#Don’t Throw Away Your Old Phone Just Yet – Review Geek
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It may be tempting to throw away an old phone once your upgrade arrives, but it can still be a useful tool. You can use it as storage, as a media player, as a way to enhance your security, or as a device you can trust your kids with.
People tend to upgrade their phones somewhat regularly, with the average American purchasing a new device every two to three years. But just because your old phone is a little obsolete, doesn’t mean you should toss it in the trash or trade it in for a few dollars off your new device.
There are a bunch of uses for an old phone, and we’ll make some suggestions here. But as phones get more powerful, the possibilities expand. The things we’re suggesting below don’t take much effort or any technical know-how, but if you’re comfortable getting into it you could do an awful lot with what is essentially a small, powerful computer.
It’s a Great Backup Device
You can use an old phone as a backup for your new phone. This isn’t to say that you should leave it in a drawer and forget about it—there are some little things you’ll have to do to ensure that your old phone is stored properly.
Just be sure to charge your old phone to around halfway, and then briefly plug it back in every few months to maintain that battery level. You may also want to disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to reduce battery usage. An older phone’s battery may be showing signs of degradation, and storing that battery with either a full charge or no charge can cause it to deteriorate even further.
So why is this worth the effort? It’s an instant, good-quality backup if anything happens to your new phone. Even if your new phone is insured, there is still a period between your new phone going missing, breaking, or being stolen and that phone being replaced. Instead of sitting without a phone in the meantime, you can simply acquire a new SIM card (or use the one from your newer phone) and plug it into your old phone while you wait for a real replacement.
Use it as an External Storage Device
Why throw away an old phone when you can use it as a storage device? If you splashed out on a phone with a lot of memory, or inserted a beefy Micro SD card that your new device won’t accept, this is pretty much a must. Even if your old phone is a very cheap or basic model, chances are you still have at least a hundred gigabytes of storage available.
Use It as a Media Player
Media players still have a lot of use, and an old phone works well as one. Streaming apps like Spotify and Netflix have reduced the need for a dedicated media player with local media files. But there are still situations where a dedicated music or movie-playing device is still useful.
Even in our modern world, there are plenty of places where you can’t get a cellular or Wi-Fi signal. And if you want to access streaming media on an airplane, you’ll need to fork out for an expensive in-flight Wi-Fi connection. You can, of course, put some music on your phone as a backup. But storage space may be at a premium on your newer smartphone, and that fancy David Bowie compilation may have to make way for more pet videos at some point.
This is where an old phone comes in handy. Load it up with music, throw a few movies on there too if you want, and simply charge it up and drop it in your pocket before you head out. If the battery has degraded somewhat, it doesn’t matter too much. Your new “MP3 player” or “video player” doesn’t need an internet connection, and features like airplane mode can save enough juice to make the battery seem good as new.
Your old phone may also have a headphone jack, which makes it a more useful media device than most modern phones! If not, it will at least have Bluetooth, which gives it the ability to connect to a wide array of headphones and speakers.
You Can Use it to Boost Your Security
Security concerns are one of the main reasons you may be looking to upgrade your phone. Eventually, manufacturers stop rolling out security updates for their older devices. This leaves your phone and everything on it vulnerable as new exploits emerge.
But, somewhat ironically, an older device can actually enhance your security. You have the option of disconnecting an old phone from the internet entirely, and an internet connection is the main thing that opens phones up to attacks.
Most 2FA authenticators, including those from Microsoft and Google, will work without an internet connection. You can also use your old phone to store backup keys for your accounts. Because your device is only around for security purposes, you also have less chance of losing it and getting locked out of everything as well. All you need to do is disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and you can easily create a system where your most important accounts can only be accessed through physical contact with your old phone. Just remember to set a PIN number or password.
Keep the Kids Entertained
You can use an old phone to entertain your kids risk-free. As it isn’t 1920, you can’t really entertain kids by shoving them outside with a stick and a pile of bricks. They need loud noises and bright screens these days.
Unfortunately, kids treat expensive devices the same way that they treat sticks or piles of bricks. Expensive electronics don’t like to be treated this way, and will likely break if they’re hurled across a room to a chorus of giggles, or shoved into a bowl of apple sauce.
Fortunately, this is another area where older phones can be useful. Even old phones are powerful enough to handle a wide array of games, YouTube, and other entertaining apps. You also don’t care about that old device as much as you do your new one—in fact, you may not care about it at all, which is why you were considering throwing it out before reading this article. So, save the old phone for when you need to keep some small humans amused for a short time.
Donate or Recycle It
Donating or recycling your phone is also an option. If this article hasn’t convinced you to keep your old phone, you should still consider where you’re sending it. Only about 12% of electronic waste is currently recycled, with most going to a landfill or an incinerator. According to some sources, over five billion phones were tossed out in 2022, which is a lot of waste.
You should be able to find an electronics recycling center in your city. And if that’s too much trouble, you can simply take your old phone to a Best Buy or Home Depot—both retailers will recycle old electronics for free.
And while you may not find your old phone useful, there are many people that will. Consider hitting the factory reset button and contacting a local charity that accepts donated phones. Thrift stores are an option, though shelters and other community organizations may also be interested.
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