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Pixel 3a, battery update - worth it? (self.googlepixel)

submitted 1 year ago by tamal3 to c/googlepixel

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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!

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

FYI GrapheneOS support also stops when Google stops software support (https://grapheneos.org/faq#supported-devices), so you might end up with stuck with no updates even if you manage the repair and the switch to GrapheneOS. If you're concerned at all about security that might be a dealbreaker.

Cracked screen shouldn't matter too much -- based on my own repair experience, you should basically assume that you'll destroy the screen trying to swap the 3a's battery anyway because the screen is so thin, so fragile, and glued down so aggressively.

At 80 USD for the battery plus another 100 for a screen, you might just want to look for a refurbished 3a/4a/4a 5G/5a. The 5a is a smidge larger but will get another year or so of software and security support; the 4a is a smidge smaller (and fortunately has much more durable Gorilla Glass) but is about to lose software updates. The 3a has already fallen off the cliff of software and security updates IIRC. But all of them have the headphone jack. If you're willing to lose the headphone jack, you might want to look at the 6a and 7a, which are larger still but will guarantee you 4 years of security updates and also have GrapheneOS support.