I have a Galaxy A5 2017 and I’ve been thinking about replacing its battery with a new one, instead of swapping it out and buying a new, more modern smartphone.
The original internal battery for my device costs around a hundred reais.
I’m thinking of doing this so I can keep it for a while longer.
I know that over the years, devices end up with insufficient storage space, the internal hardware wears out (especially the battery, which degrades), among other things.
Mine doesn’t have that much internal storage (32GB), but the amount of RAM satisfies me (3GB), plus the processor is OctaCore.
Not to mention the Android version is 8.0.
The only thing that bothers me a bit today is the screen size.
Do any of you also tend to “squeeze” every last drop out of your smartphone before upgrading to a new one?
It depends… if replacing the battery costs more than 50% of the device’s value (used, not new), I usually end up swapping devices.
The issue isn’t that hardware wears out over time — it’s that apps, Android, and so on keep getting heavier over time… And as for internal storage, you can recover some of it by resetting to factory defaults (apps leave a lot of junk behind).
I have a Galaxy J7 2016 that had no internal space… and after resetting and removing some apps, it freed up nearly 5.5-6GB, if I remember correctly.
But my current device is a Redmi 7, bought in May 2019. For now, I’m satisfied with it, despite some annoying bugs in MIUI…
The price of the battery plus service, even if you do it yourself. This used device, with no defects, is worth between 400 and 450. (of course there are some crazy people asking 500+)
Which are almost useless. They only delete the obvious stuff. There’s stuff that gets left behind. hahaha
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I forgot about the financial side… if I can’t replace it right away, I’ll keep using it until it finally dies and then I’ll replace it. hahaha
I’m trying to keep myself in check. I went through a phase where I’d switch smartphones every year. Since 2017, I’ve been trying to make as few swaps as possible. In my case, I only switched from the iPhone 7 Plus to the XR because of the battery in Feb/2019, and we’re still here today.
Of course, every now and then I find myself looking for some cheap ad for the new iPhones (urban legend), but honestly, there’s nothing today that I really need to justify an upgrade. Maybe more cameras that I’ll use once a month? Yeah, but it’s not worth the investment.
