When you get the chance to upgrade to a new phone, it can quite often be a long time before there is anything actually all that wrong with your old one. While it is definitely nice to get hold of a new device with improved features, it can seem like a bit of a waste to simply shut your old handset away in a drawer and forget about it when it still has use left in it, even if it was starting to have some of the problems older devices can get like reduced battery life or a slightly chipped screen.
If you are in this situation, there are actually quite a few ways you can still do something useful with your old phone, and here are a few of them:
Sell Your Old Phone
There are various options for selling old phones, and which is best for you will depend on the model and condition of the device. If it is a fairly high-end phone and in good condition, for instance, the last generation of iPhone or premium Galaxy phone, you may be able to fetch a good price by selling it on eBay or advertising it on Craigslist. You can check out all of the listings for phones like yours to get an idea of how much you should charge for it by taking a look at zoomthelist.com.
If your phone isn’t worth much, you can still get something for it by selling it to a phone recycling company, and you can find plenty of these online, even ones that pay for broken phones.
Use It As A Media Player
If you have a good set of speakers that work from a device like your phone, you could keep your old phone connected to them permanently and use its entire library space to store music, effectively making it into a touchscreen interface for selecting music to play on your speakers whenever you like. This can be a good way to use a phone that doesn’t have a very good battery life anymore, as you can keep it plugged in at all times.
Give It To A Friend or Swap It For Something
You may know someone whose current phone isn’t as good as your old one, or who is having problems with their phone and isn’t able to upgrade. They may well be grateful for your old handset, and you might even be able to agree to swap it with them for something they have that you want – most people have some stuff they aren’t using anymore!
Keep It as A Backup Phone
If none of these ideas work for you, you can also consider just keeping the old device as a backup in case your new phone breaks. You can get more out of doing this if you keep the old phone charged up and carry it in the bag you use for work or school, so you always have it on hand. In this way, you can even use it if the battery on your new phone dies, simply by putting the SIM card in the charged up older model.
You don’t have to leave an old phone gathering dust, so why not try one of these ideas for extending its use to you?