With smartphone companies releasing new models after new models, most of us probably no longer value our phones as much, since they’ve become easy to replace. But if you think you’re saving money because you’re only buying affordable Android phones, you might be mistaken, because habitually changing your phone costs you a lot more than maintaining it and buying a better, more expensive unit after a while.
If you own an iPhone, on the other hand, you surely know that your device isn’t cheap, but you’re not getting the most out of your purchase by abusing it and testing its limits. An iPhone’s high price tag doesn’t make it invulnerable to damage.
So the next time your phone begins to slow down or its screen shatters, just take it to a cell phone repair expert in your area instead of spending a ton again for a replacement. And after getting it fixed, educate yourself on the top mistakes you’re doing to your phone that have probably caused its damage.
Table of Contents
The top damage culprits are as follows:
Using a Cheap Generic Charger
Due to either carelessness or some other circumstance, we lose our phone’s original chargers. However, instead of replacing it with the same exact model, we tend to resort to cheap generic chargers, assuming that they do the same job as the original ones.
This is a big mistake, as cheap generic chargers often have limited insulation, meaning it doesn’t distribute the electricity to your device evenly. This potentially overcharges your batteries and may cause an explosion and a fire in turn. Thus, always replace a lost charger with the same exact model instead of risking destructive damage.
Overloading Your Storage with Apps
If you think that your phone slowing down is a sign that it already needs a replacement, think again. Chances are it’s just the storage acting up because of too many apps. Check your phone’s system options to see whether there are apps running in the background, and while you’re at it, delete the apps you never use to free up some memory. Remove the permission of apps that don’t need to run constantly.
Exposing Your Phone to Extreme Temperatures
The delicate circuits in a phone, especially in an iPhone, aren’t designed to withstand extreme heat and cold, so always keep your device in a place where you’d also feel comfortable staying.
Draining Your Battery
Your phone’s battery life with shorten over time, but you’re speeding up that process by constantly draining the battery. Thus, don’t wait for its percentage to drop to 0% before plugging your charger in. Charging it at 30% is still safe, but you may occasionally let it drop to 15% or less, or until the “plug-in charger” notification appears.
Skipping Updates
Frequent update alerts may be irksome, but skipping them potentially puts your device in a security risk. Software updates install new security patches to your device to further safeguard it from hackers, so the few minutes of waiting for its completion time are absolutely worth it.
Throwing it Underwater
Sure, the manufacturer says that your device is “water-resistant,” but habitually throwing it under the water for some cool selfies will eventually damage it. Its water-resistant quality doesn’t make it entirely impossible for water to find a way inside, so go easy on your underwater selfies. The more often you submerge your phone, the more you weaken its resistance.
Knowing these careless mistakes that lead to phone damage, let’s be more mindful of the way we use our devices next time. Smartphones may not exactly be an asset, but they’re highly essential, so let’s not take them for granted.
