Repair or replace? An honest cost breakdown by device age

For a device under two years old, repair is almost always the better financial call — a screen or battery replacement is typically 10–20% of the device's original price, versus buying new at full price for the same performance.

Between two and four years old, it depends on what's broken. A screen or battery is still usually worth fixing. A motherboard-level fault on a device that's also starting to feel slow for other reasons is worth weighing against a replacement, especially if a second issue is likely soon.

Past four to five years, we're honest when a repair doesn't make sense — we'd rather tell you that up front than take a job we don't think is worth your money. That said, board-level repair sometimes changes this calculation, since it can fix faults other shops would call terminal at any age.