We’ve all been there at one point or another. We’ve all watched our phone batteries die and never revive, our phones’ screens crack after they hit the pavement, and our phones get dunked in the bathtub water. Just imagining these things happening could aggravate our already frayed minds and bodies. How many hundreds of dollars do we need to repair these phones?

While there are a lot of Samsung phone repair centers in Layton and in any other areas, there are some common phone problems that you can fix on your own. Why pay a repair center hundreds of dollars if you can fix the problem yourself?

Protecting Your Phone

The first step in securing your smartphone is choosing the right one in the first place. Look for the IP rating of your phone. Called the International Protection Marking or Ingress Protection Marking, this rating marks how safe the device is from dust and water. The first number relates to the phone’s ability to resist dust particles. It ranges from 0 (completely vulnerable) to 6 (completely protected). Most phones will achieve a 5 rating.

The second digit explains how well your phone responds to possible damage caused by water and other liquids. The range is from 0 (vulnerable) to 9 (waterproof). The Samsung S9 has a rating of IP68 (can survive up to nearly five feet deep for up to 30 minutes).

Even if your phone doesn’t score a perfect rating of IP 69, you can still protect it by purchasing a case that covers the edges and corners of the device. You may also choose to put tempered glass over the screen to protect it from cracks and other kinds of screen damage.

Scratches and Cracks

If your phone screen suffers a major crack, use cling wrap to stop the damage from getting worse. It could be a temporary solution to hold the screen in place while you’re saving money to get a new one. You could install a new screen easily by following the instructions you see on YouTube, though that’s normally not advisable because smartphone screens are incredibly sensitive.

For minor scratches, you can use a combination of toothpaste, sandpaper, baking soda, and vegetable oil to remove minor problems. Just rub a small amount of toothpaste or oil or baking soda (make it into a paste first by mixing it with water) with a cotton bud to remove the scratch.

Lagging

If your phone is responding slowly, this is more of a software problem than a hardware one. First, close the apps that you are not using and make sure that they are not running on the background. Next, check if there are any data files as photos and music that you can delete from your storage space. You can also delete some apps that you don’t need. Make sure not to go over your data limit, too, because that can slow down your Internet connection.

Water

If you accidentally dropped your phone into a tub of water, don’t panic just yet. Turn it off and dry it with a face towel. Lay it on another dry towel and leave it for 48 hours. Do not try to dry it with a hair blower or any other device. That can damage the phone’s components. Allow the phone to dry as naturally as possible. While some may advise you to put the phone in a bag of rice, there is no proven record that it works.

But if your smartphone is experiencing problems that you cannot fix on your own, it’s time to bring it to a repair shop. If the phone is still under warranty, you can bring it to the dealership or your data provider to have it replaced. You may also want to buy an insurance policy for your phone so that you won’t have to worry about its repair and replacement.