We have our smartphones and computers with us all day long, but we tend to forget that they are more than just physical objects. The ecological impact of their use also depends on our web practices. Yet it is difficult to remove the illusion that it is immaterial, and hence has no real life consequences. Well, our internet actions have a cost and having eco-friendly digital habits is important. But what are the best practices to adopt?
Maybe you’ve heard the old saying “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth” but still, don’t you ever wonder why a store would lower prices at exactly the moment when people are really looking to buy? It’s the start of the holiday shopping season—it’s not as if people really need more incentives to buy presents. Unlike summer and winter sales when stores are trying to get rid of old stock to make room for newer products, Black Friday sales usually offer hot ticket items that are in high demand. What gives? Why would a store willingly lower its margin?
Released a few months after its two big brothers (the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max), the iPhone XR is not only available at a more affordable price, but it is without hesitation one of the best smartphones on the market. With the same processor as the XS, the best LCD screen on the market and a 12 megapixel main camera sensor, the little brother has absolutely no reason to envy its elders, or the competition.
Smartphones have become almost indispensable in our modern way of life. And there is a good chance you have one if you are reading this article. Unfortunately, these poor beasts live only 18 months on average, while they could easily reach the ripe old age of five if we took more care of them. But how can you keep your smartphone longer, I hear you ask? Start with this:
Our poor smartphones often lead dangerous lives. They are banged, dropped or exposed to harsh external conditions. The world is a hostile place to these fragile animals. When you get your phone, consider wrapping it in a shell and putting a protective film or glass over the screen. It will save you from losing it in its first accident. Furthermore, this simple practice will greatly increase its value when you come to resell it.
If a smartphone survives being dropped, then it is usually bad charging management that affects it after a few months. If you want to keep yours longer, unplug it when it reaches 100% (or slightly before) and wait 10-15% before reconnecting it. The time between charges also affects the battery life. Remember to turn off mobile data, put it in airplane mode or turn it off when you’re not using it, and adjust the brightness of the display according to the lighting.
Like any electronic device, smartphones hate extreme temperatures. Avoid leaving it in the sun to prevent wear of components and swelling of the battery. Same goes for the cold. Also beware of wet places if you want to avoid inconvenient short circuits.
It may be obvious, but remember to close applications that you do not use and keep open those you use regularly in a short period of time, since opening a program can consume a lot of energy. These two simple practices will prevent your phone from running out of steam by hurtling along unnecessarily at full speed.
To not find yourself in the annoying situation where your smartphone takes three years to open Google Maps, or overheats as soon as you want to send the tiniest GIF. Regularly sort your phone’s applications, data and cache memory. In short, everything you no longer use. And then when freeing up space across the board is no longer enough, save your data and reset the phone. It may sound radical, but it works.
By following these tips, it is possible to make your smartphone last five years.
And for your new phone, why not buy a refurbished model? You reduce your ecological footprint by 80% and you will find the models are of the same quality but up to 50% cheaper.
Are you investing or planning to invest in an iPhone XR and want to find the best equipment? Discover the best iPhone XR accessories needed for optimal equipment.
The iPhone XR is a pure technological gem available at a slightly more affordable price than its XS and XS MAX counterparts. With 3GB of RAM and an Apple A12 Bionic processor, its performance is on par with the best smartphones on the market. Its 6.1″ LCD screen offers excellent resolution. The 12 Mpx main camera produces high-quality photos and includes FaceID technology, which enables facial recognition for enhanced security.
Earth Overshoot Day is calculated every year by the NGO Global Footprint Network and the WWF. This year it falls on July 29, 2019. Yes, that was two weeks ago. So we have a challenge for you, and it concerns our common ecological footprint.
Smartphone design is now boiling down to something as mundane as “the notch”. 15 years ago, I doubt we could have imagined that an inch or so of screen real estate would be the occasion for heated debates among people more likely to be accountants or gossip journalists than industrial product designers. It seems ridiculous if you go back to 2007, and remember that smartphones use to look like this:
Since the very first and very clunky cell phones arrived on the scene, they always served as status symbols. They were scarce and expensive machines that continued to reflect varying degrees of wealth and social caché (depending on the model you had, of course) even after Nokia made them more accessible.
