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Owning a smart phone seems to be a virtual part of living in this 21st century to both the young and old because of the convenience of its features.
But as much as we own smartphones, it might seem to be out-dated or not working as well as it used to.
It is at this point that you may seem to wonder how long the average smartphone is supposed to last and when it could be the right time to start thinking of purchasing another one.
Did you know that your smartphone has an expiry date? But there are several ways through which you can realise your smartphone is on its way out .
Mr Earnest Bukenya, computer and software engineer dealing in repair and maintenance says a smart phone should last a minimum of two to three years.
“Smartphone companies tend to give two to three years for any stock on the shelf. This applies to iPhones, Androids, or any of the other varieties of devices that are on the market,” Mr Bukenya says.
He notes that the most common reason given is that towards the end of its usable life, a smartphone will begin to slow down.
This is because the tasks that it used to be able to accomplish with lightning speed will take considerably longer.
“There are some particular issues relating to smartphones which you should be paying attention to. They will directly impact how long it will be before you need a replacement,” Mr Bukenya adds.
The first consideration is the device’s battery life. Every smartphone comes with a battery and they degrade over time with steady use.
He says it becomes problematic if you depend on your cell phone for a whole day and have only that one charge to last you all that time.
“If a smartphone battery is getting toward the end of its life cycle, it will only be able to charge for a few hours, or less than that,” he says adding that you might look at the phone and see that the battery is significantly depleted, even if you have barely used it. This is a definite sign that it is on the way out.
Temperature also affects how long a battery lasts. “If you keep your phone at moderate temperatures as much as possible, your battery will last longer. If you have had a phone for less than a year and the battery life is already showing significant signs of wear, then you will need to have your device checked out.” This he says could be a hardware issue or the battery might need replacement.
In addition, you might need to monitor how the smartphone device continues to work over time.
“If its various functions continue to hold up well, you can easily get more than two to three years out of the phone. If there are frequent system crashes or you always have troubleshooting, you might decide to trade-in,” Mr Bukenya adds.
For a smartphone engaging in unprompted actions, for instance, if it turns on and off when you do not want it to, the smartphone device might be demanding a replacement.
Although keeping your software updated might mitigate to some extent the above problem, the device will be on the verge of dying out.
However, Mr Bukenya notes that hardware issues do not necessarily signal death for a smartphone. To check for the manufacturing date of your smartphone device that you have just bought or one you have had for some time, you might just need to double check to confirm its durability and manufacturing date.
Tips on checking manufacturing date
By checking your iPhone manufactured date, you are able to determine your iPhone’s age as well. It is important that you know your iPhone age if you have purchased your iPhone as a second hand item.
To check the manufacturing date for the iPhone, you need to look at the 4th digit in your serial number. For example, that is my serial number FK1W3NCBHFLR. The 4th digit is W.
In your iPhone, go to Settings. Then go to “General Settings” and tap “About”.
To know the iPhone manufacturing date, scroll down and check out the “Serial Number.”
Your serial number will consist of 12 digit numbers. Each number represents specific information about your iPhone. The fourth character in your iPhone serial number represents the manufacturing date. Here you need to cross-reference with the list here.
For example, if the character is “V“, the iPhone manufacture date is 2017, the second half of the year.
For Android smartphones, you go to Setting, click on ‘About device’ then click on the status to find out the serial number. You can either use the serial number or model number to find out the manufacturing date to determine whether the phone is expiring or not.
Mr Timothy Ruhuma, a phone dealer in Kampala Central business says, “The easiest way to notice an expiring phone is when it asks for an update,” he says.When a phone asks for an update, he says do it immediately. When updating your smartphone for the first time, you can do it manually.
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