How long does an android phone last? Explained
Last Updated on May 28, 2023 by Kennedy
Wanting to buy an android phone but first you would like to know how long does an android phone last especially the average lifespan.
I got you covered here on this article.
When talking about the android phone, we have an varieties of android phone brands in the market ranging from the big boy samsung phones, to the likes of the google pixel, xiaomi, Lenovo, Realme, Oppo, Redmi, OnePlus, Infinix, Tecno, and the latest one we have, the nothing phone, etc.
So when talking about how long do android phones last, kindly note that the phone brand plays an important role especially in terms of software.
How long does an android phone last?
An android phone last for three to four years especially based on the software of the Android phone.
As long as a smartphone is concerned, there are two major things to look out for when talking about how long a smartphone will last for you and they are;
- The software
- The battery
Most importantly is the software because once a smartphone software is outdated it won’t be exciting as you will no longer see new features on your smartphone.
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For how long a phone will last, it is essential on android due to the fact that Android has a short support system compared to Apple that can go all the way to 6 years to support their device.
When it comes to software updates there’s no doubt that Google pixel phones tends to receive software updates even up to five years, but the goodnews we have for Samsung users is that from samsung galaxy s22 series will receive a good four software updates.
That’s a good news and a nice development from samsung.
As software is very essential when it comes to how long do android phones last, I will explain the number of years your phone brand will support your phone starting from phones released in 2022.
How long your phone will be supported
Below are list of android brands and how long they support their phones.
| Phone Brand & Estimated Average Lifespan | Remarks |
|---|---|
| Samsung Phones (4 years software support) | Previously, Samsung phones are supported for just two years before Samsung had to extend it to three years which seemed not to be enough compared to iPhones.
You can’t imagine buying $1200 samsung galaxy s22 ultra that won’t receive software updates in the next four years, whilst the likes of iPhone 13 pro max will receive software updates up till six years. So samsung had to further extend their support for their smartphones released in 2022 for a good four years. This literally means the Samsung Galaxy S22 series will receive software updates up to 2026 and will for sure receive android 16. |
| Xiaomi (4 years software support) | Since the turn of last year xiaomi promised that their phones will receive software support for a good four years with a three years of Android updates and four years of security updates.
Previously, xiaomi phones receive supports for just two years or three years maximum, so this is indeed a good development. |
| Google pixel (3 years software support) | The Google pixel being a Google owned phone is usually the first android phone to receive a new android software update and has the long software support which is up to five years.
However, that changed since Google launched the Google pixel 6 series. Right now Google pixel phones are supported for a good three years and that’s it. |
| Oppo | Oppo has really come to stay just like the xiaomi phone, and there’s no doubt that oppo phones are splendid and every year Oppo add a huge improvement to their phones.
Talking about how long does an android phone last, for Oppo smartphones, you will receive a software support for a good four years. A good three years of android software support with four years security support. |
| OnePlus | For the OnePlus phone users, the phone brand offers a three android software support especially for their flagship phones, and a four years security software support.
From the previous two years android software support to three years android software support. This is very good if you love the OnePlus phones. |
| Realme | The Realme offers a total of four years software support and which includes three years android software support and four years security software support or security updates. |
Aside from these phones, the likes of Asus will receive a two year android software updates and three years security updates, while the likes of Motorola and Sony android phones will receive a three years software updates for both android and security updates.
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Having seen the number of years your smartphone will still receive support from the manufacturers determines how long you will continue to use the phone.
Remember, once a phone software operating system is outdated, the need to change the phone will arise and that is very important because soon or later, most android apps will no longer support the outdated operating software system.
However, there are other things that plays a major role when it comes to how long does an android phone last.
They include the followings;
- The software
- The battery health
- The hardware
- The usage
Having explained the software, now let’s head over to the battery health.
The battery health
Battery life and battery health matters so much in a smartphone especially if you want to use your phone for a long time.
With a good battery health you will enjoy the battery life of your smartphone. If the battery health depreciate and become very poor, the battery life of your smartphone will be affected so much.
Your smartphone may not last for three hours after charging it.
Once the battery health of your smartphone begins to worn out and gets extremely low that it only last for two hours charging, then you should know it is time to get a new phone especially if the phone model battery is no longer sold in the market or outdated.
Tips to maintain your phone battery health
If you fancy to use your phone for a couple of four years or more, here are tips to main your phone battery health.
1. Never Use Your When Charging:If you want to have a good battery health for your smartphone, please do not use your when it is charging especially when playing online games or using the internet.
Most time when you are using the internet while charging your phone, it tends to hear up the phone and causes overheating especially when playing online games while charging your phone.
There’s no doubt that one major causes of battery damage is overheating.
When your smartphone overheat very often it will in turn reduce the battery health of your smartphone and android phones battery health can be way too poor after three years of usage.
2. Don’t Overcharge Your Phone: Most times we usually think that the best way to charge a phone is to charge from 10% to 100%. If our device doesn’t reach up to 100% we feel that it is not yet fully charged but the reality is that once a phone gets up to 85% you’re good to go.
You shouldn’t waste your precious time waiting for the phone to get up to 100% cause that will affect the battery health of the phone on the long run.
It is advisable even by phone manufacturers to always charge your phone from 20% to a maximum of 85% per day in order to maintain a good battery health.
This only if you care especially if you are a heavy phone user.
Ever experienced charging your phone and instead of the percentage to increase, but rather it decreased.
That is caused by a faulty smartphone battery. This literally means the battery health is way too poor and should be
changed especially if the problem persist without a solution.
The phone hardware
Thanks to screen protector and cover case talking about how long does an android phone last the phone hardware doesn’t necessarily matter.
This is because one tends not to have a single damage on our phone unless you don’t have a screen guard and case for your smartphone.
But nevertheless, one might experience volume buttons not functioning properly, the microphone or speaker not working properly, or probably a screen burn.
Back then one might experience what is called a screen burn on samsung phone even though I never experienced such on my three samsung phones so far.
All these are hardware issues but the truth is that it goes down to the usage.
There are people who are naturally careless and don’t seem to care. Their phones might fall off for a good number of six times per day.
Every time they are changing their screen protector and case or even their smartphone screen itself. With this type of person, the phone will never last and you should expect the phone to last for a good two years and you can flip it.
But then, quality matters a lot as their are android smartphones that are very durable and some that are not. I recommend you to watch the Samsung Galaxy s22 ultra drop test to see what you think talking about.
One major thing I like about the Samsung Galaxy phones especially their flagship phones is that they are very durable and strong even their screen display.
The phone usage
Lastly, this plays an important role on how long does an android phone will last and this goes down to the phone user.
How are you using your android phone?
Very nicely or probably roughly as you don’t care at all.
Good and careful phone usage simply means the phone will last longer, but careless and rough usage means the phone will barely reach three years.
For me, I use my phone with a lot of care especially if I want to trade my phone or sell it as a used phone. Because of this I don’t miss out putting a screen protector on the screen and a very strong case for the back cover.
If you ask me how long does an android phone last I will say that is three years based on software updates.
Operating system or software support matters a lot to me, once a phone will no longer receive a new OS update, I’m flipping the phone for a relative cheap price.
I don’t wast my time in doing so.
Maybe this means I do change my phone every three years, or probably every two years as I love new features and experience.
What is the average life of Android phone?
The average life of an android phone is two years though some brands like the Samsung Galaxy phones are three years.
Talking about the average life of an android phone, that should be between two to three years and the phone will start to become slower and sluggish.
Android phones are so good in this issue and maybe because of RAM or not being optimized like the iPhones.
An iphone 6 is still working very flawless and fast, but that can’t be said for a samsung galaxy s8. Though Samsung has promised that their phones especially their flagship phones will last longer and won’t become sluggish on the long run.
When should I change my phone?
You should change your phone when the phone operating software system id outdated, the battery health deteriorate and the phone becomes very sluggish and slow.
We all have our different opinions on when we should change our phones and get a new one.
But if you ask me, once my phone operating system won’t be supported anymore I’m getting a new phone. I might use the other phone as my side phone or probably sell it off as I have both android phone and iPhone.
Secondly, I can’t endure a slow or sluggish phone.
Like I said earlier, android phones especially old samsung phones tends to get slow with time or maybe after two to three years.
My galaxy s8 and s9 plus did that, my galaxy s20 ultra did that and right now I’m using the galaxy s22 ultra and it is very fast. Maybe because it is barley five months but time will tell.
You can’t imagine my very old iPhone 6 is way faster compared to my samsung s9 plus. That’s very embarrassing and I had to sell off the s9 plus at s giveaway price.
That’s android for you. Always getting slow with time though samsung states that won’t happen on the galaxy s22 ultra.
We are watching and waiting.
Lastly is the battery health.
Once your smartphone battery deteriorate that it barely last for five hours, that will be very frustrating and needs to be replaced.
Now here’s the problem.
To get a good quality battery replacement on for android phones can be quite a lot difficult compared to iPhones and I don’t seem to understand the reason for that.
Once the original battery start having an issue it can be a lot frustrating unless you managed to get a good battery replacement for your Android phone.
New phone features
Many a time your phone still support the latest software update, very fast and the battery health is good, but you need to experience new phone features.
For example, you have the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and noticed that the galaxy s22 ultra has an exciting sweet feature which is not available on the galaxy s22 ultra, you can decide to upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy s22 ultra because of the new exciting features that comes with the phone.
So changing of phone doesn’t neccesarily require when you start to have issues with your phone or the OS is outdated, but rather experience new phone features.
How do you know if your phone is dying?
To know if your phone is dying, check the battery health and how fast your phone is especially when it comes to multitasking.
These are signs of a dying phone;
- The phone charge backwards or the percentage doesn’t increase, suddenly increase from 20% to 100% within two seconds indicating poor battery health.
- Your phone becomes too slow to boot, open apps and use the phone in general.
- Apps no longer open or operate due to outdated software.
How to make your phone last for years
To make your phone last for years, kindly use a screen protector and case for the phone, always update your phone, and remember to clear cache when it’s too much.
Below are the list of things to do in order to make your phone last for years;
- Update your phone when necessary.
- Use a screen protector and case for your phone.
- Charge your phone from 20% to 85% don’t go beyond in order to maintain the battery health.
- Dont use your phone while it is charging especially playing online games or using the internet as it might overheat the phone in the process.
- Try as much as possible to prevent your phone from falling unnecessarily.
- Keep it clean and avoid dirt from getting into the phone no matter your the type of job you’re into.
- Always allow your phone to rest and when it gets heated up, allow it to cool off the heat.
- Always endeavor to use the right adapter and cable to charge your phone.
How long should you have a phone before getting a new one
I will recommend having your phone for a good three years before getting a new.
Usually within the space of three there’s something new that comes with the latest smartphone.
For example, there’s a big difference between the Samsung galaxy note 10 plus and the galaxy s22 ultra. The galaxy s22 ultra is way ahead in everything compared to the galaxy note 10 plus especially in terms of camera and other phone features.
So when you have a phone for a good three years or even two years, you should be thinking of getting a new one especially if there’s a lot of changes with your old phone.
Lastly before I go, how long does an android phone last? An android phone last for three to four years especially based on the software of the Android phone.
