Got an old phone lying around in your home gathering dust? Here are a few ways in which you can make use of your old phone.
Sell it/sell it for parts
The most obvious way to put an old phone to use is to sell it and make some cash.
If the phone is still in working condition, you could consider selling it online via Facebook or Gumtree. Even if it’s a very old model, you could find people out there that still want to buy it (non-smartphones are still popular purchases among elderly people and parents buying phones for their kids). Make sure that you’ve also got the charger to sell with the phone.
If the phone is broken, there may still be the option of selling it for parts. Many parts dealers buy broken phones, disassemble them and then sell the parts to phone repair shops. You can find companies that buy broken phones for parts online.
Donate it
You could also consider donating your phone to someone that needs it. This could help you to feel good about yourself knowing that you’ve done a good deed for someone else.
You could donate it to a refugee, or you could send it to a family in a poorer country. In either case, you’ll likely find specific charities set up that can arrange this for you.
Start using it as a work phone
If you regularly use a mobile phone for work purposes, consider whether it could benefit you to have two phones: one for personal use and one for work use.
This could prevent you from having to give out your personal number to work contacts and could also give you the option to turn off your work phone when not working so that you can truly switch off. At the same time, it could stop you from getting distracted by personal notifications when using your work phone.
Keep it for your kids
If you have kids, you could consider keeping your phone as an entertainment device for them. This could be useful for keeping kids occupied when going on car journeys or flights, while allowing you to still use your own phone.
Alternatively, if you feel your kids have reached an age in which they are responsible enough, you could consider giving them your old phone as their ‘first phone’. This could be much cheaper than buying them a new phone – it could allow you to look into the cheapest sim only deals and not have to worry about the price of the phone. Alternatively, you could stick to a pay-as-you-go plan.
Turn it into a security camera/baby monitor
There are apps that can turn your phone into a security camera or a baby monitor, allowing you to record footage on your phone and view it live on another device. It could be cheaper than buying an actual camera. A phone is also likely to be more portable, allowing you to take it with you and set it up wherever is necessary.
It’s worth keeping your phone plugged in while using it as a video camera as phone batteries generally aren’t designed to deliver the power to record footage for long periods.
Use it as a universal remote
You could also turn your phone into a universal remote for controlling the TV, DVD players, games consoles and even music players. In fact, it could be linked up to all kinds of smart devices in your home.
Be wary that you may need to purchase an IR blaster and download various apps to do this. There are guides online that can help you set up your spare phone as a universal remote.
Keep it as an emergency phone
You can call emergency services on any phone – regardless of whether the phone has a SIM in it. Consequently, your old phone could serve as a useful emergency phone for when you’re unable to reach your personal phone.
It may even be useful as a backup phone for taking away on vacation or taking to festivals. This could prevent you from having to take your main phone so that there’s no risk of losing it or getting it damaged.