Would it surprise you to know that obsolete mobiles officially exist and that brands don’t see it as something negative either? And what would you think if we told you that you shouldn’t be surprised either? Talk about an officially obsolete mobile It has nothing to do with planned obsolescencewhich has given, gives and will continue to give rise to a lot of news, debates and controversies.
Having an old mobile is not having an obsolete mobile. Or at least not directly. It is evident that both concepts are related, but we can come across terminals from 10 years ago that, not only are not obsolete, but on top of that they can follow, continue being functional. In this post we will delve more into the exact meaning of this term.
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When does a cell phone become obsolete?
The first thing we must say is that there is no standard common to all manufacturers. Each one can have its own policies and the only one that establishes them publicly is, curiously, the only one that does not have Android on its smartphones: Apple. In any case, at EuroXliveAndroid we have contacted the main Android manufacturers and we have detected certain common patterns.
Google, Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, OnePlus, Vivo, LG Realme and the long etcetera of Android phone manufacturers (even those that no longer sell mobiles or do not officially carry Android) fix the obsolescence of mobiles at the time they stop receiving updates and their warranty has expired. Precisely based on this, we cannot say in a general way that a mobile is declared obsolete when X time passes, since in the end it depends on the model.
Within the same brand we can find mobiles that continue to receive software updates for more years than others, even if they have been launched even earlier. Therefore, these will be obsolete later. In the same way, the brand takes into account the moment in which the warranty of the last mobile sold ends. Let’s see the latter with an example.
Imagine that a brand, let’s call it ExamplePhone, launched the ExamplePhone 1 on the market in 2020. This terminal was also announced with 2 years of updates, so in 2022 it has already received the last one. Well, this device already has an indication to be declared obsolete, although it will depend on when the last one was sold. Even if there is only one consumer If you buy the ExamplePhone 1 in 2022, it cannot be declared obsolete because the user must have a guarantee until 2025. It will be then when the device can legally be declared obsolete.
However, they are not necessarily always cataloged as obsolete after this period. Depending on the manufacturer’s policies, they might still consider it a fully valid device even if it hasn’t been sold for years and no users have recently purchased it.
Similarly, we were able to find out that a mobile is not always obsolete in the whole world. And this is due again to the legal guarantee that they must offer in each territory, since there is no common standard throughout the world in this regard. In any case, it is not usual to find cases like this either, since manufacturers usually wait for it to be outdated globally to declare it that way.
As a curious fact, to say that we can meet brands that do not have obsolete mobiles. Although it is not so much a matter of business policy, but because they are still young manufacturers to accumulate obsolete devices.
What implications does this cataloging entail?
Image: iFixit
Although everyone has their own perception, the truth is that “obsolescence” is a word with a clear negative connotation. However, far from what it may seem, an obsolete mobile can continue to be functional at all levels. It will always depend on the use that has been given to it and, although logically it will not have the most recent Android or the most advanced hardware, it can still be valid.
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At a general level, becoming obsolete implies that can’t buy new in no establishment. Something obvious, but at the same time paradoxical if we take into account that to be obsolete it has to stop being sold. On the other hand, will not accept repairs in official technical services. But be careful with this, since it has its small print.
That a mobile cannot be taken to the manufacturer for repair, does not imply that they are irreparable. There are always third-party establishments where they can continue to accept this type of mobile. In many cases, you can even find parts on the Internet so that you can repair them yourself. Then it may or may not be worth it based on the complexity or price involved, but by proxy, they can continue to be repaired.
However, here we must take into account the new guarantee law that came into force in 2022 in countries like Spain. We already talked about this matter before when referring to the 3-year guarantee of mobile phones, and it is that among the legal changes there is also the obligation to offer 10 years of repairs to the consumer, so in the end the period until a mobile is declared obsolete increases.
Possible uses that can be given to an obsolete mobile
Returning to the functional field, we reiterate that a mobile declared obsolete can even do the same as a new one. That is, you can call, browse the Internet, use apps normally, take photos, videos… Everything.
It is true that there will come a time that the apps are no longer compatible. This is, for example, the case of popular apps like WhatsApp. For reasons of optimizing technical, human and financial resources, the developers of these and other apps focus their efforts on the most recent versions of software. However, They usually offer a lot of longevity. In the case of the aforementioned WhatsApp, it is an average of between 8 and 10 years since the version of Android that the mobile has came out.
However, if you have another mobile, but you still keep an obsolete one you should know that you can also make very interesting use of it. here you go any ideas with which to resurrect it and not let it accumulate dust in a drawer:
- Make it your companion on the nightstandserving as an alarm clock thanks to applications such as “Alarm Clock for Me” or “Big Digital Clock”.
- Make it your music player, since it is one of the most common uses for old Android mobiles. It is very useful especially if it has a compact size that allows you to take it anywhere. You can even download content from platforms and listen to songs offline, which will help you save space on your main phone and also save battery life.
- Make me be your watchman. And no, we do not mean to train it as a guard dog, but rather to turn it into a surveillance camera. Thanks to apps like Camy or Alfred you can follow their recordings in real time from your new mobile.
- Save changing the batteries of the TV remote making it the mobile that works as a remote control, even adding additional functions that the original controller may not have. To do this, you can find apps from the manufacturer on Google Play that will give you this power.
- Turn it into a walkie-talkie with the possibility of broadcasting in 2G, 3G, 4G or WiFi connectivity. For this type of function, it is interesting to use apps like Zello Walkie Talkie or HeyTell.
These are just a few examples that we find interesting, but if you are creative, you may come up with more. And it is that, as we have been saying throughout the post, at the end having an obsolete mobile is not a bad thing. Not at least if it has been declared that way following the pre-established rules.
