phone for 4+ years Keep a device functional for years

[Reun.]

Good afternoon! 

 

My phone for the last 4 yours has been Samsung Galaxy S7 edge. It has reached the state where Its almost unusable, I have to change. 

My intention is to buy high-end phone to last me 4+ years. My eye is currently on the Oneplus 8 pro 8gb/128gb version. 

 

Here come my questions:

What must I do to prolong the lifespan of my device? I am stupid in these details, I will probably ask something foolish, sorry in advance. 

1. Is this even a good idea on my end? 

Are there any reasons to believe that in the next years something revolutionary will happen? So instead should I buy a midrange device than 2 years later purchase one more?

2. Some obvious measures that I will take like: using a case, the screen protector plastic, not overusing my device, keeping my it safe of viruses. 

3. My reason to buy a high-end device is because I want the processor to be fast even after years of degradation. Is this true? Can a snapdragon 865 even after years be about 50% as fast as a new one? What actions can I take to keep my processor 'healthy'?

4. What about the graphical unit? 

5. What about the screen?

6. Are there any downloadable programs to use, like Doze that saves battery if you are not using the phone actively. 

7. Finally the battery. Over the years I have seen multiple advices to increase the battery's life. Like: sometimes let it drain to zero or try to keep it around 40-60%. So now what is it?

8. Any other advice that you can give would be very beneficial. 

[mariushm]

Lithium batteries work best if they're not fully discharged. They're not really affected in a meaningful way if they're fully discharged, it's just that there's a tiny benefit if they're not fully discharged.

There's also a tiny benefit if they're not fully charged... ex leave them at 95% or something like that. But, on lots of phones, the internal battery charger controller already stops charging below the absolute 100% to extend life.

 

Probably the worse when it comes to damaging batteries is using fast charge... fast charging damages the battery faster than regular slow charging that takes 30m or whatever to charge the phone.

Batteries have a limit number of charge cycles, let's say 700-1000, by the time you get near that number, the battery will be at around 70-80% of its original capacity.

 

What you can do if you really want to is to replace the battery and erase the flash memory completey and reprogram the software on the phone.

It will probably simpler and easier to just get a newer phone

You don't need to spend 1000$ on phones, I personally am looking at buying a Xiaomi Redmi 8 for under 200$, which gets me almost all that i need (64gb memory, 4 gb ram, decent camera, good battery, maybe a bit small resolution screen but i can live with it)

 

[Reun.]

41 minutes ago, mariushm said:

Lithium batteries work best if they're not fully discharged. They're not really affected in a meaningful way if they're fully discharged, it's just that there's a tiny benefit if they're not fully discharged.

There's also a tiny benefit if they're not fully charged... ex leave them at 95% or something like that. But, on lots of phones, the internal battery charger controller already stops charging below the absolute 100% to extend life.

 

Probably the worse when it comes to damaging batteries is using fast charge... fast charging damages the battery faster than regular slow charging that takes 30m or whatever to charge the phone.

Batteries have a limit number of charge cycles, let's say 700-1000, by the time you get near that number, the battery will be at around 70-80% of its original capacity.

 

What you can do if you really want to is to replace the battery and erase the flash memory completey and reprogram the software on the phone.

It will probably simpler and easier to just get a newer phone

You don't need to spend 1000$ on phones, I personally am looking at buying a Xiaomi Redmi 8 for under 200$, which gets me almost all that i need (64gb memory, 4 gb ram, decent camera, good battery, maybe a bit small resolution screen but i can live with it)

 

And what do you expect how long would a phone like that last you for?

[mariushm]

I have a computer and a laptop, so I'm not gonna play games or browse the webs on the phone for hours a day, so I expect I'll only have to charge the phone every couple of days or even rarer, which means the battery should last 2-3 years.

I'm mainly interested in having the ability to take some good pictures in an emergency (I work in a financial company, and sometimes it's easier to just take a snapshot of an invoice or some documents instead of going to the big laser printer/copier to scan and have pdf sent to network drive) , maybe be able to read an ebook when going back home by bus or train, maybe use it as GPS when driving somewhere (decent storage, 4 GB of memory and big screen helps here), maybe listen to fm radio/music (the model I mentioned still has stereo jack, don't like bluetooth), and maybe use nfc to make payments when buying things (my bank has software that you can use with phone to make it work like a card, place phone near pos machine and you pay)

Actual talking and texting will be very little.

 

In 2-3 years, I probably won't care and buy a phone that's a generation or two old by then, like the Xiaomi Redmi 10 that was just launched now.

Here, we have credit cards that allow you to pay for an item in 6 or 12 months with no interest. So basically I could pay $35 a month for 6 months and it would be cheaper than buying through a phone company which would lock me into a 2 year plan (the f*@kers sell Samsung phones for around 20$ more than retail price and then discount 50$ when locking you in a 2 year plan).

[EL02]

It really is up to you. What I would do is get two midrangers every two years for the price of a flagship. What I think are the biggest benefits going this route are:

1. No significant drops in battery life, because you're changing the phone after only two years of use.
2. Lower repair costs: if you happen to crack your display, you don't have to immediately fix it as you're gonna get a new one anyway.
3. New technologies. E.g people who bought their phones before 2018 didnt know ultra wide would later be a trend, or that amoled displays would almost become a norm in the $400+ devices.
4. Up to date software.
5. A midrange processor usually is on par with a two year old flagship one.

1 hour ago, mariushm said:

I personally am looking at buying a Xiaomi Redmi 8 for under 200$, which gets me almost all that i need (64gb memory, 4 gb ram, decent camera, good battery, maybe a bit small resolution screen but i can live with it)

I would strongly recommend a redmi 9, note 8/pro.