Clojure Diary
Rob PegoraroTwo years and seven months should not rate as a lengthy tenure for an electronic device. But for the Google Pixel 5a I bought in late 2021, that span of time is starting to feel more like a career. And in the context of people who feel compelled to buy a new phone every year, my phone might as well be on its second afterlife.
The device still functions fine–the 5a’s 5G radio has yet to be made obsolete by T-Mobile deploying new spectrum bands–and looks decent overall. In particular, I’ve managed to avoid any damage to the screen I replaced with an iFixIt repair kit in October of 2021 after shattering the original screen a few weeks earlier.
But the glass cover over the back camera assembly has developed a crack that apparently lets in enough moisture at times to lightly fog some photos.
On the phone’s inside, more than two years of discharge-recharge cycles seem to have left their dent in the battery. I’m now more likely to look for the nearest outlet by the afternoon of a day on the go to ensure that the phone retains a healthy charge margin when I get back to home or a hotel.
This phone’s 128 GB of storage also doesn’t have much left, with 112 GB now eaten up by photos, music and a collection of apps overdue for culling.
None of that seems too bad on its own, considering that I’ve kept this 5a in daily service for longer than its three predecessors: a Pixel 3a used for about two years and five months, a first-gen Pixel that served me for just over two years and a month, and a Nexus 5x that succumbed to a fatal bootloop after just a year and eight months.
But the factor most likely to push me to buy a new phone in the coming months is not the 5a’s hardware but its software. Google’s Android-support lifecycle document only pledges version updates for it through August, three years after the 5a’s debut, and Android 15 will almost certainly ship a month or two later.
A Pixel 8a, the most likely replacement, would bring a commitment of Android updates until May of 2031–far longer than I can imagine myself continuing to use a 2024-vintage phone–as well as a better camera, more storage, and cordless charging.
But the 8a and, apparently, every future Pixel phone from Google, will not include a headphone jack. Finally knuckling under to that collective design delusion on a device I use more than any other is going to sting.
https://robpegoraro.com/2024/07/12/a-not-all-that-old-phone-nears-retirement/
#android #Android15 #AndroidSupport #AndroidVersionSupport #headphoneJack #Pixel5a #Pixel8a #softwareLifecycle #TMobile5G
Matthew Reinbold
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