This happened on all android devices I’ve owned. Once they turn about 3 years old, they start slowing down out of a sudden. Yes, software gets heavier, you need more processing power, etc. But it happens out of a sudden.

I dug out an old lebovo tablet, about 6 years old. It ran surprisingly quickly. As soon as I turned the WiFi on to install the app I needed, things slowed down to the point where the device was barely usable. I somehow installed it. The app didn’t require internet access so it was fine. Battery life was still amazing, about 5 days of casual use (internet access drains a lot of battery on this fella).

I thought it was a one time thing. Until I was handed another old Alcatel tablet that was ditched due to slowdown after 3 years. Same thing, no internet access leads to a snappy phone. Once you turn the WiFi on, boom slowdown.

I see the same thing happening to my Nokia 3.4 phone (now HMD Global, made in China). I don’t think the architecture allows for swapping the os to a degoogled one everyone is raving about. The reparibility of this phone is near zero so once it goes bust, it’s really hard to open it as well. I obviously don’t need a brick with no internet access (otherwise I would just carry a dumb phone).

Also once this buddy dies or becomes unusable, is there a brand you would recommend. I’m so done with Nokia and Samsung.

  • And in my experience it helped, previous phones from Apple, Samsung, and HTC got squirrelly around 10-15% after 2-3 years of use.

    With the throttling they implemented (to prevent batteries shutting off) I made it to just above 1000 charge cycles on my current phone. Still was only unstable around 4-6% battery with 81% battery life.