With many Android smartphones ending security updates this year, customers may find themselves wondering what to do with their old smartphones- particularly their fully featured Android Smartphones. There are a few options, one of which I’m honestly more partial to, but below are some ideas:
- Sell it / Trade-in/up – This option may seem like the most obvious, but while the pro of acquiring some credit towards a new device maybe too good to pass up, there are some cons. One con would be that there is always the possibility of the new owners or refurbisher being able to acquire your personal data. Yes, there are factory reset options, but, the way they are able to run so relatively fast is that your data is not actually deleted. The encryption keys to your data are deleted. In other words, your treasure box or safe where you stored your data still exists, but the lock and keys were destroyed. While this may seem like a more than adequate solution, in the future when quantum computing becomes more of a reality, those keys maybe recreated, or, worse yet, that impenetrable safe or treasure box may get compromised. Another con would be that especially with Android phones, the amount of credit you may receive for your device will be little to even none. Most Android phones don’t retain their values like Apple’s iPhones, and even Apple’s devices don’t necessarily fetch the best trade-in values depending on how long you’ve owned the device. With flagship smartphones now easily exceeding $1K USD, paltry credits of $100 or less barely even scratches the cost you will end up incurring.
- Keep it as a burner phone- This option may not be applicable to some, but, in the event you may need a phone temporarily and then need to dispose of it rather quickly, you will have some options. Just make sure that when the phone is disposed of, you do a thorough job of destroying it. Additionally, don’t use it for too long on the Internet since more than likely, security updates are not being pushed to the devices by Apple or Google.
- Keep it as an iPod like device– This would be my favored choice. With all the great features of old that are now being done away with (headphone jacks, FM radio functionality, expandable storage), you can keep the device for your own entertainment purposes for years to come. Have a toddler who needs some entertainment during a roadtrip? Give them your old phone with some child-friendly songs and movies and lock down the device’s capabilities with parental controls. Your new phone doesn’t have the capacity to hold your music library and doesn’t have a microSD slot? Use your old Android phone and fill it up with you music and movies. More than likely, it will function and be absolutely superior to the iPods and Zunes of the past.
- Load another OS on it- Installing another operating system on your old Android phone such as LineageOS or Ubuntu Touch can give your device a new lease on life. While this option may not be for the faint of technical heart, it can be very rewarding as it will essentially load another OS on your phone that will be supported for possibly years to come, particularly with Android operating systems like LineageOS. You as the user decide on what goes on the phone and how much (or little) Google apps are installed and can customize it even more than the original version of Android that came with the device.
- Learn more about the platform- This option is more for the geeky at heart or IT folks, but you can use programs such as Apple Configurator 2 or Android Studio to learn more about the operating systems on the device to find out more about how they work. It can be a fun and enlightening endeavor.
Whichever choice you choose, your old Smartphone doesn’t need to be junked or sitting in a drawer or cabinet unused. Old tech isn’t necessarily useless despite not being supported anymore.