Noticeable Slow Down
If you tap an app and have to watch that loading spin icon until you turn dizzy, you should prepare for the worst. Older phones get clogged up with updates they can’t handle and advanced apps beyond their scope until they’re slower than snail mail.
Battery Life Is Unreliable
Do you find yourself hanging onto a power bank like it’s a life support? That’s not a good sign. Lithium-ion batteries lose their capacity after hundreds of charges, so a device yelling for its charging cable every few hours is a red flag.
Apps Keep Crashing or Won’t Open
When your apps start ghosting you, you know something’s wrong! Having to tap apps multiple times only to return to the home screen could be a sign that your phone’s dying - but make sure you try other apps first to make sure!
No More Software Updates Available
Phones don’t always go out with a parade of warnings - sometimes it’s just a quiet goodnight. That’s the case when your software updates suddenly stop; no new features, no improvements, nothing. That’s digital obsolescence knocking and your phone’s already opened the door.
The Screen Is Cracked or Unresponsive
Screens do crack, especially if you don’t have a cover for them. Phones still work with small ones, but if you see one creeping across the screen surface like a spiderweb? That probably means it’s on its last legs, and even more so if it struggles to respond to your touch.
Storage Is Always Full
It’s not always about something going wrong with your phone, necessarily. Another sign you should upgrade is when you struggle to fit anything else on there! Your device being full-to-bursting means no more cat pictures or apps for you - and maybe spring cleaning is just delaying the inevitable.
Serious Camera Quality Decline
Vintage filters are great when you opt in, but if your smartphone’s quality is constantly blurry, grainy or looks like it’s trying to take a picture of the past before color was invented, you need to upgrade. Camera phones are incredible now, and you deserve the best!
Overheating From Basic Use
Do you find your phone is too hot to handle just from browsing the internet? That’s an indication your phone’s having a meltdown. It could be battery problems, internal components or even just old age catching up with it, but your phone shouldn’t be a hand warmer
Audio Issues During Calls or Videos
Texts, voice mails or missed calls from the past suddenly appearing on your phone sounds like a movie hook, but it’s not ghosts haunting you - it’s your phone that’s possessed. On a more serious note, it can be dangerous in an emergency, so you should upgrade ASAP.
Connectivity Problems
If you find your earbuds keep cutting out or the loading circle of doom is your only companion when you try to connect to Wi-Fi, it could be a temporary problem. But if it recurs regardless of location, your phone’s waving the white flag.
Your Phone Randomly Cuts Out
The last thing you want is the silent treatment from your own phone and when it starts to turn off for no reason and with zero warning? There’s a deeper cause. It might be a hardware issue or a battery problem; maybe even corrupted software. Either way, it’s time for a change.
You Can’t Install the Latest Apps
Have you ever had that feeling when you’re super excited for an app but when you go to the store it’s incompatible? It means your phone can’t keep up with the latest software, which means security issues, too - it’s open to the world, so close it down fast.
Touchscreen Delay or Lag
Your first tap gets nothing. You swipe? Nothing. Then suddenly, your smartphone catches up and you’re ordering a spider costume for the dog you don’t have. That’s a processor or a digitizer trying to keep up and losing the race.
It’s Physically Falling Apart
When you have to fiddle with a phone’s charging ports or you practically have to hammer down the power button to get a reaction, there’s problems. And those cracks in your phone case? You’re one raindrop away from system shutdown.
It’s Just Not Keeping Up With Your Life Anymore
A smartphone is designed to make your life easier, not harder - when its systems are getting in the way or slowing you down, or it's simply not doing the job you need it for? That's when you're in serious need an upgrade, and you should get one, pronto.
