Modern smartphones, over time, often show signs of wear, such as noticeable slowdowns, constant crashes and significantly reduced battery life. Frustration increases when opening a simple app becomes a time-consuming wait.
Faced with this scenario of compromised performance, many users question whether the only solution is to purchase a new device.
However, replacement is not always the immediate answer. In several situations, specific interventions or specific maintenance can restore performance and extend the period of satisfactory use of the device.
The main factor that contributes to the slowness of smartphones is the imbalance between the demands of the programs and the physical capacity of the device. As software and operating systems improve, they demand more memory resources and processing power, often surpassing what older equipment can offer.
Despite this, a slow device is not necessarily obsolete. Solutions such as battery replacement can provide a considerable extension of its usability, as explained by Felipe Piva, executive director of Trocafy, a company that purchases devices in operator switching programs.
Piva ensures that a newly installed battery is capable of providing approximately two years of full operation before starting a new degradation cycle.
To clarify what measures users can take and when the situation is beyond individual control, several experts were consulted. Recommendations are detailed below.
Freeing Up Space: The Importance of Data Cleansing in Critical Applications
High-demand apps like WhatsApp and Instagram are notorious for storing vast amounts of media, including photos, videos, and audio, resulting in a significant strain on the smartphone’s operating system.
Felipe Piva highlights that this accumulation of data is one of the biggest contributors to the device’s speed reduction, but, paradoxically, it also represents one of the most effective ways of resolving the issue.
Piva suggests that the quickest measure is to “cleanse” the data stored in these applications. He adds that removing infrequently used software and limiting background activities are crucial to freeing up RAM and reducing the load on the processor.
To limit operations running in the background, the user must navigate to the device settings and locate this functionality within the area dedicated to applications.
In cases of severe slowdowns, Piva advises restoring the device to its original factory settings. According to him, this action acts as a “deep cleaning”, eliminating file residue and system failures that accumulate over time.
However, the expert emphasizes that this measure does not solve all problems definitively; If the slowdown is a result of the apps continuing to evolve, the device will resume slowing down once the programs are reinstalled.
Analyzing and Possibly Replacing Your Smartphone Battery
A frequent issue in older devices is a decrease in battery capacity, manifested when the device can no longer hold a charge for a prolonged period of daily use, or when the recharge time becomes atypically fast.
Luciano Siqueira, technician and manager at Luctel, a company specializing in smartphone maintenance, reports that this type of problem usually appears after approximately two years of using the equipment, a period in which the battery cells begin an accelerated process of degradation.
Piva, from Trocafy, explains that iPhone owners can check “Battery Health” directly in the device’s settings; a level below 80% already signals compromised performance.
He adds that for Android devices, which do not have a standard native meter, the use of diagnostic tools such as the AccuBattery app is recommended to assess charge retention capacity.
According to Siqueira, the cost to replace the battery can vary between R$199 and R$399 for Android smartphones, while for iOS models, the value is between R$299 and R$699.
The system update dilemma: security versus performance
Considering that the incompatibility between software innovations and old physical components is the main cause of slowdowns in smartphones, the question would arise: would the solution be to simply avoid system updates?
The answer, however, is not so straightforward. According to Piva, updates are crucial for security and the introduction of new features; Keeping a cell phone without the latest versions can expose it to vulnerabilities, security flaws and loss of compatibility with newer applications.
On the other hand, the continuous evolution of software and applications results in an increasing demand for space and processing resources, often exceeding the original capabilities of the hardware. In this scenario, older equipment is, to some extent, overwhelmed by the complexity of contemporary versions of the programs.
Piva describes this situation as a “dilemma for the user”: choosing between preserving the device’s speed by maintaining the older system or ensuring the security of personal information through updates, even if this implies a slight loss of fluidity in operation.
The danger increases considerably when the smartphone stores banking and digital wallet applications, which require constant updates to defend against cybercriminals’ strategies. The general recommendation is, therefore, to keep the device always updated to safeguard data security.
For those who have already chosen to purchase a new device, a curation of intermediate models, with prices ranging between R$2,300 and R$4,000, was published in May on the main online sales platforms.
