When is it the right time to bin your smartphone?

Back in the day, people used to replace their phone every single year. Once a shiny new model came around, they would toss their old model away. Now that phones are no longer the size and shape of bricks, you may be wondering how long you should wait before you go shopping for an upgrade.

How long should you wait before getting an upgrade?

Well, you’re going to want to wait more than a year to get a replacement. One of the main reasons why you should wait longer to upgrade to a new model is that smartphones are better and faster nowadays They’re not as simplistic as they were befor.

Smartphones have incredible screens, high speeds, powerful batteries, lots of storage and plenty of exciting features. The versions a year later will have some upgrades in looks and performance, but they’re not different enough to compel you to give up your current phone.

Smartphone prices have also gone up. For instance, the iPhone XS Max/256GB launched in 2018 cost over £1,000 and is just as expensive now. That’s before you even consider additional payments for phone bills, insurance and accessories. If you get another iPhone after a year of using the XS Max, you essentially paid nearly £100 per month just to use the device. Keeping your phone for a few years guarantees that you’re getting your money’s worth.

If you’re looking for an exact time-frame, the experts at Tom’s Guide say that your flagship phone should last you 2 to 3 years before needing a replacement. By then, the phone’s performance will have dropped when compared to the competition, but you will have made the most out of your investment.

What can you do to make it last that long?

If you want to extend the lifespan of your phone, you’re going to need to get it some protection. Nothing makes a phone more tempting to replace than a cracked screen. Start by getting a high-quality screen protector that can withstand some serious impact. Shop around and read user reviews. You want to see comments from people in awe that their phones survived accidental drops and slips completely unscathed. I see so many people using phones with broken screens on a daily basis purely because it costs so much to repair the screen that many just put up with it.

After applying the screen protector over the touchscreen, you’ll need to give the rest of the phone some coverage. Get a premium vinyl skin to keep damage at bay, including scratches, scuff marks and ugly stains. If you want to have a phone that doesn’t look like it’s ready for retirement, check out dbrand— they have lots of exciting and vibrant patterns to choose from. Now you’ll have a phone that’s secure and stylish. Best of all? Adding a skin / cover and screen protector will make your phone worth more if you decide to trade it in.

Another way to extend the lifespan of your phone is to never miss updates for the system and individual apps when they’re available. Running the updates will save on battery life, improve the performance and patch up vulnerabilities. Check your settings to see if your phone is running on the latest version and stop swiping update reminders away.

You should also avoid viruses and malware by refusing to download any suspicious or unverified apps. Installing the wrong app could result in an infected device with snail-like performance, draining battery and malfunctioning features. Worst of all, some forms of malware will try to access sensitive data like passwords, contacts or banking information.

Other important ways to extend the lifespan of your phone:

  • Keep it away from water!
  • Don’t expose it to extreme temperatures on holiday!
  • Delete content that you don’t need. Tidy up!
  • Turn off apps running in the background

You’ll notice when things start to go south with your phone. You might see storage space reducing, the performance is slower and the battery races down to zero after every charge. If you’re within the time-frame of two to three years and scrolling through your smartphone is becoming a chore, you should accept that it’s finally time to get an upgrade.