There’s something satisfying about giving a second life to that old piece of tech lying in your drawer. It could be a laptop, a phone, or anything else. Repurposing old tech is a great way to reduce e-waste, and your wallet will almost certainly thank you for it.
There are already many practical ways you can put your old laptops to use, but I think I just found the best way to reuse my old Android phone.
Giving my Pixel 4a a new life
A forgotten phone turned into something surprisingly useful
To be honest, there are a lot of ways to make your old Android useful again. You can turn old phones into security cameras, Galaxy phones can be turned into smart home sensors, and more. For me, it filled the gap of a navigation device on my motorcycle.
My Pixel 4a broke in a motorcycle crash in December 2023. The phone was in my pocket and took most of the impact of the handlebars. The result was a cracked screen and bent frame, but the phone was still fully functional. It had already started showing its age, so instead of risking a battery leak or fire, I decided to retire it and upgrade to a new phone.
Nearly two years later, in 2025, the phone still works fine. The battery can hold a charge reasonably well, the touchscreen still responds exactly as it should, and even the cameras are working. Google has dropped software support for the phone, but I can still log in with my Google account and access most, if not all, apps I’d need daily.
So when I was searching for navigation devices for my current motorcycle, the idea of reusing my old phone was in the back of my mind. I’d prefer to mount my main phone to the handlebars, but phone mounts on motorcycles can damage your camera’s OIS (Optical Image Stabilization). This means the Pixel 4a was the perfect test device.
Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOfCredit:Â Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOf
Setting everything up was also rather easy. I picked a Quadlock-inspired phone mount from a local bike shop for mounting, dusted off the old 4a, charged the battery, and it was ready to go.
I can run Google Maps and YouTube music on the Pixel 4a, powered by a personal hotspot from my main phone. My helmet intercom can connect to two devices at once, so the Pixel 4a handles navigation and music, while my Pixel 9a handles phone calls and other notifications.
Running Android Auto on an old phone
No head unit and no upgrades, just a clever repurpose
Now the setup described above works well, but in case I needed to change the music or my destination, I’d have to stop, take the phone out of the holder, make any required changes, and then get going. This isn’t too much of a hassle, but I change music tracks a lot when riding or driving, so any friction I could remove from this process would be helpful.
Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOfCredit:Â Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOf
There are a lot of aftermarket Android Auto head units that you can mount on your bike for a car-like infotainment experience. Turns out, you can also turn your old Android phone or tablet into an Android Auto head unit for the same functionality.
On my Pixel 4a, I tried this using the Headunit Reloaded Emulator HUR app. It’s a cheap $5 app that lets you turn an old phone or tablet into an Android Auto display that you can connect to using a USB cable or Wi-Fi.
Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOfCredit:Â Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOf
The app works pretty well, and setup is also rather easy. However, on a phone as small as the Pixel 4a, Android Auto might not give you the best experience. I ran into display scaling issues, the map on my Pixel 4a was unresponsive, and I had trouble pressing the buttons.
Android Auto is made for larger screens, so while you can technically use it on smaller screens, the experience is just abysmal. Additionally, using the app consumed battery more quickly than my motorcycle’s built-in charging port could power the Pixel 4a, meaning I often ran out of battery in the middle of a ride.
Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOfCredit:Â Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOf
Last but not least, Android Auto is meant for cars. Google Maps has different routes depending on the kind of vehicle you’re driving, and suggests them accordingly, whether you’re riding a bike or driving a car. Android Auto, however, will only show car routes, which makes it useless for me. That said, if you’re looking to use an old Android phone or tablet as a head unit for your car, this approach can work wonders.
Drawbacks of using a broken phone
Heat, battery wear, and quirks you should be ready for
As satisfying as it is watching my beloved Pixel 4a come back to life, there are a few catches you need to watch out for if you’re reusing an old phone. The first one is going to be battery life. Google updated the Pixel 4a’s software, and this phone was already aging by the time I retired it.
Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOfCredit:Â Yadullah Abidi / MakeUseOf
Now, with maps and music constantly running in the background and the brightness cranked up, I can run the battery down in as little as two hours. Thankfully, my bike has a built-in USB-C charging port, which keeps it running. Otherwise, battery life alone would’ve made the phone unusable unless I found a replacement.
Another problem is the screen. It’s about the same width as my bike’s dash, but it’s quite narrow (as a phone should be). With the cracks, bent frame, and overall low brightness, visibility takes a hit. Depending on how old a phone you’re using, this may or may not be an issue.
Your old tech still holds value
From car dashboards to smart home use, there’s real potential
My old Pixel 4a, collecting dust in a drawer, turned out to be exactly what I needed. Even with the drawbacks, it’s nearly perfect for my use case, and I don’t have to worry about my main phone flying off the handlebars in the middle of a trip. It handles navigation duty, eliminates my anxiety about dropping expensive hardware mid-ride, and even comes in handy as a backup camera.
Is it fancy? No. Is it practical, affordable, and surprisingly effective? Absolutely. So if you’ve got a broken or aging Android phone lying around, and you’re looking to add navigation or music capabilities to your vehicle, give this a shot. It might just become your favorite accessory.