Didn't know more people are doing this. I am also using a used Pixel 4a which I got from eBay. Still has good battery. I don't see any reason to upgrade any time soon.

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boltzmann-brain 9 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Speaking of battery, veeeeery soon phones will have mandated replaceable batteries in the EU. I'm just hoping my current moto (a $99 job perfectly adequate for absolutely everything I do) survives until then.

Aside: I've noticed over the years that phones die in one of the following ways: - too fast charging (battery dies, charge controller dies) - usb port dies - screen broken - all sorts of falls

A lether folio case, gorilla glass, and a Qi charging adapter solve all of those problems (the charging adapter also limits the current by virtue of being inefficient). It has a magnetic connector (it's a simple two-pin job and it doesn't have any issues) - in the rare occasion I want to charge up real quick, I can still hook up directly via usb c, and meanwhile the port is stuffed with the converter's plug which prevents it from accumulating dirt and fluff.

I'm glad to say that even despite many falls, some directly onto the screen, the phone itself still works very well, even if the case and glass protector are obviously ragged.

I hope once unlockable Moto's come around I'll be able to keep that one for a long while as well.

	▲	Aachen 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		When you say replaceable, do you mean repairable or swappable? Like, does it need to be done without tools (probably takes <1 minute) or would it take me 2 hours with a load of tools (no change from today) just that there's a legal requirement for them to be commercially available? Fwiw, besides people that crack the screen I have not seen any of the failures you've mentioned. The only phone I saw someone replace, for reasons other than software support, was myself because the gnss chip was cooked after 3 years (would track me perfectly, like if I step to the right it would notice, but with an offset of hundreds of metres so I'm in another town). All other phones I've owned are still perfectly functioning (the oldest Android phone I have, 2012, has a more reliable battery than my daily driver!), I don't use any case or screen protector. They're just software-wise obsolete because no updates and developers require the newer android apis

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throawayonthe 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

well, it isn't receiving security updates https://grapheneos.org/faq#device-support

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duskdozer 9 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

imo the RAM bloat/overly aggressive OS. on a similar aged device without zswap I couldn't run more than one maybe two things without the OS killing everything in the background. I think it was better before I got stuck updating to 15

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DANmode 11 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Security patches.

	▲	throawayonthe 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		and support for hw memory tagging :p