How To Make Your Smartphone Last Longer

Replacing a smartphone each 2 years is partially why billions of phones spell into landfills each year. If stacked level atop 1 another, that galore handsets would scope farther than nan ISS. But we’ve go accustomed to that 24-month clip framework because wireless carriers often push an upgrade connected biennial contracts, and galore smaller telephone makers only offer package support for 2 years. But now, pinch longer package commitments from awesome manufacturers, on pinch increasing right-to-repair legislation, galore newer phones tin enactment successful our pockets for person to 7 trips astir nan sun. Here’s really you tin widen nan lifespan of your smartphone and debar shelling retired hundreds earlier it’s perfectly necessary.

How to make your smartphone past longer

Use a case

It’s a flashy move to transportation a naked telephone around, but nan chances of a handset making it done a tumble spell up dramatically erstwhile you employment other protection. We urge a fewer successful our guideline to iPhone cases. In my family, we’ve been happy pinch Mous cases. Though we’ve ne'er subjected our phones to nan brutality seen successful nan company’s ads, I tin opportunity that these cases person seen my partner’s aging Samsung Galaxy done immoderate beautiful gnarly spills and I in installments nan cases for getting my iPhone 11 to 2025 successful moving condition.

Take attraction of nan built-in artillery (or usage a powerfulness bank)

Since a phone’s artillery is often nan first point to show signs of age, it’s worthy it to travel recommendations for extending its lifespan. Lithium-ion batteries don’t execute good successful power and you should debar charging them if it’s hotter than 95 degrees — doing truthful tin degrade nan artillery quickly and moreover origin them to malfunction. They’ll tolerate acold upwind better, but tin get sluggish erstwhile things get excessively chilly.

If you’re storing a telephone for a while, it’s champion to do truthful pinch nan artillery astatine half charge, alternatively than afloat aliases empty. In fact, Li-ion cells past longer erstwhile they walk little clip being either wholly discharged aliases afloat — that’s why artillery optimization features successful iPhones and Pixel phones hold overnight charging to 100 percent until astir an hr earlier you typically drawback your mobile. And while it’s sometimes basal to complaint a artillery quickly, a slower charging method erstwhile velocity isn’t captious will put little accent connected nan ionic components and thief widen nan cell’s life.

But complete time, immoderate artillery will yet deterioration down. And if you’re traveling, relying heavy connected navigation aliases utilizing nan telephone arsenic a hotspot, you mightiness request much juice to get done a day. We urge galore options successful our best powerfulness banks guide but nan artillery I drawback astir often is nan Anker Laptop Power Bank. It’s sewage built-in USB-C cables and delivers capable complaint to springiness immoderate instrumentality (including laptops, other hours of life). But for thing smaller, I for illustration nan reliability of Statik’s semi-solid authorities MagSafe battery.

If you really want to springiness your telephone a caller lease connected life, a caller soul artillery could beryllium nan ticket. For Pixel phones, you tin spell done Google’s official channel for either a walk-in aliases mail-in repair, you tin look for an authorized repair partner aliases you tin prime nan DIY way pinch iFixit’s Pixel repair kits and instructions.

For iPhones, you tin commencement pinch Apple’s official page, spell done Best Buy aliases different authorized third-parties, aliases effort iFixit’s methods. Samsung besides has an in-house option but some iFixit and Best Buy ended their repair relationships pinch Samsung successful 2024. Depending wherever you spell and nan exemplary of your phone, nan value for a caller artillery and installation will apt tally you betwixt $60 and $150 — still acold little than ditching your handset for thing marque new.

Clean up your phone’s storage

Most proposal connected really to declutter your phone and make it tally faster centers connected 1 thing: freeing up space. Your phone’s OS will apt person suggestions for clearing up retention space, for illustration automatically offloading unused apps aliases deleting year-old messages. You tin besides do things manually by deleting immoderate apps you don’t use. Next, see nan photos and videos you’re storing locally and either opt to salary for unreality retention aliases transportation nan files to a machine aliases an outer backup device. You tin besides see getting free of immoderate euphony and movies you whitethorn person downloaded for offline use, and deleting aged messages and ample attachments. A bully norm is to support your retention astatine astir 80 percent capacity. Once you’ve deleted and transferred what you can, restart your telephone to springiness it a chance to clear up its impermanent memory.

Why you tin (and should) widen nan life of your smartphone

The e-waste watercourse grows each twelvemonth and doesn't do awesome things for human aliases planetary health. Smartphone companies are offering amended and much accordant trade-in deals, but moreover immoderate physics recycling has its faults. Simply hanging onto a instrumentality alternatively of opting for a caller 1 is nan astir businesslike measurement of cutting backmost connected a phone's biology effect — positive it'll prevention you money.

While each elephantine telephone shaper would for illustration you to judge that upgrading annually is critical, it’s worthy noting that caller generations of phones often carnivore beardown resemblance to nan anterior year’s model. Engadget editors spot this clip and again pinch nan countless smartphones they review — there’s a caller button, a fewer caller AI tricks, but nan exertion mostly doesn’t leap guardant each twelvemonth to create thing wildly different than what came before.

With only insignificant hardware upgrades, nan much breathtaking caller features travel via over-the-air package updates. Starting pinch nan merchandise of nan Pixel 8 successful 2023, Google promised information and package updates for a full 7 years. So those who bargain a Pixel 10 successful 2026 could still beryllium utilizing nan aforesaid telephone successful 2033. Samsung’s Galaxy S26 has nan aforesaid magnitude of promised support. Apple committed to 5 years of support to comply pinch EU regulations, but iPhones were already known for their extended support — erstwhile iOS 26 came out, support was trim for nan iPhone XR and earlier, but that meant nan 2018 models had enjoyed astir 7 years of updates from launch.

When Apple launched nan iPhone 15, nan institution doubled its estimation for nan handset’s artillery life saying a handset should clasp 80 percent of nan original afloat complaint aft 1,000 cycles. And Apple said nan placement of nan larger artillery successful nan iPhone 16 makes replacing it easier. Overall, artillery exertion has improved successful capacity complete nan years, but longevity hasn’t gone up crossed nan board, arsenic a study by PhoneArena makes clear.

More advancements successful battery life spans whitethorn beryllium on nan horizon peculiarly arsenic nan EV manufacture grows, which besides relies connected lithium-ion cells. For now, declining artillery wellness is usually nan astir noticeable rumor affecting older phones. In 2023, nan European Council of nan European Union adopted caller guidelines for battery-powered devices, which includes a instruction to let consumers to “easily region and replace” batteries. That won’t spell into effect until 2027, and location will beryllium plentifulness of interpretation arsenic to what “easily” means. But EU mandates are what made Apple yet ditch Lightning ports connected iPhones successful favour of USB-C, truthful this could yet beryllium a measurement towards (once again) having smartphones pinch swappable batteries.

Right-to-repair bills person been passed aliases introduced successful all 50 states. Some of these laws person already gone into effect, and will require manufacturers to do things for illustration providing repair devices and documentation, and trading components for a definite number of years aft nan past caller exemplary for higher priced devices.

Currently, a number of phones person decent repairability scores, according to nan online repair organization iFixit (The FairPhone 6 gets nan highest marks.) Until much companies commencement making it easier to hole things ourselves, authorized repair is an option, while self-repair remains an action for nan much industrious.

Check retired much from our spring cleaning guide.