You’ve spent a lot of money on your iPhone, so it’s understandably precious to you. How can you look after it properly?
You want it to last several years, but you know that many friends have smartphones with smashed screens, terrible battery health, and dead pixels. Fortunately, you can avoid the same fate. Yes, it will cost you extra to keep your iPhone in good condition, but it’ll ultimately be worth it. Actually, it might cost you less than you think, so let’s try to keep an open mind.
Top Accessories To Keep Your iPhone Safe
1. Cooler iPhone Case and Fan
You may want to show off a shiny new iPhone, especially if you’ve opted for a color you particularly love. But having a sturdy phone case is an important step in keeping your iPhone in pristine condition. It will absorb the shock of impacts. If you knock into something or drop your smartphone, the case should take the brunt of it instead of the phone itself.
That said, cases can also be damaging to the hardware. Your smartphone can easily overheat, notably its battery which can get really hot depending on weather conditions, the apps you’re using, and the processes you’re running.
That’s why a cooler case is an essential that’s often overlooked.
They come in various models. Some are simply cases with enough gaps in them that they allow a decent amount of airflow while also protecting your hardware. Likewise, you can also get actual fans that clip onto your case to use when you’re playing intensive games on your smartphone. The Black Shark phone fan ($39.99) is a decent example of this.
Yes, overheating can seriously affect your phone’s performance and hardware. When your battery gets too hot, it can’t store and use charge effectively and this will decrease its lifespan. Overheating also means that your software will slow down, so you’ll suffer in your day-to-day activities too.
2. Screen Protector
With a phone case, your iPhone should be protected if you drop it or knock into it. But what about your screen? Screens can easily get scratched or cracked, so you also need to protect them.
Luckily, many phone cases come with screen protectors, but if not, you can normally get hold of one pretty cheap. They’re typically a thin layer of plastic like polyethylene terephthalate (PET), thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), or silicon dioxide, frequently called liquid glass or a nano liquid. None of these should affect performance; indeed, they’re designed to be so thin that you can use your finger or a stylus on your iPhone interface as you normally would.
Some protectors actually come in liquid form: using the Luvvitt Liquid Glass Protector ($26.99), for example, you can just drip some of the product on your screen, wait 10 minutes, then buff it dry to add an extra layer of protection against dirt and damage.
You can also get laminated tempered glass, which is made by rapidly heating then cooling glass. This means that the surface of the glass cools and sets faster than the inside, leaving it stronger than ordinary glass. This obviously makes it an ideal way to protect your iPhone from not only scratches but also accidental bumps.
Which one do you buy? It depends on your budget, but any of these options should keep your smartphone safer than if you don’t use any protection.
3. Cell Phone Cleaning Kit
Damaged speakers and faulty charging ports are among the leading reasons behind iPhone replacements. How can you combat these problems?
Your speakers and connectors can be affected by numerous things, but a common issue is dirt. Everyday fluff and flotsam and jetsam can easily build up and clog up your phone.
Don’t use water! Yes, iPhones are splash-proof, but it can still be a risk, especially if there’s soap or any sort of detergent mixed in. In some cases, water can conglomerate dust together and make it more difficult to get rid of.
You can clean your smartphone in numerous ways, but your best bet is a proper phone cleaning kit.
You can get special phone sprays that’ll help you keep your device sparkling. You’ll certainly need a microfiber cloth to wipe away any detritus. These have fibers that are so small that the cloth has a larger surface area and a positive charge to attract more dirt. It can also pick up grease and harmful chemicals (so make sure you wash the cloth regularly).
What about the charger port and your speakers? Look for a cleaning kit that comes with various brushes, or opt for a specific pack of different brush sizes. The port is surprisingly deep and thin, so a normal paintbrush won’t be good enough for the task. Products like the Ordilend Cleaning Kit ($19.99) comes with many tools not just for cleaning all the ports of your iPhone but also associated devices like Airpods.
You might feel irked at having to spend even more cash on your iPhone, given that the hardware itself has already set you back a lot of money. Nonetheless, investing in a few extra accessories might mean you ultimately save you hard-earned money because you won’t have to replace your smartphone as quickly as if you’d not given it some TLC.