Does Your Smartphone Need Replacing Or Refreshing?

A slow smartphone is no fun at all. Don't be mistaken by the name; smartphones are handheld computers with a very small phone radio built in as one of many features, and if you want to make the most of your investment, you'll use the apps to your advantage. If your smartphone seems to be slow to respond with any functions--whether it's an app or the calling functions--consider a few possible causes before turning it in for a replacement or possible upgrade.

The Engineering Behind Smartphone Performance

Just like desktop and laptop computers, smartphones have a few resources that are vital to apps and easily counted once you know the right measurements.

The key components for app performance are the central processing unit (CPU or processor) and random access memory (RAM). The processor is sort of like the brain of the computer, as it performs all of the calculations whenever you open an app, make a call, or even tap on an icon and expect a response. It is measured in Gigahertz (GHz) for now, with most processors being 1-2GHz with 2-4 cores.

Memory is like a quick access storage. Your smartphone's built-in storage is much like a hard drive in that it keeps all of your vital information and all of your personal files, but it takes time to search through all of those files to get the set of files you need. Memory is designed to do nothing store the most commonly-used files so that the processor can grab what it needs for processing.

A fast processor and plenty of memory is the gist of the performance argument. To dig just a little deeper, a processor can't be too fast, as smartphones are compact devices to fit in with industry style. There are far faster processors on the market, but processors can operate so fast that they start fires if proper cooling isn't available.

Processor cores are one way around the speed issue. Instead of adding faster GHz speeds, modern processors are actually multiple processors built into one chip. They're not physically different processors in one chip; an extremely fast processor is digitally divided into smaller virtual processors at lower speeds, and these processors share work with each other without getting overburdened.

Slow Performance Issues From Overburdened Parts

Apps need a specific amount of processor speed, memory, and sometimes other components to run properly. The most common and simple cause of slow smartphone performance is an app that demands too many resources.

"Too many" has multiple meanings. It could be a poorly-written program that constantly demands more resources than it needs, or a good program that encounters a mistake or a bug that causes it to either demand too much or refuse to release unused resources.

It could also mean that your smartphone is too old for the apps. When new smartphone generations come out in the constant race to be faster, sleeker, and cooler, many app developers move to take advantage of the new specifications. This is especially true with mobile games. If your phone is too far behind the new resource demands, it will either run too slowly or not run at all.

Contact a cell phone repair company, like Quick Fix Smartphone & Tablet Repair, to check out the performance problems in your device. The experts can figure out if your device needs to simply uninstall a few problems apps, clean up some files that clog up the memory, or if you need an upgrade.

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