Why It Is Important to Improve Your Smartphone Performance

The average person replaces their smartphone with a brand new model every 22 months or so. And many consumers ditch their phones every single year.
Slow performance, a dying battery life, and who can resist the new iPhone unveiled at the latest Apple keynote event?

Answer: you, that's who. It's time to stop the madness. You don't need to replace your phone every year. It's not worth giving smartphone manufacturers satisfaction. And no, don't worry, it won't mean you'll have to use an antiquated brick that barely turns on anymore. 

Slow Phones = Annoying

Underperforming phones are extremely annoying. I think we can all get on board with that. Just think about the scenarios: 

You're on an important work call and your battery decides it's time to randomly die. Even though it clearly states it has 43% remaining. Didn't you just charge it just a few minutes ago? Or you're trying to open up PDFs from your colleague, but once again your HD is saying “no more”. It's full. 

And it's not just work. Suboptimal devices also get in the way of my favorite smartphone pastime, gaming.

Imagine being with your mates in the middle of revealing the impostor in a round of a recent gaming boom – Among Us, and your phone starts glitching. Game over!

Or, imagine this scenario where you finally find an iGaming platform that has all of it – Blackjack, Baccarat, and Slots with free spin bonuses that let you play for free and actually keep your winnings, a true online gambling heaven, but your phone dies in the middle of the game due to overheating… This would suck especially hard if you are only half way through the wagering requirement (Vegasslots explain this is the amount you have to play through before you get the bonus). Well, it happened to me. And it's not a great feeling. I'd call this the real 404. 

What do you think what's your go-to answer? Buy a new one? Not really. Here's how to beat that mindset. 

Why Performance Beats Buying New

I will always advocate attempting to improve performance on your existing phone before swapping it for a new one. This is why: 

New Phones Can Be Slow

Yes, new phones can be excruciatingly slow. It happens with the cheaper intro models, but the top-of-the-line Android and Apple devices can suffer from this also. This is (potentially) down to how you're using your phone. More on that later. 

Most Common Problem? Battery

It's an annoying truth: the technological development of batteries is seriously lagging behind smartphones. While the modern device is a powerful computer in the palm of your hand, batteries are pretty much as good as they were since the 90s. 

For example, in iOS you can check the performance of your battery by going to Settings > Battery > Battery Health. In this section, you'll see something called the Maximum Capacity. It's essentially a health check for your battery; the higher the percentage, the better. 

If your battery seems to be draining faster than usual, don't discard your phone just yet. You may be able to inject another lease of life to it by simply replacing the battery. I recommend you do this via Apple or an authorized retailer, just to make sure you get a legit service. 

Start Closing Stuff

I was talking to my mom a few weeks ago and she was having a problem with her slow phone. She couldn't figure out why. I had a quick look at it and this is what I found: 

• 257 open Safari tabs. 
• 32 open apps. 

She didn't realize it was possible to close an app. I'm using my mom as an extreme example (sorry, mom!), but it's something most of us do: we leave things open. This kills battery life and slows down your phone. Close stuff.

Avoid Overheating

Smartphones overheat pretty easily. There's a lot of advanced tech happening under the hood, all in a tiny little device. This can happen to a phone that's just out of the box. 

Avoid overheating by keeping your phone in a cool place by charging, put it on airplane mode, and avoid using it. And while you may be tempted to use it 24/7, it pays to give your phone a rest every once in a while. Also, check out your phone case: is it the culprit? 

It's Expensive (and Bad for the Environment)

Buying a new phone is ridiculously expensive. Some of these things cost more than a new Macbook. Sure, you often get them cheap(er) when you sign a contract, but you end up paying for it through that monthly charge. 

Smartphones are also bad for the environment. Just think of how many old phones with plenty of life left in them are put in a landfill before their time. 

Tune Up Your Phone Frequently

Slow and underperforming phones are often down to lack of care, rather than the hardware reaching its last days of life. You use your phone every single day (often for multiple hours), so why not take it for an in-house tune-up every once in a while? 

Take care of your phone, run the suggested performance fixes, and replace underperforming hardware (e.g. the battery) before shelling out for a brand new model.