Cell Phone Repair

[myrdale]

For a cell phone, I have a Motorola Turbo. I purchased this back around 2016. I think it was around $600 at the time.

Since then it has served me well enough. However over about the past year, the battery capacity has become an ever increasing issue. I had been pricing new phones, and they are easily in the $1,000+ range.

Yesterday afternoon, I stopped at a local cell phone repair store. $80 and 30 minutes later, I had a new battery installed. The tech actually commented about how the battery was dated 2015 as the date of manufacture and that he couldn't believe it had lasted this long.

Later in the evening when my mother called, I bragged to her that I had saved $1,000 that day only for her to say "Oh I actually paid $900 for a new cell phone today". *palm to the face*

If you can get over not having to have the newest model, there is a huge amount of savings in repair.

[disneysteve]

I keep thinking about putting a new battery in my phone. I am 100% fine with the phone otherwise. Even if it only buys me one more year, it would be worth it. I need to move that to the top of my To Do list.

I can buy a battery for $20 and do it myself but I think this is one of those times I'd prefer a professional and a warranty in case anything goes wrong.

[Jluke]

I splurged on a 12 pro max.

I might charge the phone for 30 minutes each day and it gets me through the day/night.

amazing difference compared to my dying iphone7

if your battery is dying be sure to use low power mode as much as possible. It makes a difference

[disneysteve]

I splurged on a 12 pro max.

$1,100 new phone or $80 battery replacement? Right now, I think I'll go with the latter. I know I'll need the new phone eventually but I don't want to do it any sooner than I have to. I kept my iPhone 5 until it literally fell apart (the battery expanded and split the case open). Before that, I kept my iPhone 3 until Apple stopped supporting it so my apps stopped working. I'm not a big upgrade guy.

[Jluke]

$1,100 new phone or $80 battery replacement? Right now, I think I'll go with the latter. I know I'll need the new phone eventually but I don't want to do it any sooner than I have to. I kept my iPhone 5 until it literally fell apart (the battery expanded and split the case open). Before that, I kept my iPhone 3 until Apple stopped supporting it so my apps stopped working. I'm not a big upgrade guy.

$80 dollar towards a phone that cost me $600 or so and is terribly outdated?

got to bite the bullet sooner or later.

it will be life changing when you aren’t worried about where you will charge your phone next and if the apps aren’t sized right for your screen

[disneysteve]

$80 dollar towards a phone that cost me $600 or so and is terribly outdated?

got to bite the bullet sooner or later.

it will be life changing when you aren’t worried about where you will charge your phone next and if the apps aren’t sized right for your screen

I have yet to encounter anything that I want to do that my phone can't do and I've never heard of an app not being sized right for my screen so I guess I've never encountered that issue either. I have no doubt that it will happen eventually, and that's when I'll upgrade. I don't see the point of upgrading until the device I have is no longer functional for what I need it to do.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I have yet to encounter anything that I want to do that my phone can't do and I've never heard of an app not being sized right for my screen so I guess I've never encountered that issue either. I have no doubt that it will happen eventually, and that's when I'll upgrade. I don't see the point of upgrading until the device I have is no longer functional for what I need it to do.

Maybe in the apple ecosystem, although they are quickly phasing out things like chargers and microphones. Personally I just buy $100-200 phone and keep them 12-24 months. Then buy another one when it dies. Then it get damaged or killed by the kids it doesn't matter. I once had a phone stolen off the table when I turned my back and was trying to organized my kids (they were like 2 and 4 maybe) at fanuiel hall marketplace lunch by myself with two kids with stroller food, and table and i left it there was unbuckling kiddo1 and then i turned around and my phone was gone. Someone obviously was watching a mom distracted trying to stabilize kids, food, etc. I quickly went home, wiped it and was annoyed but thankfully it was a cheap phone. Ugh. That experience solidified cheap phones forever for me and I never thought of buying something nicer.

[myrdale]

I can buy a battery for $20 and do it myself but I think this is one of those times I'd prefer a professional and a warranty in case anything goes wrong.

I had considered doing it myself and had watched a couple of videos on doing the repair. By the time I spend $20 on the battery, and another $20+ on the tool kit that I would most likely only use once I figured I'd might as well support a local repair business.

It is funny that the phone is too old to work with Toyota's navigation application. It just means that if I go somewhere I have to keep the map on my phone rather than on the screen.

I tend to be extremely careful with my property. I don't tend to drop / loose / break anything. But if I feel in the creek tomorrow with a 5 year old phone, other than the cost of replacement it is not that much of an impact. It's one advantage to keeping things until the end of their working life.

[QuarterMillionMan]

About time a major phone company accentuate the durability of its glass. I hope my new Samsung is as good as an iPhone.

Verizon and iPhone NEWEST TV commercial - YouTube

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Actually Steve I'm surprised they are still supporting your iphone. They usually deprecate them and stop supporting them after 6 years. Apple makes it unusable.