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Christmas is approaching and with it comes the time for many people to change their mobile phones. Whether it’s because the Kings heard you say you’ve been wanting
Christmas is approaching and with it comes the time for many people to change their mobile phones. Whether it’s because the Kings heard you say you’ve been wanting to upgrade your old smartphone all year long or because you’re treating yourself to taking advantage of Black Friday, the truth is that you may find yourself with two cell phones right now. table: a new table ready for action; And Another ex you don’t know what to do with.
That’s why we’re writing this article to give you some ideas that will allow you to take advantage of your old terminal and give it a second life.
OnePlus 12 | Image: Xataka
Let’s start with the basics. If you’d rather get rid of the phone rather than reuse it, cash or no cash, the easiest thing to do is sell, give away, or donate it. In any case, the first thing would be to make a full backup and reset it to factory settings so that the new owner cannot access your personal information in any way. A “thorough” cleaning to remove fingerprints and dirt never hurts either.
To sell, you can use platforms such as Wallapop, Milanuncios, forums such as the always reliable HTCMania, direct sales via social networks, or if you wish, you can go to a second-hand store and sell it in person. But before that, you may want to check if the brand of your new mobile device is offered. some kind of Barter program. Maybe you can save a few euros if you hand in your old mobile phone.
Unless your previous mobile phone was very old, it likely had more than enough power to run retro games and emulators. This allows you to enjoy copies of old games and play them anywhere. To turn your mobile phone into the closest thing to a Game Boy, a good option would be to buy a controller like the Razer Kishi or a budget model from GameSir.
Call of Duty: Mobile | Image: Xataka
While retro is cool, new is pretty cool too, and I’m speaking personally here: I have an old mobile phone dedicated solely and exclusively to cloud gaming. It’s similar to the Nintendo Switch, but with ultra graphics, ray tracing, and 120 frames per second. This is undoubtedly one of the uses I like the most.
Playing on the cloud is very good but it also has problems like keeping the mobile screen on for a long time, high battery consumption due to brightness and real-time streaming, etc. It also means. In the long run, this may damage your new mobile phoneBut if we talk about the old mobile phone, this is not very important for us.
If you’re playing in the cloud, my personal advice is to remove and disable anything unnecessary, remove all notifications, leave the phone in airplane mode with WiFi on, download any streaming apps you use, and buy a controller that connects to your mobile phone via USB. (to reduce latency). I have Razer Kishi (89.99 euro) and GameSir X2S (59.99 euro) and both work great for me.
ASUS smartphone turned into webcam | Image: Xataka
If you prefer less idle time, your old cell phone’s camera is probably Better quality than your laptop webcam or the one you bought on Black Friday ten years ago. Some phones let you do this locally by connecting the phone to the PC via USB, but since it’s not universal, the easiest way to turn your phone into a webcam is to use an app like Camo or DroidCam. Here we teach you how to do it.
Another related option is to turn your mobile phone into a security camera; Ideal if you’re going on holiday and want to keep an eye on it at home. For example, it can also be used to see the printing status of our 3D printer. There are various applications that make this use possible, such as IP Webcam or AtHome Camera. You have more information in this article.
Image | AS Photography
Although Android Auto/CarPlay is becoming increasingly common in cars, not everyone needs to have it. Fortunately, Our old mobile phone can act as a GPS and there is even a multimedia center if the car has Bluetooth. In this use case, something similar happens as with cloud gaming: The mobile phone spends a lot of time with the screen on and connected to GPS, which can cause the temperature to rise and the battery to drain quickly. It is better for this to happen to an old mobile phone than to a new one.
In the case in question, it is enough to download Google Maps and, in turn, download the maps we need offline. To get started, we can download a map of our city, or of Spain if we prefer not to mess around. This way we can get the route and directions to go anywhere, knowing that of course we won’t have real-time updated information like traffic or possible accidents.
It is recommended to place the mobile phone in a car or motorcycle holder and connect it via cable to a USB or cigarette lighter port in case the battery lasts a short time. There are special adapters. And a note: Let’s never forget our mobile phone in the car.. Not because they can’t be stolen, but because the cabin can reach very high and/or very low temperatures and play tricks on us.
Another option is to turn the mobile phone into a computer. dash camthat is, on a camera dedicated to recording everything that happens in front of the car or bike. To do this we can use a special application that records information such as speed, but we can also use the mobile camera application and record video as we normally do. It is now important to take into account all legal aspects of these images, not to manipulate the mobile phone while moving and to position the terminal in a way that obstructs vision as little as possible.
Let’s not forget: Safety is always, always, always ahead and even behind the wheel.
Image | Xataka
If we have a long journey ahead of us and we do not want to risk our mobile phone reaching the end of the journey without a battery, one of the options is this: use old one as media center. So we can use our music, movies, TV series and anime applications to download content to watch offline without compromising the mobile phone’s battery or storage, which is really important to us.
The truth is that carrying two mobile phones on a daily basis may not be practical (it’s not really) because we use one for MP3s and the other for everything else. But it can be interesting for long trips. Of course, if we do not have a tablet, that is, where the tablet with a large screen is placed, the rest must be removed.
Now that we are talking about trips and journeys, I personally recommend carrying it with you at all times. a spare cell phone when you travel. You never know what catastrophic disasters can happen to your mobile phone during a road trip, and it never hurts to have a plan B just in case. I always take my mobile phone with me, but I also keep a fully charged one in my bag. Remember that mobile phone I said I used to play in the cloud? Okay this.
Image | Jonathan Borba
We’re nearing the end, but not before commenting on a few additional uses. If we have a connected home, it might be a good idea to turn an old mobile phone into a control center. For example, you can use Alexa, Google Home, content apps to turn on lights remotely, activate routines, turn on the robot vacuum cleaner, send content to the TV, etc. We can leave the mobile phone in the living room with it activated. having to use local applications… Everything you can already do with your mobile phone, but within the reach of all cohabitants.
This use may make more sense on a tablet due to the size and autonomy of the screen, but if we do not want to install a smart speaker at home, a mobile phone is completely valid.
Image | SAMSUNG
And finally, an interesting use case, if we have a little curiosity, time and some tools, is to turn the mobile phone into our guinea pig on which we can perform all kinds of tricks. If you’ve always wanted to try flashing a ROM, rooting, experimenting with third-party software, and more, now is the time. The truth is that it must be very bad if the mobile phone becomes unrecoverable after a faulty installation, so if you want to play around with it a bit you should be able to do so without much trouble.
One step further would be to learn how to turn it on and use it to do things like replace the screen or battery. Moreover, you can disassemble it and place all its parts in such a decorative composition. This will require special tools and means a greater risk because you are turning on a mobile phone and if you break something, it will not turn on again. But there’s something nice about taking a machine apart, understanding how it works, repairing it and putting it back together.
Cover image | Xataka
in Xataka | The best mobile phones (2024), we tested them and here is their analysis
Source: Xataka
Emma Ortiz is a gadget expert and author at Div Bracket. She provides in-depth coverage of the latest and greatest in consumer technology, offering readers an inside look at the latest trends and innovations in the world of gadgets.
