Tech

How to Protect Your Smartphone from Damage

The smartphone in your pocket is an incredibly complex and powerful piece of technology, possessing many thousands of times more memory and processing power than the entire computer system that sent men to the moon in the late sixties. As the cliché goes, smartphones hardly even warrant the name “phone” anymore, a mobile telephone being only one of the many features these electronic devices provide for users on the go. It would perhaps be more accurate to think of these devices as pocket computers. But whatever they are, they are the remarkable result of advanced technological innovation, with at times seemingly endless potential for making our lives easier. And when you set it out like this, it follows that you should take care your smartphone.

And yet for many, protecting a smartphone from damage can seem like the most basic common sense – try not to drop it, keep it away from water, protect the screen, and so on. But not all potential damage to a smartphone is the result of a sudden accident like dropping it in the toilet or having it slip out of your hand from an upstairs window. Smartphones can degrade, suffer wear and tear over an extend period of time, or become contaminated with dirt. There is more to preventing your smartphone from damage than you might initially expect.

The Battery

When we talk about a smartphone “degrading”, which is to say becoming slower, less wieldy, and more difficult to use over time, we are usually referring to everything that can potentially happen to the battery. And there is a very good reason for this. Most of a smartphone’s volume is taken up by the battery. In fact, it would even be reasonable to think of a smartphone as simply a battery with a few processors and a screen attached.

Battery technology has come a long way, with developments in lithium-ion and lithium-polymer batteries having led to all sorts of new and efficient battery products, from the household USB rechargeable AA batteries such as those developed by Pale Blue Earth out of Utah to wirelessly rechargeable battery technology and the large multi-cell li-ion batteries found inside electric vehicles. The battery in your phone is just as advanced.

Tips for Protecting your Smartphone from Damage

Use a Screen Protector

Once upon a time, cell phone screens were simply displays. Now they are the only way you can interact with your smartphone. Touch screens are fantastic technology, but it does mean that damage in this area can be disastrous for your phone. Using a screen protector is an obvious tip, but as well as protecting the screen from damage, they can also prevent a buildup of scratches and dirt which can, over time, degrade your phone’s functionality.

Try to Limit Charge Cycles

Returning to the importance of the battery, limiting the number of full charge cycles (from 0% to 100%) that your battery undergoes can protect it from the creeping long-term degradation that can see your battery lose its capacity to hold power. After enough time, this is something that could certainly be thought of as damage.

Keep a Pocket Free for your Phone

Having your phone jostling around in your pocket with your keys and other pointy objects can have it looking shabby in no time. Keeping a pocket free will ensure you are not damaging your phone every time you put it away.

Following these simple tips is the best way to protect your phone from damage in the long term. But beyond even that, you could significantly extend its life as well.

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