To fix, or not to fix: that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
the 2 year contract for a new phone,
Or to take arms against a sea of providers,
And fix my broken display.
It might be an inspirational intro 🙂 , but it is a lingering question. There are a few option when your phone or even other electronics break.
For simplest parallels we will use Phones as the example. Let us review…
- Repair your device.
- Sign a contract to get a new device if applicable
- Buy a replacement outright
There is always the choice to take your kids old left-over phone, but the odds are that is broken too. Kids break everything.
Repairing_phone
There are a couple ways to get your phone repaired. Do it yourself if you have the tools and know how or take it to a repair shop. There are a few places out there that are Samsung, google, etc.… certified. Find those places, they are normally good for in and out of warranty. Then you have shops that are not certified, getting out of warranty work not a big deal. But either type of shop you go to. Check them out first. Check Google and Yelp reviews. There are some shady phone techs out there. Electronic repair shops are like car mechanics some are a great and some will do a crappy job for a lot of money.
Some might say fixing it this is a waste of money. But is it? This option really depends on your device. If you just bough the newest flagship phone odds are your phone is worth over $1000 to replace. Your display may only be $150-$200. That is a no brainer. Fix it. Keep in mind your provider has you in a contract. They will not replace your phone if they do not have to. Well unless you are adding extra time and money to your contract.
Sometimes repair’s do not make sense. For instance. Your phone might be 3 years old; it might be rebooting at random times and overheating. Cost of repair is going to be high compared to the value of your phone. I wouldn’t fix it.
If you really like the phone and the new phones do not tickle your fancy because it has a weird notch or color options. There might be a replaceable option for you.
If you’re tech savvy or can follow instructions to the letter, then self-repair can be on your side.
Regardless of you fixing it or a repair shop. Make sure you do your research and measure if there is value in doing the repair.
Signing contract with provider.
Another way to replace your phone that is slow or broken is to get a new phone through your cellphone provider.
This is probably the simplest way of doing it. You can pop into your local shopping center, walk right up to your verizonish store and say “tell me what I want then to release me of my hard-earned money over the next 200 years.”
When you are dealing with the service provider their job is to get you to sign new contract for more money. They will make you short term offers to entice you into getting what they need to sell (it’s what they do) it could sound like “if you get this shinny best phone ever for $0 today we will also give you 50% off the next three months” which sounds great and exciting. BUT!!!!!!!! How much is it after. In most cases you will now be paying more because the new exciting phone value you pay for…. ON THE BILL!!!! Example. On sprint you can get an iPhone 11 pro max for $0 in store. AMAZING right? NO!!! it adds $45 a month to your plan which is going to be $70 a month as well. That is $115 a month. $1380 a year. For ONE person. My gosh if you have a family. Time to get an extra part time job.
Did you know back in the day you could get a $0 smartphone (a good phone too) for $60 plan with unlimited texting and 6gb data. In 2019 the average DATA usage was 5.6Gb a month. So, there is some perspective.
Before you replace your phone. Ask them the break down. Make sure it is fair. If you are not sure. Do not get it yet. Go talk to friends and family that are more knowledgeable in this area. Make your provide work for you. You have paid them a lot of money. Make them earn it.
As a side note, if you do get a new phone on contract. Ask them about there extended warranty. Depending on the coverage and deductible I would recommend. But only if warranty can be cancelled at anytime without penalty.
Finally.
Buy a replacement (value category phone)
This is similar to above section but without paying x-carrier additional monies.
Maybe you are only halfway through your contact, buy out is too high, fixing the screen is $300+. Let us be honest after a year you tossing it around probably not looking the greatest anymore.
This is where budget/mid-range tier phone can come in handy.
xiaomi, Red magic, Tecno, oppo etc.… all have sub $300 Smartphones that can give you a great experience with a few sacrifices.
Or maybe you just need those flag ship features and there nothing wrong with that. Check Craig’s list. Lots of people just upgraded to something new and there last year flagship is up for grabs on the cheap.
To conclude:
At the end of the day you need a new phone or a replacement at least. Make sure you do your do due diligence and look at all 3 options. Decide what works best for your situation.
These steps can be transferred to other repair scenarios. Car, Computers, buying a house.
Just do what works best for you and not for someone else.
Thank you for reading and make sure you’re living at a 100 ?
