Is it smart to keep and old, backup smartphone?

biggles

2[H]4U
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Jul 25, 2005
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Ever since having a LG G4 bootloop several years ago, I have kept a backup smartphone in personal storage. We do not have landline service, so if the smartphone breaks (or gets lost, stolen, etc) I still have a means of communication by phone.

I have also read that some people come up with creative uses for old smartphones. Security camera at the home, dash cams for the car, etc.

Wondering what folks at this forum are doing. Just upgraded to a Samsung Galaxy S20+. I was planning to sell the prior device on ebay, an LG V35. And keeping an old LG G6 in the drawer as the backup smartphone. Good plan?
 
I don't use my cell phone much. My new one sits on my desk in the office upstairs most days and I keep my old one in the living room for some light surfing while watching TV.
 
I also don't really use my phone much.
I mean, it's not like people even leave their houses much anymore, considering the plague.
 
I was contemplating trading in my Note 8 for a discount on the Note 20 Ultra, but Samsung only offered $250 for it - not worth it to me. Doubly so after realizing how much Bluetooth headphone latency sucks and lamenting Samsung's axing of the headphone jack.

While I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do with the Note 8 yet, since it's got a locked bootloader unlike my Note 4 (way to screw over the North American market, Samsung), I figure it'll be useful just for being an unlocked variant that works on any carrier here without too much fuss.

Even then, I'd still keep the Note 8 around just in case of unforeseen issues migrating to a newer phone. Smart Switch does not transfer everything over, to the point that notification sounds are suddenly different, certain apps haven't carried over their data, crap like that, and let's not forget about stuff like Google Authenticator and Steam Guard that will leave you hosed if you didn't keep the old device before logging into the new one.

Note that I do not have the luxury of work-from-home, gotta drive to a warehouse every weekday and back, and much to the consternation of everyone there since we moved warehouses months ago, we still don't have landline Internet access there. It's driving everyone nuts since it forces us to rely on phone tethering, which isn't ideal for a number of reasons (especially due to having a server that's critical to our inventory management which would normally be remotely administrated), but it's the only option we have. Thank goodness for unlimited data.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I decided to go with the plan to keep the LG G6. It is not worth much money if selling anyway, and the Snapdragon 821 chip holds up fine for normal operation.
 
I always keep a backup phone. I usually get an old used one from swappa.com just in case.
 
I recently broke my XS Max, and luckily (due to laziness in selling it) still had my old phone laying around. I'd have been really SOL as my VPN requires 2FA and I am WFH. Needless to say, I'll be keeping that phone around just in case since it's only worth around $120 ish anyway.
 
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