How [NOT] to Destroy Your Smartphone

Don't Try This at Home

Breaking mobile phones seems to be a popular pastime, even if it is accidental in most cases. According to industry estimates, Americans spend over $4 billion annually on repair and replacement of broken phones. Popular YouTube celebrities draw millions of viewers by creatively destroying brand-new phones - usually iPhones, for some reason. Check out these videos if you've ever wondered what happens when you drop an iPhone into a river of red-hot lava, or attack it with a 4.5mm airgun.

No volcanos handy? You could hop a plane to Hawaii, but there are easier ways to fold, spindle or mutilate your expensive smartphone. Here are ten tongue-in-cheek suggestions for breaking your phone, all of which you'll want to avoid.

#1 - Drop your phone on a hard surface. Manufacturers love to brag that phones can survive falls of up to ten feet onto a concrete floor. What they don’t mention is how precisely those phones are oriented before they’re dropped, to avoid landing on their most vulnerable points. In real life, a phone that lands on its glass face is very likely to shatter its display, resulting in a repair bill of $200 or more. Soft silicone cases not only cushion falls, they provide a non-slip grip that makes dropping a phone less likely.

I use and recommend Spigen Phone Cases because they fit perfectly, look good, and are very reasonably priced, from $12 to $16. For extra protection, I add a Supershieldz screen protector to prevent scratching and nicks.

#2 - Get your phone wet. In a Geekly Update segment, I mentioned the sailor who dropped his iPhone X into the ocean, and it was still working after being submerged for 6 days. Chances are you won't be so lucky - you don’t need a large body of liquid to short-circuit the electronics in your phone. Just leave it on a countertop at a bar, cafe, or restaurant and eventually something will spill and seep into the phone. At the beach or swimming pool, set the phone down close to the water so you can hear your favorite tunes clearly. Or take it for a chlorinated swim, like I did. Another favorite way to drown a phone is to let it slip out of your back pocket into a toilet.

If your phone does get dunked, don’t break out the white rice! See my article Oops, I dropped My Phone AGAIN for tips on how to rescue a wet phone.

Speaking of the back pocket, that leads us to our third most popular way to break a phone.

#3 - Sit on it. Bending iPhones or Android phones can cause them to cease functioning and even shatter. This astounding discovery took the tech world by surprise with the release of the iPhone 6 Plus in 2014, generating dozens of test videos and heated debates about whether or not a phone should break when a 200-pound-plus person sits on it. Well yes, it should, because it isn’t a paperback book, wallet, or a two-by-four. The newer iPhone 11/12 and Samsung Galaxy S21 models seem to fare much better in bend testing, but why take that risk? If you have a low-end, less expensive model, it probably won’t have the tough construction of these flagship phones.

Another caution about putting your phone in your pocket has nothing to do with physics. I was told by a Verizon store owner that phones are most easily stolen when stored in the back pocket. In a crowd, a skilled thief can relieve you of your phone long before you notice that it went missing.

#4 - Cook it or Freeze it. Phones and other electronic devices don’t like excessive heat; see my article, Do You Know Your Computer’s Worst Enemy?. When overheated for prolonged periods, RAM will start dropping bits, disk drives will develop bad sectors, transistors and resistors will burn out, and the phone will “just stop working.” And by “cooking” I don’t mean putting your precious in the microwave. Most phones are rated to stand up to 113 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature easily exceeded on a car’s dashboard on a sunny day. Even leaving a phone on a window sill in an air-conditioned room can lead to overheating due to the phone’s absorption of radiant energy. Freezing a phone to death is a bit harder; most are rated down to -4 F.

Both Apple and Samsung recommend keeping your phone between 32 to 95 degrees F during usage. Apple warns that lower or higher temperatures "might cause the device to change its behavior" and might temporarily or permanently shorten battery life.

#5 - Leave it on always. If you don’t sleep, you get confused, slow down, and eventually stop working; the same goes for your phone. Constant background operations muddy memory, wear out hardware, and lead to early failure. Turn the phone off at night (you’ll sleep better!) or at least reboot it once a week.

#6 - Cram it full of stuff. Photos, videos, messages, contacts, and apps take up storage space. The more crowded storage becomes, the harder the phone has to work to keep things organized and retrieve what’s needed at a given moment. I've also found that having a boatload of saved text messages can really slow or even freeze my phone. If 90% or more of your storage is full, it’s time to clean house. Move files and photos to offline or cloud storage, uninstall unused apps, and delete old text messages.

#7 - Don’t update anything. A phone that’s running an outdated operating system or apps is operating inefficiently, even dangerously. Updates and patches improve performance (if they’re done right) by eliminating bugs and fine-tuning operating processes. Keeping your phone’s software and apps up to date will make it less likely to crash, and more secure as well.

#8 - Install sketchy apps. Almost all mobile malware sneaks in as a result of using third-party app stores. If you jailbreak your iPhone, or change the settings on your Android phone to allow installation of apps from unknown sources, you're open to a world of hurt. Always use the official iPhone or Google Play app store for your phone, and even then, install only trusted apps with lots of good reviews.

#9 - Use the cheapest charger you can find. A two-buck no-name charger from China is not just as good as a $20-$30 OEM charger. Dirt-cheap chargers often omit feedback circuitry that prevents overcharging of a phone’s battery, and that is how smartphones burn down houses. I recently bought a cheap wireless charger for my Samsung Galaxy, and set it down to charge overnight. The next morning, the phone was super-hot, and had charged only 20 percent. Cheaper is not better when it comes to connecting phones to other devices, either. I explained some of the flaws and telltale signs of a dangerously cheap USB-C cable in my article, Don't Buy the Wrong USB-C Cable.

Speaking of wireless chargers, I highly recommend them if your phone has wireless charging capability. I’ve had several phones with broken charging ports, which can result from inserting the charging cable over and over.

#10 - Never clean the phone. Dust, crumbs, and gunk will get between the phone and that silicone case, and into the ports on the phone. If you ignore this ick, it will eventually clog electrical contact points and your phone will stop working. Remove the case and wipe it clean with a soft cloth and water (not alcohol or soap) every now and then, and especially after a camping trip or other time spent in the great, filthy outdoors. Clean ports as gently and carefully as you would clean your ears; a soft-bristle toothbrush swept lightly over the outer rim of a port is often enough.

Have you tried any of these handy tips for ruining your mobile phone? How did they work? Your thoughts on this topic are welcome. Post your comment or question below…