Thoughts on how to reuse old phones?

[Hassan170]

I have some old phones that I would like to reuse instead of letting them dust to death or disposing them.
Before you ask, giving them to relatives isn't really feasible as it would just be a downgrade for almost all of them (glares in jealousy)
Not to mention most of these phones are laughably old or in bad condition so there's that as well.
I'm going to describe the phones, their respective conditions and what could possibly be done with them though feel free to give your suggestions on what I should/could do with them.

Do keep in mind that I'm on a very tight budget and I'm very hesitant to spend money on these phones unless it's abosu-fukin-lutely worth the investment.

 

FYI, I'm on a Samsung Galaxy A50 so I can't really "upgrade".
Additionally, as of now, I'm not really in the need of a secondary phone though maybe I could put a sim with unlimited data into one of these and use them as mobile hotspots?

Is there a ROM that focuses on cutting down background processes so that I can maximize the bandwidth/antennas for hotspot use?

Though this isn't really useful considering I'm not going anywhere in this lockdown to need a hotspot in the first place but hey its best to be prepared I s'pose.

 

Or maybe i can salvage the parts and use them to make some other stuff? Your suggestions would be very much appreciated.

 

Again as I'm a beginner to modding, custom ROMs, rooting and whatnot, I would definitely like some advice as this also gives me the oppurtunities to safely get into modding without the risk of damaging/bricking/f**king up my phone. Hence, your suggestions are welcome with open arms.

 

1. Samsung Galaxy A70 (2018)
Condition: Dead screen 

 

Description: AFAIK the rest of the phone works fine just the screen has committed not living. This was mainly due to a shoddy screen replacement by an even shoddier repair shop (dude literally couldn't be arsed to glue the screen back fucking taped it) the reason was that the phone being out of warranty and the screen replacement from Samsung official was ~$USD 80 whereas Mr Shoddy did it for ~$USD 25 and threw in an admittedly decent case as well. (Just so we're clear this wasn't my decision my dad wouldn't listen). I'm willing to do it myself (would be a good experience for me) but the screen costs about ~$90 so yeah. Not really willing to fix a phone when for twice the price I could just get a new one that is far more superior.

 

Use cases: Can't really think of any. Maybe a Pendrive? mini computer? Can the micro USB connector even output to a display? Would really like some advice on this one.

 

2. Nokia 1 
Condition: Working as normal

 

Description: Ah yes this ******** aka my first smartphone. I have no intention of giving this to anyone simply because I'm not sadistic enough nor do I know anyone masochistic enough to take it. It runs on Android 10 (Go edition) and has a mere pittance of 1GB RAM and 8GBs of Storage (oh god the flashbacks, it's all coming back to me. no pls no). needless to say, a 5 dollar USB stick has more storage and perhaps more performance as well. Battery life is non-existent and so is its ergonomics. True to Nokia's design philosophy this mf will not fucking die. The number of times I have dropped it and it just took it like a tank is amazing.  _{if you're wondering how much I paid for this it was a whopping ~USD 40 used. A damn good deal for someone who had been stuck on feature phones until then.}

 

Use case: Security cam? there's an app on Google Play called Alfred (good name) that's made for this purpose and I'm gonna try it out. Maybe Install DroidCam and turn it into a webcam (albeit a crappy one though laptop webcams can't really speak for themselves) Video Doorbell? Could use some suggestions here as well.

 

3. Samsung Galaxy Note Edge
Condition: Working (installed new battery)

 

Description: Ooooooh boy time to travel back to 2014 the era of the unfathomable abomination that is the curved screen. This one I just got recently from my uncle [begin rant] who also has an S10+ in a cupboard but won't give it to me because it has his data on it. When I offered to transfer the data to his S21+ Ultra max storage variant he said "later" which = never [end rant]. It still has its S pen that doesn't work with any other phone or the clicky top that other S pens do. Not really sure what to do with this one. It's running Android 6.0/Marshmallow. 

 

Use Case: Since it's so old maybe I can use this as a testing/learning ground for flashing ROMs. <--This could also apply to the others.

Drawing ....surface? (cant really call it a tablet now can I?) Again would like to hear your suggestions.

 

Last but not least 

 

4. Huawei Nova 3i

Condition: Screen is halfway out

 

Description: This was my dad's old phone and during his time using it, he had the bright idea of putting his phone in his back pocket and sitting on it. For 3-4 years, Every, Single, Day. One day he drops it and is surprised to find the phones screen halfway tryna make a run for it. So yea basically the phone's screen is halfway out and the buttons (both volume and lock) are f**ked and the screen has dead zones and other touchscreen related issues. 

 

Use Case: I cant think of much either. Maybe I can disassemble that finger print reader and somehow connect it to my laptop to make windows hello/finger print login possible? Probably not possible with the A70 since its reader is on the side, maybe the Note Edge? Though I would assume its fingerprint tech is inferior to the Huawei's due to the age gap.

 

So to list out some of the universal use cases I can think of are:

a) Put a sim with unlimited data and if possible flash a custom ROM that limits background/network processes/activity so that the phone's antennas can be maximized for hotspot usage.

b) Disassemble and salvage parts like cameras, batteries and whatever can be reused. Perhaps can DIY them into something else? I'm not exactly sure

c) Turn them into Security cams, I know there's an app called Alfred on Google Play that I will try out and see if and how well it works.

d) Turn them into smart storage units? I'm thinking since some of them have large storage capacities maybe turn them into External storage units? Maybe flash a Barebones/lightweight ROM with an adequate file explorer and job done?

 

That about sums it up for the phones if you have any question regarding details feel free to @ me and I'll try to answer asap. Again I'm open to any ideas you all may have.

 

[Ya_Mi]

You can either salvage the part for DIY purpose or use it to mine crypto or..use passive income apps like Honey Gain or something..i know its prolly not worth it but..that's just my opinion.

[Hassan170]

22 minutes ago, Ya_Mi said:

You can either salvage the part for DIY purpose

Yeah but exactly what could i make? not to mention i don't really have anything in the way of tools and im not the best at DIY in the first place.

 

22 minutes ago, Ya_Mi said:

 use it to mine crypto 

You can mine crypto on phones? How?

22 minutes ago, Ya_Mi said:

 passive income apps like Honey Gain or something

I'm already using Honey Gain I already got like 13k credits and i think i got this in Jan or Feb of this year. On top of which only 2 devices with HG is allowed per network other wise HG will stop generating on ALL devices. I already have it installed on my moms and my phones. My aunt next door also has it (my account btw). Are there any alternatives to Honey Gain that have idk better value or don't take so damn long? 

[Helpful Tech Witch]

You can use them for the cameras if they have them, there's software like ipcamera, some alternative for security cameras

[Hassan170]

2 minutes ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

You can use them for the cameras if they have them, there's software like ipcamera, some alternative for security cameras

so ipcamera and any others?

 

[Helpful Tech Witch]

1 minute ago, Hassan170 said:

so ipcamera and any others?

 

Yeah, ipcamera could be for a desktop webcam, there's a bunch of options for security camera

[Hassan170]

1 minute ago, HelpfulTechWizard said:

Yeah, ipcamera could be for a desktop webcam, there's a bunch of options for security camera

oh ok so ipcamera is for webcams, alright. Do you have any suggestions for Security cams?

 

[Alvin853]

3 minutes ago, Hassan170 said:

so ipcamera and any others?

 

There's webcam software like droidcam (only works locally, not really useful for security camera).

 

The ones with working screens could be turned into some sort of smart display that shows time/weather or controls your smart home devices if you have any

[Hassan170]

2 minutes ago, Alvin853 said:

There's webcam software like droidcam (only works locally, not really useful for security camera).

I'm already aware of DroidCam having used it a bit.

2 minutes ago, Alvin853 said:

The ones with working screens could be turned into some sort of smart display that shows time/weather or controls your smart home devices if you have any

Hmmmmm. That's actually not a bad idea i wouldn't mind a smart display. I don't have any kind of smarthome gadgets so there isn't a need for that. Any idea on how to get that working?

[Ya_Mi]

18 minutes ago, Hassan170 said:

Yeah but exactly what could i make? not to mention i don't really have anything in the way of tools and im not the best at DIY in the first place.

Your best bet prolly security camera

 

18 minutes ago, Hassan170 said:

You can mine crypto on phones? How?

Yeah Google it, although its not really wroth it tbh

 

18 minutes ago, Hassan170 said:

Are there any alternatives to Honey Gain that have idk better value or don't take so damn long? 

Maybe there is, i don't really know but i doubt it will be that much of a difference.

[Hassan170]

1 minute ago, Ya_Mi said:

Your best bet prolly security camera

 

Yeah Google it, although its not really wroth it tbh

 

Maybe there is, i don't really know but i doubt it will be that much of a difference.

thanks mate will do

[Alvin853]

23 minutes ago, Hassan170 said:

Hmmmmm. That's actually not a bad idea i wouldn't mind a smart display. I don't have any kind of smarthome gadgets so there isn't a need for that. Any idea on how to get that working?

I think the Google Assistant has some sort of fullscreen display mode, at least it was planned at some point, not sure if they ever released it. 

 

Some weather apps have a special mode for always on display, or you could just put some widgets on your homescreen and have that showing all the time.

There are probably other options too, depends on what you want to display, maybe calendar, new mails or whatever.

[RedDeath_]

I would check out XDA forums to see if there are rooting options for each one of your phones. You can usually find ROMs such as Lineage OS with full root access that really let you customize your phone and also sometimes decide which package of Google Apps (OpenGapps) you want depending on your needs. Selecting a more basic package can almost cut down all "extra" background processes on your phone.

[Hassan170]

2 hours ago, RedDeath_ said:

I would check out XDA forums to see if there are rooting options for each one of your phones. You can usually find ROMs such as Lineage OS with full root access that really let you customize your phone and also sometimes decide which package of Google Apps (OpenGapps) you want depending on your needs. Selecting a more basic package can almost cut down all "extra" background processes on your phone.

Interesting.... i actually want to really get into this since i  plan on buying a Xiaomi phone in the future and knowing how to flash ROMs would be very useful. I think i will do that with either the Nokia or the Note or both really. Thanks i'll see what i can find