topic Re: Old phones? in Get Support

Old phones?

jimbobs — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 12:19:26 GMT

Just wondering what people do with their old phones?

I've got a couple that are still useful but not enough to sell. One has a built-in FM radio which I occasionally use - sometimes with a portable Bluetooth speaker. Another I use occasionally as a poor mans CCTV. There are a couple more, from other folks, lying around , some in bits. Interestingly, all the Android devices are still working but a couple of older Apples are not.

Re: Old phones?

hairbag1 — Sat, 28 Sep 2019 17:41:34 GMT

Mine help to fill out my sock drawer !

Re: Old phones?

umnikke8 — Sat, 28 Sep 2019 17:43:20 GMT

Since iPhones hold value I've been selling them on, and that's an option for all phones, may still have some value to someone, maybe not even as a phone. I think they are drop boxes to collect phones and reuse them in underdeveloped countries, but I can't remember where I've last seen one. If the phones have become totally useless you can drop them in e-waste recycling.

Re: Old phones?

kelvarnsen — Sat, 28 Sep 2019 17:44:19 GMT

I have never really looked into this, but don't places like domestic violence shelters sometimes take old phones to give out to people who need their services.

Also keep in mind that a charged cell phone even without a SIM can still dial 911 so it could be handy to keep around the house.

Re: Old phones?

Luddite — Sat, 28 Sep 2019 17:50:02 GMT

@kelvarnsen Have look here: https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Phones-Hardware/Donating-phones-to-shelters-for-battered-women/m-p/20724/highlight/true#M3064

Re: Old phones?

brid0nca — Sat, 28 Sep 2019 19:14:24 GMT

Mine just collect dust. I would give them away, but there is usually something wrong with them, and I do not want to be techncal support. When I am done with them, they are pretty much spent.

Re: Old phones?

jimbobs — Sat, 28 Sep 2019 23:47:27 GMT

@brid0nca wrote:
Mine just collect dust. I would give them away, but there is usually something wrong with them, and I do not want to be techncal support. When I am done with them, they are pretty much spent.

In my case, my old phones are pretty much like new in appearance even after 3 or 4 years of use. Don't ask me how but even though I never use cases or screen protectors and have dropped or accidentally thrown phones around (fallen out of pants or shirt pocket, etc.), they all look pretty good. At present, I have a Motorola Moto G, Samsung S3, LG G Stylo all looking for good homes.

Re: Old phones?

darlicious — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 00:03:11 GMT

@kelvarnsen wrote:
I have never really looked into this, but don't places like domestic violence shelters sometimes take old phones to give out to people who need their services.
Also keep in mind that a charged cell phone even without a SIM can still dial 911 so it could be handy to keep around the house.

@kelvarnsen You are absolutely correct they can also be donated for the safety of working girls to be able call 911. Depending on where you live contacting your local shelter, Sally Ann or outreach society can direct you to the appropriate agency or a google search should do it. Donating old but working cell phones not only gives a hand up it reduces our waste and contributes to lowering your personal carbon footprint. Thx @jimbobs for thinking ahead.

Re: Old phones?

darlicious — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 00:06:50 GMT

@jimbobs wrote:
@brid0nca wrote:
Mine just collect dust. I would give them away, but there is usually something wrong with them, and I do not want to be techncal support. When I am done with them, they are pretty much spent.
In my case, my old phones are pretty much like new in appearance even after 3 or 4 years of use. Don't ask me how but even though I never use cases or screen protectors and have dropped or accidentally thrown phones around (fallen out of pants or shirt pocket, etc.), they all look pretty good. At present, I have a Motorola Moto G, Samsung S3, LG G Stylo all looking for good homes.

@jimbobs I think your used cell phones are asking who their new mommy or daddy are going to be? Please give them a new home it's dark and scary in that drawer.

Re: Old phones?

Ninja0628 — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 00:19:29 GMT

@umnikke8 wrote:
Since iPhones hold value I've been selling them on, and that's an option for all phones, may still have some value to someone, maybe not even as a phone. I think they are drop boxes to collect phones and reuse them in underdeveloped countries, but I can't remember where I've last seen one. If the phones have become totally useless you can drop them in e-waste recycling.

Just to add to this, please recycle responsibly. You can find where to bring your phones here: https://www.recyclemycell.ca/

Re: Old phones?

BEER — Sun, 29 Sep 2019 14:46:07 GMT

@kelvarnsen wrote:
I have never really looked into this, but don't places like domestic violence shelters sometimes take old phones to give out to people who need their services.
Also keep in mind that a charged cell phone even without a SIM can still dial 911 so it could be handy to keep around the house.

The problem with older phones is primarily the loss of battery power rendering them useless.

Re: Old phones?

Korth — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 00:49:25 GMT

I keep one around "just in case". Concrete is hard, water spills, work and play can be rough, accidents happen, even ruggedized devices break, and it sucks to have a dead or broken phone.

Others I cannibalize for parts. RPi and Arduino projects, cameras, GPS, accelerometers, biometric sensors, repurposed SoCs, all sorts of amazing gadgets to build into controller boards and hardware monitors and stuff. You can do a lot with BGA rework, device programmers, and some datasheets. Or I repair them (when the device is worthwhile and necessary replacement parts are cheap) then give away to friends/etc who can use working phones. So basically I gut them or I get rid of them - and still they gradually accumulate because once people know you're an electronics nerd they keep dumping all their discarded electronics into your junkbox.

Re: Old phones?

jimbobs — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 16:13:24 GMT

@Ninja0628 wrote:
@umnikke8 wrote:
Since iPhones hold value I've been selling them on, and that's an option for all phones, may still have some value to someone, maybe not even as a phone. I think they are drop boxes to collect phones and reuse them in underdeveloped countries, but I can't remember where I've last seen one. If the phones have become totally useless you can drop them in e-waste recycling.
Just to add to this, please recycle responsibly. You can find where to bring your phones here: https://www.recyclemycell.ca/

"Recycle My Cell is a national industry initiative led by the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA) along with its members (wireless manufacturers and service providers) to raise awareness about mobile device recycling."

PM's parent, Telus, is part of this program. The website has lots of good information about why, where and how to recycle and what happens with devices. This deserves more publicity than it gets. It would be nice to know if they pass on usable/working phones to deserving causes.

Re: Old phones?

Korth — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 01:51:46 GMT

I'm sometimes called in to do equipment/maintenance work at a local eCycle plant. I can't divulge specific details (because NDA obligations) but Telus is one of eCycle's largest contracts... bins and bins of high-end datacenter stuff, consumer remotes, and cellphones, cellphones, cellphones. Some old, some new, some used, some still brand new in packages which never even got a chance to touch a customer before being replaced with newer models - it's all counted in terms of percent yields and raw tonnage - eCycle removes all the nasty hazards (like mercury, cadmium, radioisotopes) which can pollute landfills, it extracts and sorts all the most valuable parts for material remelt, it smashes everything else and just pours it into dumptrucks. It's pollution control and material salvage, not recycling in the way consumers usually think.

So some small percentage of the precious metals and rare earths in this year's fancy phones might end up in next year's fancy new phones, after being boiled in cyanide acids and smelted at a foundry. But technology built out of common stuff (like silicon) is just garbage, it has no intrinsic value as technology when dealing with the huge bulk quantities that a company like Telus deals with.

Re: Old phones?

jimbobs — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 17:27:24 GMT

@Korth wrote:
I'm sometimes called in to do equipment/maintenance work at a local eCycle plant. I can't divulge specific details (because NDA obligations) but Telus is one of eCycle's largest contracts... bins and bins of high-end datacenter stuff, consumer remotes, and cellphones, cellphones, cellphones. Some old, some new, some used, some still brand new in packages which never even got a chance to touch a customer before being replaced with newer models - it's all counted in terms of percent yields and raw tonnage - eCycle removes all the nasty hazards (like mercury, cadmium, radioisotopes) which can pollute landfills, it extracts and sorts all the most valuable parts for material remelt, it smashes everything else and just pours it into dumptrucks. It's pollution control and material salvage, not recycling in the way consumers usually think.
So some small percentage of the precious metals and rare earths in this year's fancy phones might end up in next year's fancy new phones, after being boiled in cyanide acids and smelted at a foundry. But technology built out of common stuff (like silicon) is just garbage, it has no intrinsic value as technology when dealing with the huge bulk quantities that a company like Telus deals with.

Brings back memories. While with a former employer, we built customized telecoms gear for Nortel for a particular project. When they decided to terminate the project a few months later, we tried to back back the equipment to use it elsewhere. We were told that it had already been crushed and sent to landfill.

This is why I'd much prefer to see old phones go to useful causes. But, failing that, responsible disposal is better than simply throwing them into garbage.

Re: Old phones?

Triguy — Wed, 02 Oct 2019 17:49:02 GMT

Here is an article about other uses for old phones.

https://www.pcmag.com/feature/351781/11-uses-for-your-old-smartphone/6

Re: Old phones?

jimbobs — Thu, 03 Oct 2019 00:35:32 GMT

Another option, I believe, to keep older Android phones going longer is to migrate to an alternate O/S such as Lineage. Haven't tried it yet but intend to do so on a Samsung Galaxy S3.

Re: Old phones?

jimbobs — Thu, 21 Nov 2019 03:27:55 GMT

Came across this:

https://www.phoneitforward.ca/home.html

Donate a smartphone. Change the life of someone who's blind.

Phone it Forward is a CNIB program that gives smartphones to people with sight loss who need them.

Re: Old phones?

cwurban97 — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 20:38:59 GMT

Keep them around. Nice thing about Public Mobile is that their SIM card will work in any unlocked phone.

So so if your main phone goes down, just swap your SIM into your old one, assuming your old one still works, and you’re good to go!

Re: Old phones?

jimbobs — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 22:24:15 GMT

@cwurban97 wrote:
Keep them around. Nice thing about Public Mobile is that their SIM card will work in any unlocked phone.

So so if your main phone goes down, just swap your SIM into your old one, assuming your old one still works, and you’re good to go!

Doesn't this applies to any SIM from any provider?