My phone is a Motorola DroidX. I am happy with it. Recently I’ve noticed shorter battery life and longer recharging time (original battery). I’ve worked around this by keeping it plugged into my car charger while driving.
Looking at my gallery, I see that I’ve had this phone for 27 months. That’s an eternity in dog years. Would it be worthwhile to buy a new battery, or should I just get a new phone?
Depends on your contract status.
If you’re on a contract, you’re likely past your two-year commitment period, so can probably get a brand new phone for free (or very cheap) if you re-up. The down side is, you’re locked in to another two year contract.
If you like being off contract, or you’re on a pre-paid or pay as you go plan, and you’re happy with the phone you have, then spend the 20 bucks on a new battery and avoid locking yourself in or paying through the nose for an unsubsidized phone.
Been with Verizon forever, don’t plan on changing. My out-of-pocket would be about the same for a phone vs battery.
Just trying to cover all bases.
The other question will likely be iPhone vs Android. I have an iPad, but . . .I dunno, seems like the best of both worlds to have iOS and Android.
I’d get the new phone. In my experience “new” batteries never work as well as the original, especially if it’s an old style phone that isn’t made anymore. Seems like the batteries wind up being old stock, or off brand, rather than freshly manufactured to OEM specs.
One plus with the iPhone IPad combo is that apps on one can automatically load to the other device.
Well, you’re over the two-year renewal period that 99% of cell companies follow before they’ll let you upgrade (if you’re in the US, at least,) so I say you might as well upgrade if you can afford it.
I think the best phone on Verizon now (again, assuming you’re in the US since their the only carrier that had the DroidX) is one of a few choices:
Droid DNA by HTC - Bigger screen than the Droid X and other offerings. But not as big as the Samsung Galaxy Note/Note 2, if you’ve ever seen those.
Droid RAZR HD/RAZR MAXX HD - Probably the closest current offerings to the old Droid X line. The difference between the regular and the MAXX is a larger battery and double the internal storage space with the MAXX.
iPhone 5 - If you want to switch from Android to iOS.
There are others (RAZR M, HTC Droid Incredible,) but they’re older and unlikely to get any more OS updates.
Somehow, I forgot about the most popular phone:
Samsung Galaxy S III - Big screen (I think a tad bigger than the RAZR phones, but smaller than the DNA.) All around a good phone, the mistakes from the original S line have been fixed.
But there are a couple apps available for Android but not iOS.
Specifically, The Beer Expert. Although I see they are coming out with an iPhone app!!!:D:D:D
Nice!!
Never mind. Totally misunderstood.
Get an iPhone 5. You won’t regret it. iOS is a lot of fun, good looking, and easy to use. Also, the iPhone 5 has some really good premium construction elements such as a razor thin profile with aluminum casing on the back. It’s really a pleasure. I don’t have one. I own a Samsung Galaxy Nexus from Sprint because at the time I was an android fanboy. Then I got an iPad 3, and now I love iOS, and the next time I finish my contract (which won’t be for another year and a half), I’m getting an iPhone.
If you really want to stick to android, then I suggest the Galaxy Note 2. The problem is that the Note 3 should be rolling out pretty quickly, so I would just wait until the Note 3.
:::checks username:::
Nope, you’re not me :).
I too have a Droid X and the battery life was getting poor. I wound up replacing the battery a couple months ago and it did help.
Factors: We’re grandfathered in to the unlimited data plan with Verizon. If I got a new subsidized phone, that goes out the window. Not that I ever go over even 2 gig (except when we’re travelling and using it heavily for navigation), but it’s the principal of the thing, dadgummit! Plus if I were to get a nifty new phone, I might use the online stuff more.
Which boils down to: in order to keep that unlimited data plan, I’d have to pay full price for a new phone. That’s a minimum of 450 dollars.
Now, I’d really LIKE a new phone. My Droid is intolerably slow at times (like I’ve missed calls when I was doing something else and it wouldn’t respond to the “answer” button). It crashes at odd times (mostly when using maps). And there’s the ooooh shiny reaction to the newer, faster phones.
Oh yeah: while it’s nice to be able to have all the same apps on your iPad and your phone, it shouldn’t be a dealbreaker. There are a lot that work on either platform. And files / photos can be transparently ported from one to the other using Dropbox etc. I have an iPod Touch and my husband has an iPhone, and it hasn’t been an issue.
There are even a couple apps for the Android that don’t have as-good parallels on IOS (e.g. the sleep logger that I use).
All in all, 40 bucks for a new battery seemed worth it to extend the life a few more months. Mine, BTW, is just under 2 years old. I’m that close to being out of contract.
Same phone. Same problem (my battery would drain to the red just starting Angry Birds). Ordered a new battery on Amazon and it’s like I have a new phone.
When I got my Droid X just after Christmas 2010, I got the extended warranty, which paid off Christmas Eve 2012, when it went on the fritz. I got a “new” refurbished Droid X, which has been working quite well, but I still had the old battery. The other day it held a charge for 2 hours, and with a road trip coming up, that was not acceptable. Verizon didn’t have any batteries in their store, and apparently couldn’t order any, so I went to a battery retailer. They had one left. It’s a rayovac, so I expect a decent life from it.
Verizon tried to have me buy a new phone, too, but like someone else said, I’m not giving up my unlimited data plan until I have to.