If you properly care for it, you don’t need to replace it every year—or even every other year.
Recent data shows that most people replace their phone every two and a half years, and many carrier plans allow you to upgrade after two years, but that’s unnecessary. Extend the life of your phone, and you can cut down on electronic waste and save yourself a lot of money.
If you want to get off the upgrade hamster wheel, here are six ways to make your phone last as long as possible.
Prioritize your phone’s battery health
Paying attention to your phone’s battery health is one of the most important things you can do to make sure it lasts as long as possible. You have two big ways to keep your phone’s battery in optimal condition: Avoid extreme temperatures and practice good charging habits.
What do we mean by extreme temperatures? Apple, Google, and Samsung recommend keeping your device between 62 °F and 72 °F as an ideal range; anything below 32 °F or above 95 °F can damage your battery. Short-term exposure to colder temperatures doesn’t do as much damage as exposure to hotter temperatures, which can permanently shorten your phone’s battery life. If you’ve ever taken your phone to the beach and watched your phone power off due to overheating, you know.
In addition to protecting your phone from extreme temps, reevaluate how and when you charge your phone. Believe it or not, experts recommend that you not charge your phone to 100% regularly. (I know, it’s almost unthinkable.)
“When we think about battery longevity, we think about the number of charging cycles that it can stand until it will no longer hold a useful charge,” iFixit writer Charlie Sorrel notes.
Charging your phone overnight can actually do harm by causing battery degradation, which means your battery will lose its charge much faster. Many Android phones and iPhones offer an optimized-charging feature to prevent this from happening.
“Keeping your phone between 20-80% or 0-80% would greatly extend its life,” Kent Griffith, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at University of California San Diego, told Wirecutter via email.
But you don’t have to set an alarm to wake up and unplug your phone from its charger. Newer model iPhones, Samsung Galaxy phones, and Google’s Pixel phones all have optimized-charging features that allow you to set a charging max of 80%. On an iPhone 15, open Settings and then tap Battery > Charging Optimization to select the 80% limit. (iPhone 14 and older models have an optimized battery charging feature, but don’t let you select an 80% max.) On a Samsung Galaxy handset, open Settings, tap Battery, and then within Battery Protection choose the Maximum setting for the 80% limit. Google Pixel phones offer, in their settings, only an automatic version called Adaptive Charging, which uses AI to learn your charging habits and slows down your phone’s charging. You can activate it by opening Settings and tapping Battery > Adaptive Charging.
The downside of charging your phone only to 80% is, of course, that the charge won’t last as long. A smartphone’s display can play a huge role in battery loss, so using a combination of dark mode and turning on auto or adaptive brightness can help. You can also reduce your screen timeout, which automatically turns off your phone’s screen after a predetermined time of its being idle, to under 60 seconds. If your battery life is dwindling, avoid GPS-reliant apps such as Google Maps or Strava. Turning on your phone’s low-power mode will also help it last longer. You can also pick up a battery pack (here are three options we recommend) if you’re worried that your phone might die while you’re on the go.
You have an easy way to see your phone’s battery status. On an iPhone, open Settings and tap Battery > Battery Health to see its health. Under Battery Health is Maximum Capacity, which indicates how long it can hold a charge; the closer the maximum capacity is to 100%, the better.
Checking your battery health on Android is a little more complicated. On a Samsung Galaxy phone, open Settings, scroll down and tap Device Care, scroll down and tap Diagnostics, then tap Phone Diagnostics (which requires a Samsung Members login). Select Battery Status to run a diagnostics test on your battery to see whether it’s in good health.
On a Google Pixel phone, you need to download a third-party app from Google Play; we recommend AccuBattery, which provides charging tips and can monitor your charging and discharging, along with your phone’s battery health.
Protect your phone
Now that basically all modern phones are water-resistant, the odds of destroying your phone by dropping it in water are low. Newer phones are also more resistant to scratches and drops. But it’s still a good idea to add protection against other types of accidents. A screen protector and case can help prevent shattered screens, cracks, dents, and other damage. (If you own an iPhone, we recommend these screen protectors and cases.) And if your phone is in pristine condition, you can get more money for it if you decide to trade it in or sell it.
Keep it clean
On top of keeping your phone’s screen wiped clean, it’s essential to keep an eye on its charging port and speaker grilles. Long-term buildup of lint and dust can eventually cause charging issues or worse.
We have a step-by-step guide to properly cleaning your phone. You need only a microfiber cloth, some dish soap, a wooden toothpick, a Clorox or 70% alcohol wipe, and a few minutes of your time.
Update the software (seriously)
Keeping your phone’s software up-to-date can make it feel newer by adding many of the same features that are available on newer models. Outside of providing new features, it’s imperative to install updates when they’re available for your phone’s overall security. “If you’re using an older device that can no longer receive security updates, you’re at risk for known and unknown attacks,” said Wirecutter senior staff writer Max Eddy, who covers software security and privacy. “If your device doesn’t have newer OS versions, you can’t even download the (presumably) better and more secure versions of the apps.”
Apple provides security updates every four to six weeks for iPhones, while Google provides monthly security updates for its many Android phones. So when a new software or security update is available, download it sooner rather than later.
Manage your phone’s storage
To keep your phone in optimal shape for more than two years, you need to get creative in preventing the storage from reaching its capacity. The combination of games, photos, and music stored locally can fill up your phone’s storage, which can take a toll on its overall speed and performance. “Having too little storage space would lead to your phone working harder and lead to overloading the CPU and RAM,” said Wirecutter senior staff writer Joel Santo Domingo, who covers networking and storage.
To prevent this, you should offload as much music, photos, and videos as possible (especially if they’re stored in your text messages). Graphics-heavy games can fill up the storage, too. For example, a game like Call of Duty: Mobile has a massive, 12 GB file size and can go up to a heftier 19 GB with all of the maps and resources. You can use apps such as Spotify or Apple Music to stream music and use external storage options like iCloud or Google Drive for uploading your photos and videos, which we recommend in our guide to how to back up and secure your digital life.
It’s also worth dedicating some time to regularly organizing your camera roll. We have some tips for how to easily clear out images you don’t need and sort the photos you want to keep (or offload).
Repair your old phone before buying a new one
One reason you might want to pay for a phone insurance plan when you buy a new device is to cover the cost of fixing parts that get damaged or fail. If you drop your iPhone and the screen cracks, it’ll cost you anywhere from $129 to $379, depending on how old your phone is, for Apple to fix it if you don’t have AppleCare+, Apple’s insurance plan. (The cost of that repair is just $29 if you do have insurance.) If you notice that your phone doesn’t last anywhere near as long as it once did, you might need a battery replacement. Apple charges $89 if you don’t have AppleCare+; it’s free to replace if you do. (But check our battery tips above before you make an appointment.)
No judgment if you want a shiny new device every now and then. But if you’re taking care of your current phone, you certainly don’t have to replace it every two years.
[nytimes]