern high end phones do, including Samsung's, Google's & Apple's)
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If you have Root; use ACCA(a GUI for ACC) (Suggested Charging config: Level limit: 85%, Current: 700mA, Voltage: 3800mV)
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Buy a switch that can wirelessly cut off power based on charge level:
- A Chargie by Lighty Electronics is a Bluetooth enabled USB-A power switch, the accompanying APP configures it to auto cut off power based on power draw or charge level. Note that in the newest Android versions/PlayStore restrictions prevent versions of the APP past v2.2.20 from auto enabling Bluetooth, making this solution a little less appealing as you have to leave Bluetooth on you manually enable it.
- Using an Automation APP like Tasker to turn off a Home Assistant-controlled smart plug when the battery exceeds a reprogramed threshold, is a more reliable method & works for any device.
- Install an APP that alerts you at charge levels so you can unplug you phone. (AccuBattery, Battery Guru: Monitor & Health, etc.
Waking & Locking the screen
To reduce the use of the power button, as it's a fail point, although less common.
To wake
1. Use the features "Lift to check phone/events" and "Double-Tap to check phone"
2. Use the fingerprint reader to wake and unlock.
To lock/turn off the screen
1. Use a launcher that support double tapping the home screen to lock it (Nova launcher, Smart launcher, etc.)
2. Use Googles Quick Tap feature if you have a Pixel or the APP Tap, Tap for any Android to lock the screen. (Note: battery life might suffer)
3. Use a short Screen Time out.
TIPS
- Get a new case to get a fresh look and feel when your tired of the one you have.
- Read through the comments! There are many good additions from people with different experiences & perspectives.
Edit's: Updated & reformatted several things based on comments <3
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
When your phone becomes unusable and unrepairable, buy a Fairphone.
You should know that Fairphones in the U.S. are only officially sold through Murena. The Fairphone website does not make this clear at all.
Fairphone's site will not direct you to Murena. They will just let you waste a ton of time on their site trying to figure out how to buy a Fairphone in the U.S.
Fairphones don't have all the proper frequency bands for most US networks, so you're likely to not be able to use it, or have limited use (like no 5g) if you get one.
The Murena Fairphone 4 is fully functional on T-Mobile in the U.S. .Fairphone only sells their U.S. compatible versions through Murena currently.
Murena says the Fairphone 5 (5G) will be available in the U.S. through Murena at some point, but they don't know when. Until then, the 4 is excellent and works as well as every other phone does on T-Mobile in the U.S.
Hello, here is a comparison of the 5G support specs. on the on T-mobile of two of the latest Fairphone's vs Googles latest Pixel. Note that as of writing the Fairhone 5 is not available in the USA
The Fairphone 4 https://murena.com/america/shop/smartphones/brand-new/murena-fairphone-4/#tech-spec
5G supported bands
n1/n3/n5/n7/n8/n20/n28/n38/n41/n71/n77/n78The Fairphone 5 https://murena.com/shop/smartphones/brand-new/murena-fairphone-5/#tech-spec
5G supported bands
n1/n2/n3/n5/n7/n8/n20/n28/n38/n41/n48/n66/n71/n77/n78The Google Pixel 8 https://store.google.com/us/product/pixel_8_specs?hl=en-US
5G Sub-621: Bands
n1/2/3/5/7/8/12/20/25/26/28/29/30/38/40/41/48/66/70/71/77/78
5G mmWave21: Bandsn258/260/261T-mobiles 5G bands https://www.t-mobile.com/support/coverage/t-mobile-network
5GUC (Ultra Capacity 5G)
Band n41 (2.5 GHz) // Supported on all the above Band n258 (24 GHz) // Only supported by the pixel 8 Band n260 (39 GHz)// Only supported by the pixel 8 Band n261 (28 GHz) // Only supported by the pixel 85G (Extended Range 5G)
Band n71 (600 MHz) // Supported on all the aboveHopefully this is helpful. Next would be the 4G LTE comparison.
P.S. I understanding what 5g frequencies are used in what cases in important to extracting meaning from this.That's a very good and informative mock up. It highlights some of the information on why Fairphone has a more limited use in the US. In t mobiles case, it's only missing 3g, which is being phased out and all of the ghz range 5g network, which may end up causing issues in the future, since networks like to gut speeds on older networks like how 4gvis very slow now, when it used to be plenty fast before 5g was rolled out.
Also, some network providers will only allow certain phones on their networks, compatible bands or not. I did not thoroughly check, but it seems t mobile will allow you to activate fp4 and 5 on their network.
I would still be weary of getting a phone that you want to last a very long time that already doesn't have the capability to run on all available US bands. I wouldn't want to be forced into using a specific carrier on a phone I wanted for the next 8 years or however long. Heck, I got my note 20 ultra I'm using and intend to keep using around three years ago used for an admittedly crazy good deal at the time of $375.
Even better, for you, and for the planet, is to buy second hand.
Fairphone offers factory refurbished devices, but they are still ridiculously bad deal. A refurbished Fairphone 4 (a device couple of years old) sells for $30 less than a brand new one. Sure, you still get warranty, but it is a $600 second hand device after all.
I don't know where you got "a couple of years old" from. Do you mean, that the Fairphone 4 in general is a couple of years old?
Because, on the website it says the refurbished devices are: "After less than a month of Fairphoning, the phone is returned" So the Fairphone was only in use for max 4 weeks. I would still count that as mostly first hand :)
Fairphone 4 was released in 2019.
I didn't mean a second hand Fairphone, I mean a second hand whatever phone.