61% of Consumers Keep Old Phones - Do You?

Status
Not open for further replies.

bavman

Distinguished
May 19, 2010
1,006
0
19,360
I wipe my old ones clean and sell it every year I upgrade. I find, that in the case of smartphones at least, it can cover anywhere between 75-100% of a new subsidized phone's price. For example I sold an old evo 3D phone last summer to buy a galaxy s3...difference was only $40...not too shabby. If you wipe internal NAND and the microsd card correctly you shouldn't have to worry about your privacy.
 

A Bad Day

Distinguished
Nov 25, 2011
2,256
0
19,790
I rarely upgraded because it's too much of a hassle to adjust to the new layout (and flaws). I used my dad's old Nokia flip-phone (now 11 years old) until a few months ago and replaced it with my mom's old phone (now 3-5 years old).

And who knew that swapping the SIM card from one phone to the other would cause several bugs. Not only I had to redo the contact information list because a bug completely wiped all of the names and numbers from the card, I'm still dealing with my current phone's tendency of checking the cloud for several minutes for my contact information when I never setup such account before allowing me to access it.
 

NuclearShadow

Distinguished
Sep 20, 2007
1,535
0
19,810
I do the evil socialist thing. I give my old phone to someone I know if my old one is better than their current or if theirs got damaged and so on. I am truly a evil socialist, fascist, anti-Amrican liberal Stalinist, Nazi. Sharing & caring it's pure f'in evil kids!

This message was brought to you and made possible by Capitalism, The Republican party, and by consumers wh*res like you, thank you.
 

tipoo

Distinguished
May 4, 2006
1,183
0
19,280
If it's worth any significant amount of money, I sell it, if it's broken I recycle it, if it's working but worth little it falls victim to my experiments.
 
Hey, Zak, in case you didn't know, even for Android one can factory-reset one's phone without having to buy that Lookout app (a very good app, don't get me wrong, but not really needed to achieve this goal). Don't make it sound like Android users have to buy an app, whereas the rest of the world get their factory reset option for free from the manufacturer.
Why don't you stick to your Apple guns, huh?
[citation][nom]NuclearShadow[/nom]I do the evil socialist thing. I give my old phone to someone I know if my old one is better than their current or if theirs got damaged and so on. I am truly a evil socialist, fascist, anti-Amrican liberal Stalinist, Nazi. Sharing & caring it's pure f'in evil kids!This message was brought to you and made possible by Capitalism, The Republican party, and by consumers wh*res like you, thank you.[/citation]

LOL, good one. I do the same (unless the phone is very old and decrepit...).


 
G

Guest

Guest
Trade mine in at BB for the next gen device every year. Galaxy Note 1 to the 2 recently.
 

halcyon

Splendid
I have no interest whatsoever in old technology. So after I consider a phone old I wipe it and sell or dispose of it. A scratch is enough to make a phone "old" in my book. Most my things are in clean, like-new condition because of this, uh, disorder I have with not wanting old or scarred tech. Don't sneer, I'm not the only one.
 

Shin-san

Distinguished
Nov 11, 2006
618
0
18,980
I mostly don't care about having an old phone. My needs on a phone are pretty basic. Anything more and it can get to be a distraction
 

Hazle

Distinguished
kind of a sad waste to just sell it or throw it away. the fact that it has a better battery life (2 weeks without a charge. three when it's idle.) and has survived more falls than my first smartphone (twice) just makes it a real keeper. plus the physical buttons make it easier for me to text without having me to look at the screen except when i'm done to check what i wrote.

calls and messages => old phone

internet & media on the go => new smart phone
 

assasin32

Distinguished
Apr 23, 2008
1,356
22
19,515
I keep it as backup for myself and others and also I have the bad habbit of not getting rid of all the info on it so sometimes I have to get contacts off an old phone. I do this dispite the fact I usually buy insurance on the phone though I haven't had to use it yet. Usually insurance works out to $5 a month or $30 a year, $60 total per phone on a 2year contract. A few of my family members have went through 3-4 phones on insurance like it was nothing before so I consider it worth it for added peace of mind. After all $5 is what a single cup of coffee if you go to Starbucks or if you don't drink coffee it's 1 burrito if your like me and like food more.
 

voiidwulf

Distinguished
Jun 11, 2012
903
0
19,010
I have a Note 2, an old android, and a simple non-smartphone. I keep them as backups in case I drop my Note 2 and need a replacement while it's fixed. I've never actually dropped any of my phones, but that's why I keep them.
 

voiidwulf

Distinguished
Jun 11, 2012
903
0
19,010
[citation][nom]assasin32[/nom]I keep it as backup for myself and others and also I have the bad habbit of not getting rid of all the info on it so sometimes I have to get contacts off an old phone. I do this dispite the fact I usually buy insurance on the phone though I haven't had to use it yet. Usually insurance works out to $5 a month or $30 a year, $60 total per phone on a 2year contract. A few of my family members have went through 3-4 phones on insurance like it was nothing before so I consider it worth it for added peace of mind. After all $5 is what a single cup of coffee if you go to Starbucks or if you don't drink coffee it's 1 burrito if your like me and like food more.[/citation]

Food for the win. :D
 
G

Guest

Guest
I still use my old standard samsung phone for 5 years so far. Still have a cell phone from 2002 kept in my drawer. Its bulky compared to today's phones.
 

InvalidError

Titan
Moderator
I still have a Nokia 5190 and 3390 as backups.

Many of my friends (and myself) have had newer phones fail after 2-3 years and it is always nice to have rugged oldies to pass around for the few days/weeks where someone is waiting/shopping for a replacement.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.