My old phone was a Google Pixel 2 which I bought in 2020, secondhand but in excellent condition. Five years is a decent lifespan for any phone, let alone a secondhand one, but last year a purple patch appeared in a corner of the LED and slowly started bleeding across the whole screen (similar to the issue described here). Apparently a screen replacement is the only solution, so in the summer of 2025, I opted to get a whole new phone.
The latest model at the time was the Google Pixel 9, and the Pixel 10 would launch a couple of months later. My phone needs are modest, so I'm happy buying models which are a few generations older. I found a great deal on a Pixel 6a – a demo unit which had never been opened. I didn't really need a faster processor or more RAM, but I like my new phone's 0.6x wide-angle camera (example photo here), which my old phone didn't have.
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This next one is not a wholesale replacement but a partial one. The ear-pads on my Anker headphones were in a raggedy state (see below right) but I was pleased to find that you can just buy the pads separately. Unfortunately the headband padding is not replaceable, but c'est la vie. (Edit: Tomoe informs me that the headband padding is also available.)
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My first ebook reader was a Kindle 4 (2011). It's really basic – no touchscreen, backlight or wireless connectivity – but I like it, and I used it a lot. Unfortunately, ebooks from National Library Singapore are currently not Kindle-compatible, so I got a Kobo Clara BW instead.
The Kobo is also pretty basic by 2025 standards (e.g. black-and-white screen), but it has some nifty features. You can drag a finger down the left of the screen to adjust the backlight brightness, and pinch to adjust the font size. I also like that it allows for a degree of customisation, like selecting fonts, adjusting the backlight colour temperature, and choosing what certain gestures do.
The Kindle still works though! So I gave it to a friend, and I hope she gets a few more years out of it.
And that concludes this short and rather random list. I wish you, a bit belatedly, a very happy new year. Did you replace anything in 2025?
4 comments:
I replaced two 30-year-old vehicles with one that's five years old.
Cool! I remember riding in both those 30-year-old vehicles :)
I replaced my Audio Technica headphones because they kept turning off and not turning back on again...it was hard to find good headphones without noise cancellation because all the good ones have noise cancellation and i am wary of the noise that noise cancellation makes. does that make sense? it's like when you can hear the fridge....I got a Sennheiser Momentum 4 which is good.
I don't like noise cancelling either. My Anker phones have the feature but I keep it turned off.
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