Most of us want our smartphones to last as long as possible, as these portable devices are expensive and migrating data to new phones regularly is a bit of a hassle. The right strategy for many consumers is to extend the lifespan of their phone. But how exactly do you do it without wasting more time or money?
The Value of Phone Lifespan Extension
Why should you bother attempting to extend the lifespan of your phone? There are several strong motivations here. Some people want to gain a financial advantage; the longer your phone remains valuable, the longer you’ll be able to go without purchasing a new phone, ultimately reducing your expenses.
Some people are motivated by convenience; dealing with performance issues or other problems on your phone is a significant hassle, and switching to a new phone can be a massive headache.
To sweeten the pot, it’s essential to realize that extending your phone’s lifespan is usually cheap and accessible – meaning there’s practically no downside.
Physical Lifespan Extension
These strategies can help you extend your phone’s physical lifespan and performance.
- Get a durable case – A durable, high-performance phone case can dramatically extend your phone’s lifespan. These cases usually provide texture for a better grip and shock absorption, making drops and specific instances of physical damage primarily irrelevant. Even if you’re a relatively clumsy, a good phone case can keep your phone in good shape.
- Invest in a screen protector – Similarly, investing in a screen protector is wise. Cracked and broken screens can be a significant limitation, but keeping your screen in good condition with one of these products is not hard.
- Handle your phone responsibly – Always exercise caution when using your phone. Using your phone in situations where it could be damaged is risky; for example, you should always obey posted signage warning you not to use a phone on a roller coaster. You may also avoid using a phone when near water, in motion, or looking out over a great height.
- Keep your phone in a secure location – Keep your phone in a safe, secure place when you’re not using it. This way, it’s less likely to get stolen and is less vulnerable to environmental damage.
- Power down sometimes – Most people know that it’s essential to shut down a computer occasionally, but they leave their phones on indefinitely. Power your phone down periodically to keep it running efficiently.
Battery Health Tips
These tips are about improving your battery’s health, helping it last longer and charge more efficiently.
- Turn off features you don’t need – The more you use your smartphone, the faster your battery will degrade. None of us want to sacrifice the tasks or entertainment we purchased our phone to enjoy, but it’s easy to turn off features you don’t need. Visit your settings menu and turn off anything that uses the power that you don’t need or want.
- Adjust power settings – Most smartphones have power settings to help you use your battery less. For example, you can dim your screen or turn on a power-saving mode under certain circumstances.
- Don’t fully discharge the battery – Avoid fully discharging the battery. This can permanently interfere with the battery’s ability to hold a charge. If your phone is only dead for a few hours, it’s no big deal – just plug it in as soon as possible.
- Avoid overcharging – On the other end of the spectrum, avoid overcharging. Most modern phones have features that prevent overcharging automatically, but it’s still a good idea to avoid leaving your phone plugged in for too long.
- Use appropriate charging cables – Always use charging cables that the manufacturer recommends. Off-market and third-party cables can interfere with your battery’s health.
Storage Management Strategies
Some people feel practically forced to upgrade when their phone runs out of storage, but these strategies can help you manage your storage more effectively.
- Stay lean – Approximately 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every day. Not all of this information needs to be permanently stored. Do your best to exercise discipline when taking photos and videos, downloading new apps, or adding other material to your device.
- Rely on cloud services – You can also rely on cloud services. Instead of downloading all your favorite songs, stream them from a music app. Instead of storing all your photos on your device, upload them to the cloud and access them there.
- Clean house – Make an effort to periodically “clean house” on your phone, deleting apps you no longer need, getting rid of content that’s not necessary, and removing or backing up your photos and videos. Most people benefit from doing this at least a few times a year – and if you have limited storage space, you may need to do it even more frequently.
If you follow all of the strategies in this guide, you can extend your phone’s lifespan by several years. Depending on the manufacturer, your personal usage, and factors that essentially boil down to look, you might be able to use your phone for the better part of a decade before upgrading again.