You may be happy with your iPhone 10 or Samsung Galaxy S20. Maybe it’s still working just fine. You can take great photos. You enjoy watching TikTok videos on it while sipping on a glass of Chianti and, hopefully, you’re using a liquid screen protector while you drink and comment. Do you really need a new phone? If you’ve been thinking about it but aren’t sure if you need to upgrade your phone, here are nine signs that it’s time to upgrade your phone.

• Your Phone Case Is Getting Old — If your car is starting to show its age, it may not be on the outside or something totally obvious. It might be the engine making an odd noise. It might be the blinker that doesn’t work anymore. Likewise, if your phone is getting old, you might not see an obvious sign that it’s time to upgrade your phone. It might be something as subtle as your phone case starting to fall apart that signals it’s time for both a new phone and a new phone case. If you’re thinking about upgrading to the latest iPhone or Galaxy phone, be sure to get a sturdy Samsung Galaxy S22 case or durable yet sustainable iPhone 13 case.

• The Screen Is Cracked or Not Working — Even if that small crack on the corner doesn’t bother you, screen cracks are more bothersome than just being aesthetically displeasing alone. A cracked screen can affect the functionality of your screen. It can cause your phone to act up or not work properly. You’ll be in the middle of typing an email on your phone and, all of a sudden, it’ll start a phone call or move to a different app. If the cost of repairing your cracked screen is more or less the same price as upgrading to a new phone, or if your cracked screen is simply beyond repair, it’s time to get a new phone.

• Battery Doesn’t Charge Well Anymore — Your battery life will eventually run out. If you see that your battery doesn’t charge well anymore, and you’ve tried different chargers, it’s probably not your chargers. It’s your phone’s battery life. You could replace your battery, but you can also take it as a sign that you can upgrade your phone.

• Your Phone Is Slow — When you first got your phone, it was lightning fast. You were able to zoom between liking photos on your Instagram feed to texting your mom to responding to that work email. Now your phone switches from one app to the other, and there’s a noticeable lag. Even after you’ve tried deleting old photos and songs from your phone, it’s still slow. Like battery life, the processing power of a phone or any other electronic device eventually slows and degrades. Once your phone slows down, and you see it randomly shutting down, take it as a sign. It means your phone is getting old and showing its age, so consider upgrading your phone.

• Your Phone’s Mic Doesn’t Work — If your battery can age and your phone’s processing power can age, guess what else can lose its power over time? After a while, your mic may stop working. Your mic’s capabilities can degrade over time. If that happens, there’s not a lot you can do in terms of repairing a phone mic. Take it as a sign that you’ll need to upgrade your phone.

• Apps Crash or Don’t Load — While Apple doesn’t officially give specs for how much RAM is on their older or latest iPhones, it’s easy to figure out with tools and available data. The first iPhone only had about 128MB, while today’s iPhone 13 has about 4GB. RAM is crucial for the short-term memory of the phone, which runs and manages any apps on your phone. If your apps are crashing or don’t load at all, it’s a sign that your phone’s RAM is almost full. If you plan on taking a lot of photos or downloading more apps, you’ll want a phone with as much RAM space as possible.

• Your Phone Heats Up — It’s one thing if a phone heats up just a little periodically. It’s another if your phone is hot to the touch and you see it happening more and more frequently. A phone that heats up that much is a sign that your phone’s hardware is aging. When this happens, your phone could overheat and potentially explode. Don’t risk it. Get a new phone.

• You Can’t Upgrade to the Latest Operating System — According to Apple, there is such a thing as a vintage iPhone. There will come a time when your phone is too outdated to upgrade to the latest operating system. When that happens, you’ll need to get with the times and upgrade your phone.

• You’ve Tried All the DIY Fixes — “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” as they say. So, you’ve tried all the different DIY fixes and phone hacks. You’ve tried to repair the cracked screen. You can’t quite figure out why your phone keeps overheating. The battery simply doesn’t charge anymore, and there’s no hack for that. Once you’ve tried all the DIY fixes or you’ve brought it to the phone repair shop. And even they can’t fix it, it’s time to get a new phone.

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