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Don’t just bin an old phone, put it to work for you.
So you’ve just purchased a brand new smartphone. It’s shiny, it’s faster, it’s got all your contacts on it, and it’s ready to do its job. But what about your old phone? Look at that old plastic brick on the table, its purpose usurped from it. It feels kind of wasteful to just throw it away, doesn’t it? Unless your old phone has gone completely belly-up, there’s lots of practical uses you can get out of it that don’t require something like a data plan.
First and foremost, all modern phones, whether they’re tied to a service or not, can make 911 calls. If you’re the cautious type, keep an old phone in your car’s glove box for emergencies, or give it to your kids. You can’t make regular calls, but you can always reach an emergency service.
If you like listening to music on your phone but don’t want to clutter your current one, use an old one as a dedicated media player. Most smartphones have stock music apps that you don’t need any kind of subscription or data plan to use.
A smartphone can also be used as a portable home security camera. Just download a security app (just remember, you’ll need to do it over wi-fi, since it won’t have 4G service), prop the phone up, and let it do its thing. As long as its connected to your wi-fi, you can see the feed from anywhere.
These are just a few ideas. With a little flexibility, an old phone can function as a lite version of multiple different electronics. Though, one caveat; if you’re like me, and you got a new phone because your old phone’s battery started inflating to the point the back cover won’t even stay on anymore, maybe just go ahead and dump that one.
