You've probably gone through several smartphones over the years as you buy a new one once it becomes outdated. There's a way for you to repurpose old smartphones to really get your money's worth and reduce electronic waste at the same time. Here are a few ways.
1. Alarm Clock
Smartphones have many uses, and it has replaced many items like calculators, notepads, telephones, flashlights, and more. Among those things is an alarm clock, which you can set on your phone's built-in clock app.
Simply set up your phone on your bedside table, set an alarm, and plug it into a power source. You'll get to choose which sounds you want to wake up to, and you can easily set different sets of timers for different days.
2. E-Book Reader
If you're a bookworm or want to read casually in your free time, using your old smartphone as an e-book reader would be a good idea, as suggested by PC Mag. You won't have to sacrifice your main phone's battery life for hours of having the screen on.
3. Security Camera
Home security is becoming more and more advanced, and there are devices out there you can buy solely for surveillance. But you won't have to if you have spare or unused smartphones lying around the house.
All you have to do is download security camera apps on both your old and new devices. You can mount your phone in areas you want to keep an eye on and view its live feed using your current smartphone via the same app.
4. Digital Picture Frame
Standard picture frames usually only hold one photo. With a smartphone, you can set up a digital picture frame where you can replace the photo with a few taps. If you want, you can even set it to display a slideshow so the photos would change from time to time, as suggested by Computer World.
5. Universal Remote Control
Households are now more likely to use a smart TV, which may mean that you have several remotes for the streaming services you're subscribed to, like Apple TV, Fire TV Stick, or Roku. How about one remote to control them all?
These services usually have their own mobile app. All you have to do is download them on your device and link your account. Switching steaming services is as easy as switching to a different app on your phone. No need to keep track of several remote controls.
6. Music Player
Playing music can take a huge chunk out of your battery life, even more so when you connect it to a speaker via Bluetooth. You can avoid this by using your old smartphone solely as a music player. Connect it to a speaker and open music streaming sites like Spotify, where you can change the songs remotely as well.
7. Gaming Device
Your social media apps alone already eat up so much of your phone's storage; what more if you add tons of games to it? Not only will your phone run out of space, but it will use up so much RAM that none of your apps will work properly.
Use your old smartphone for gaming so that it won't have to share the phone's storage and RAM with other apps. Mobile phone games aren't that demanding with RAM, but it's still better for you not to worry about whether the social media apps are going to mess with your game.
Related : 7 Ways You Can Reduce E-Waste
