Get the latest tech news

How to make your smartphone last longer

Ditching a phone for a new model every two years isn't necessary. Here's how to keep your phone in working condition longer.

But we’ve become accustomed to that 24-month time frame because wireless carriers often push an upgrade on biennial contracts, and many smaller phone makers only offer software support for two years. Though we’ve never subjected our phones to the brutality seen in the company’s ads, I can say that these cases have seen my partner’s aging Samsung Galaxy and my elderly iPhone through some pretty gnarly spills, sparing them from scratches or worse. In fact, Li-ion cells last longer when they spend less time being either completely discharged or full — that’s why battery optimization features in iPhones and delay overnight charging to 100 percent until about an hour before you typically grab your mobile.

Get the Android app