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  • Fix that Cracked Phone Screen Today

    A lot of people rock around this world with a cracked phone screen. However, you really shouldn’t. It’s not only bad for your phone, but it’s bad for your wallet and even your well-being. You need to get that cracked phone screen fixed, sooner rather than later! Don’t believe us? Check out these crazy facts about cracked phone screens.

    Fix that Cracked Phone Screen

    It Looks Bad

    Firstly, it looks really unsophisticated to roll around with that spiderweb crack in your phone. If you’re going to a job interview or meeting new networking connections, you really don’t want them to think you’re clumsy and irresponsible. You don’t want to look like the kind of person who can’t be bothered to get their phone fixed.

    Health Hazards

    It’s much harder to read what’s on a screen if the screen is badly cracked. If you’re squinting and trying to discern what’s on your phone screen, then you’re likely putting too much strain on your eyes. Another health hazard of a cracked screen is that, if it’s badly cracked, you could accidentally slice your finger open on the glass. Why put your health at risk instead of getting the phone screen fixed?

    Hardware Problems

    If you’re got a newer smartphone, odds are good that both the front and back are glass. If the back glass is cracked, this is still an issue. Newer smartphones are waterproof and dust-resistant. However, when they have cracks in the glass, both of these defenses are down.

    You need a vacuum seal from both the front and back of the phone in order for the water proofing and dust resistance to work. If you’re gotten accustomed to being able to dunk your phone underwater, this might come as an unwelcome surprise.

    Resale Value

    When you go to trade your phone in for a new one, you’ll get a lot less if it has a cracked screen. Often, this difference in resale value is more than it would have been for you to just get the phone’s screen fixed. In short, it’s literally bad for your wallet to leave your screen broken.

    Structure

    Even if you’re not planning on trading the phone in soon, why put off getting the screen fixed? It’s worse than just unsightly. If your phone is cracked, further drops could result in even more severe damage. A small crack can turn into spiderwebbing. A spiderweb crack can result in the screen busting out of its housing entirely.

    In short, just get your screen fixed. What’s stopping you?

  • How to Save Money When You Upgrade Your Smartphone

    How to Save Money When You Upgrade Your Smartphone

    There are constantly new smartphones coming out. Every year the biggest smartphone manufacturers release new flagship phones full of great new features. If you’re not careful you could end up spending a ton of money trying to keep up with the latest tech trends. If you’re looking to upgrade your smartphone without breaking the bank, you need to have a plan on how to save money.

    There are a number of strategies you can use to try to keep your costs down while you’re trying to keep up with the latest tech. If you follow these tips you should save money and stay cutting edge all at the same time!

    How to Save Money When You Upgrade Your Smartphone

    Consider Switching Carriers

    Smartphones are a very competitive business. Carriers are always vying to lure customers of their competitors away with a number of cost-cutting tactics. Use their rivalry to your advantage! The last thing you need to do is pay full-price for anything. Pit carriers against one another when you look for the best deal on a new smartphone. If your current carrier has a worse deal on the newest smartphone than a competitor, make sure they know about it.

    If you threaten your cell phone carrier with the prospect of switching to get a better deal, they pay attention. Often you can even get discounts on your bill or a credit to your account as an incentive to stay with your current company. Don’t be afraid to play hardball with your carrier, and if they won’t help you save, cut them loose. You have no obligation to spend more money just because you’ve been using them for longer.

    Check Retailers

    Often, big-box stores like Sam’s Club, Walmart and Target offer deals on new smartphones. These could range from gift card promotions to savings on buying two phones at once. Either way, keeping your eyes peeled for deals in unlikely stores often pays when you’re trying to upgrade your smartphone for cheap.

    When it comes to smartphone shopping, you’re not stuck with just your wireless carrier for finding new phones. Between big-box retailers, online shopping and upstart phone companies, there are always ways to save. For instance, many tech-heads find it’s much cheaper to buy unlocked smartphones from the manufacturer and then get cell service added to them, rather than buying straight from the carrier.

    It’s important to remember that you have the power as the customer: your carrier only exists to serve you. Don’t let them fool you into thinking otherwise!

    Trade-Ins

    Most phone retailers will allow you to trade your current phone back in for a credit to your next upgrade. Depending on the carrier you could even find yourself paying nothing up front to pick up a brand-new phone when you trade-in. The biggest factor to keep in mind is the age and condition of your current phone. If you have a seven-year-old phone with tons of cracks and scratches it’s unlikely you’ll fetch much (if any) trade-in credit.

    However, if your phone is newer and of a well-known brand like Apple or Samsung you could find yourself saving a ton of money when you trade-in. Remember, not all carriers offer good trade values. Make sure you do research on your current phone and know what a fair trade-in price for the phone is. If the retailer won’t offer you a decent trade-in credit, simply opt for selling it yourself, or even switching carriers. Know your phone’s worth!

    Sell Your Old Phone

    This requires a bit more research and work in your part but it could be a great way to recoup some of the cost of your new phone. If you’ve got the time and patience to list and sell your old phone yourself you might get a lot more for it. Even selling your old phone for a few hundred dollars less than its MSRP could result in some bargain-hunter buying it off of you.

    This, in turn, frees you up to make sure you get what your phone is worth. The cold, hard cash you get selling the phone yourself allows you to turn the savings into money for groceries or other bills, too. Whether you choose to sell to a private individual or a retailer is your call, though you often get more when you sell it to a private individual.

    Just remember, before you sell someone your old phone you need to factory reset it. You don’t want some stranger having your contacts and pictures! Make sure you also take the old SIM card out of it if you haven’t already.

     

  • Looking for a New Smartphone? Here are the Best Deals

    Looking for a New Smartphone? Here are the Best Deals

    If you’re in the market for a new smartphone you may have found that they are rather expensive. Upgrading without breaking the bank can be tricky. Don’t fret, though, because today we’re going to help you find the best deals on a new smartphone.

    Best New Smartphone Deals

    Sell Your Old Phone

    Your old phone is probably still worth some money. Modern cell phones are incredibly advanced and can last for a very long time. There are plenty of people out there who will pay good money for even a several-year-old smartphone. Rather than just tucking it away in a drawer, consider selling your old phone to make a bit of money and put that towards a new phone.

    Of course, certain brands command more resale value than others. iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones, for instance, tend to hold better resale value than some brands. In any event, nearly all recent smartphones will fetch at least a few hundred dollars in resale.

    Trade-in Credit

    Similarly, many cellphone carriers will allow you to trade in your old phone towards a new one. These trade-in programs usually offer payment plans or upgrade plans, as well. Pretty much every major cell carrier has some type of upgrade program that allows you to keep up with the newest smartphone releases.

    Often it can be much easier to simply trade-in an old phone than find a buyer for a secondhand cellphone on your own. However, it is worth noting that this added convenience does come at a price. You can usually resell your old phone for more than you can get in trade-in credit. Just keep that in mind.

    Consider New Plan Incentives

    You don’t owe your cell carrier anything. Pretty much every carrier has great service these days, so there’s no reason to stick with them if they’re charging you too much. If you want a new smartphone at a great price, consider a sign-on bonus with a new company.

    Cell carriers are always offering insane discounts on new smartphones for people who open new lines. Some of these don’t even require you sign a contract. This is one of the best ways to save money on a new phone, and it works great when you pair this with selling your old phone.

    You might even end up spending nothing on your new phone after all is said and done!

  • Gorilla Glass 6 Unveiled for New Oppo Smartphone

    Gorilla Glass 6 Unveiled for New Oppo Smartphone

    Corning, the company that makes the ultra-strong glass Gorilla Glass, has an even stronger variant on the way. Called Gorilla Glass 6, it’s their strongest one yet, and it’s a doozy. This time around, the glass-maker will ship it first with the newest Oppo flagship phone, on that is as-yet unnamed. However, Oppo has a solid track record in China of making cutting-edge phones.

    Oppo: Chinese Innovators

    While in the West Apple, Samsung and Google are the biggest names in smartphones, China is a different market indeed. Chinese smartphone makers like Xiaomi, OnePlus and Oppo dominate the market there. While Americans tend to measure their success with the newest models of cars, in China it’s more common to see wealthy people flaunting their new phones. This is due to a number of factors, but primarily is due to the ubiquity of public transit and relative lack of usefulness of personal vehicles.

    Oppo, for their part, is a highly-respected and excellent brand. Their phones tend towards the higher-end of smartphones, and their most recent designs are reminiscent of Apple’s iPhone X. Design features like the edge-to-edge screen, minimized bezels, phone notch and glass back are mainstays in the Chinese market. In fact, these designs are even seen on mid- to low-end phones by some manufacturers.

    Corning and Gorilla Glass 6

    The name Gorilla Glass should sound familiar: it’s the screen and back of most modern smartphones. If your smartphone is mid- to high-end, has a glass back or it generally just durable, odds are good it’s Corning’s Gorilla Glass. That is to say, if you’re a fan of high-end smartphones, odds are good you’ll be seeing Gorilla Glass 6 in the US soon.

    The next Oppo flagship is due out in a matter of weeks, which means we could see Gorilla Glass 6 in the US as soon as the next few months. The newest batch of phones from Apple, Samsung, LG and Google are all due out this fall. It seems likely that many of these new phones will come with the newest, toughest material from Corning.

    The new Gorilla Glass is rated for at least 15 drops from one meter off the ground. That’s double the number Gorilla Glass 5 could handle, which inspires a great amount of confidence. One of the biggest issues with glass-backed phones is durability. As such, it’s good that smartphone manufacturers are teaming with Corning to make them more durable.