How to Not Damage Your Smartphone

In just 12 years since the first smartphone appeared on the market, they have become an indispensible part of our daily lives. We take them everywhere (even, perhaps, some places that they shouldn’t be). In all of those travels, our smartphones often suffer damage, but there are some fairly simple steps that you can take to avoid damage when possible.

Avoid Dropping Your Phone

Ok, this one is pretty obvious, but beyond the cosmetic damage from being dropped, a hard hit to any surface could cause internal damage that you can’t see. Your phone is a tiny computer with thousands of small parts, so any time the phone is dropped, those pieces can suffer damage. The best way to protect your phone is to not drop it, but since that’s not possible to avoid all the time, getting a robust case to protect it or some other accessories that provide you with better grip can help.

Keep Your Phone Dry

Today many phones are advertised as waterproof, but there is no universal “waterproof” standard. Some are simply splash-proof, so if they are exposed to a little water at the beach or the pool they’ll be ok, but they can’t go underwater. Others can go fully underwater. Each phone has an “ingress protection” or IP rating to let you know what level of protection it offers from dust and water—the first number in a rating is its dust protection (usually 0-6), the second is its water protection (0-9).

• Dust: A rating of 0 offers no dust protection, a rating of 6 offers complete dust protection and no opportunity for dust to get inside the device

• Water: A rating of 0 offers no water protection at all, a rating of 4 offers protection from water splashing the device, and a rating of 7 or higher offers protection if the device is immersed in water

Look for phones with protection levels of IP67 or higher to know they’re fully waterproof.

Regulate Your Phone’s Temperature

When a smartphone gets too hot or too cold it can damage the battery. Since we take our phones everywhere, they could easily be left in the hot sun at the beach or the park or a family barbecue, or in the extreme cold if left outside in winter. Leaving your phone in the car won’t necessarily protect it, since cars temperatures can also be extreme. If you cannot keep the phone out of the heat or cold, turn it off and keep it stored in a place where it has some protection, like a bag or pocket.

Give Your Phone a Little Break

Just like you don’t want to go 24/7 without any sleep, your phone could use a break from time to time. Turning it off for a little while can give the phone’s internal components a rest. If you’re worried about turning it off at times when you might need it, think about doing this when you don’t want to be interrupted anyway, such as at a movie or once a week overnight.

There is no way to avoid damage entirely, so if something does happen to your smartphone, bring it to FixIT Mobile | Bad Apple to find out whether it can be fixed.