2y ago

Pixel 3a, battery update - worth it?

Hi all,

I've had a 3a for some years now, and I like almost everything about the phone (though I sincerely wish they'd used more durable glass, holy canoli). However, the battery has started to fail, and I was wondering if it's worth replacing? It would cost about 80 USD to have it professionally replaced.

I know the device is no longer supported by Google, but I was thinking of running GrapheneOS instead of Android, anyway.

Any thoughts or insights? I'm far from a genius when it comes to cell phones, so I'd appreciate anything you have to say.

Thanks!

22 comments

For sure any update would be very worth the price. If you have to pay $80 for the battery you might look for a used pixel 5 for ~$180 ? Huge upgrade for sure
- That's an interesting idea. I've been reluctant to get a new phone because of the heavy resource use, but getting a "less old" Pixel isn't really pulling from supply chains in any way. Thanks for the thought.
  
  As a nerd with an kind of ecological consciousness that's how I try to deal with this. It's not the ideal situation but I try to always find a use for the old phone - new owner like a kid, or back to second hand market