Published Apr 29, 2026, 8:00 AM EDT I’ve been covering Android since 2022, when I joined Android Police, mostly focusing on AI and everything around Pixel and Galaxy phones. I’ve got a bachelor’s in IT with a major in AI, so I naturally view technology differently. I usually take a pro-consumer angle instead of the marketing hype, which you’ve probably noticed in my writing. A smart home is not cheap to build, and it gets even more expensive when you’re replacing puffed-up batteries every two years. When something fails, it’s easy to point at the manufacturer and call it planned obsolescence or bad assembly. Sometimes that’s fair. Other times, the damage starts at home. Expensive edge devices often end up in damp or poorly ventilated spaces that ignore the most basic rules of thermodynamics and electrical design. These habits could be shortening your smart home devices’ lives, but a few small changes can help them last longer.…