What To Think Of When Upgrading Your Phone

There are few things more exciting than when your phone contract starts running out. You get a message from your carrier telling you that there’s only a month left, and that means one thing: it’s upgrade time!

 

Upgrading your phone is always an enjoyable experience, but it can be pretty challenging. There are so many manufacturers and brands out there, all throwing tech specs at you and expecting you to know what they mean. If you’re a tech nerd, you’re in your element right now. All your friends are asking you to recommend the best phones, and you can easily tell great features apart. For the rest of us, the decision is harder.

 

So, to make life a little bit easier, here are a few things to think of when upgrading to a new device:

How much is the new phone?

Or, more accurately, is the new phone worth the extra costs? Usually, upgrades put you on a more expensive contract with a newer phone. In theory, you get loads of new features and a better experience. However, is it actually worth it? You can pay an extra couple of hundred dollars on your new phone, but it basically has the same features as the old one. So, do your research beforehand to ensure you get an upgrade that’s worthy of being called an upgrade!

What’s wrong with your current phone?

Hang on a second, what’s actually wrong with your current phone? You’ve only had it for two years, do you really need an upgrade? Okay okay, in a lot of cases, you do have some slight problems with your phone that you’d like to fix. For most of us, this comes down to battery life. Somewhere along the way, your phone went from staying on all day to having 20% battery before lunch. As such, you want an upgrade that provides you with a much better battery life, meaning you don’t have to walk around with your phone and a portable charger.

Likewise, some of you may want a faster phone because yours is laggy. Now, this is something of a stereotype, but a lot of Android devices tend to start lagging after a while. The higher-end flagship Androids won’t do this, so perhaps an upgrade can give you a faster phone with no lag. Basically, think about what annoys you about your current phone, and it’ll help you pick out the must-have features in your upgraded device.

How easy is it to move all your stuff?

Getting a new phone is great, but moving all your stuff over to that phone can be a big pain. How hard will it be to take your photos, contacts, and all the other important things, and take them across to your new device? In truth, it depends on the current phone you’ve got, and the one you’re thinking of getting. If you’re upgrading to a new iPhone, and you previously had one, all you have to do is activate new iPhone settings and it lets you transfer things with ease. There’s a similar system in place when moving from a Google phone to a new Google phone, and from Android to Android. It only starts getting complicated when you move from one operating system to another – this is where you probably need to move things to a storage device and then to the new phone.

Do you like your network carrier?

By definition, an upgrade means you stay on the same network, keep the same number, but get a different phone and a new contract. This begs the question: do you even like your network carrier? Do you get good service? Is their customer service appalling? Most importantly of all: are you happy with their prices? You might realize that you don’t want to keep paying to use this network as you feel like you’re being ripped off. In this case, consider canceling your contract instead of upgrading it. If you do neither, the contract keeps rolling over – which is never a good idea as you keep paying the same price for an older phone, so you’re throwing money down the drain. One pro tip from one nerd to another: tell your current provider you’re canceling because you’ve got a better deal. Tell them the deal, and they might be able to give you a cheaper one, just to get you to stay!

What other things should you think about before upgrading your phone? Feel free to write your own considerations in the comments, and also let me know if you like upgrading your phone or think it’s a waste of money.