We all love our smartphone devices for all the things they can do—simultaneously, even, for high-end rigs. But as time goes by, even what once was the most expensive and fastest device can easily be forgotten as newer and more capable devices come along to contend it.

In the end, you end up with a device that no longer feels new and one that looks dated in terms of hardware and software specifications. In other words, it becomes an object to be set aside in favor of an overall better model.

While the idea of constant innovation is good for the market for multifaceted reasons apart from just profit, this fast dynamic may not necessarily be just a simple case of spending towards the average consumers.

But if you are frugal enough to know that switching phones every 6 months is not economical—especially to the tight in budget—an issue of datedness does not overweigh the usefulness of the device in what in can do.

You understand that there is more to a “smart” gadget apart from just its fast processing speed, larger memory capacity, bigger storage, and unique features for it to be made obsolete as fast.

Call it a means of being frugal or being resourceful, but even your old and sluggard smartphone can still be used, for all intents and purposes, as a dedicated device just to live up to its cost of acquisition and perceived usefulness.

Knowing a smartphone device, there are literally many choices on how you could use it apart from being a multi-tasking piece of technology to do your bidding.

For example, with a bit of creativity, you can easily make use of your aging device as DIY Google Home contraption just knowing how to connect it to a speaker or otherwise use it as a dedicated time lapse camera to do 24/7 monitoring of your place meant for your protection.

But if you are a die-hard music lover or an avid audiophile who likes good music, your good old smartphone can also be set up to be a dedicated music player, similar to the now seemingly ancient MP3 player or Apple iPod and all their variants.

Make It Offline

In case you have been so used to the idea of streaming music which costs you paid data and is inaccessible to songs without live internet connectivity, the traditional music player we had known were mostly played offline.

While there is indeed a convenience about music streaming as opposed to the traditional method of playing music offline as boiled down in data storage consumption, today’s external storage devices like a micro-SD card are relatively cheaper and bigger than they were back in the time when digital music player is gaining popularity in the market.

If you are thinking of using a rather archaic smart device for this purpose, your best bet is that it is only capable of supporting 32GBf external storage which, even in today’s standards, is relatively huge as a container for music files which averages in Mb-size.

Already got an aged phone of your choice which packs an impeccable speaker or at least a decent one for music in addition to an external file storage such as a micro-SD Card?

If yes, then you are already set.

Make a Fresh Start

What is a device labeled “smart” without its apps? Chances are, even the earlier versions of Android, lived up to the idea of this regard.

But if you are turning a smart, multi-tasking handset into a dedicated music player, these inessential clever applications must go to give way to just a single app intended with the purpose.

Although you can go the longer route as having to manually uninstall all those apps, you can just instead make a fresh start by reformatting your phone via a Factory Data Reset.

Install an Up-to-Date Music App

After doing a Factory Data Reset, your smartphone should still have a dated version of a particular music player installed in it. However, you would at least want to be updated about it or, better yet — install your new favorite software to play your music files.

You can either choose an app which lets you stream music while online (like Spotify) or choose one which is meant solely for offline use. The choice is basically up to you.

Boost Up the Storage

Even though your smartphone has enough storage to contain music files inside it, you may want to consider expanding such storage by resorting to an external medium.

If you are not confident enough that your old device is capable of handling a storage that is higher than 32GB, then choose a 32GB micro-SD card.

But if your preferred device is not yet that “old,” you can choose to be extravagant as to use a whopping 128GB micro-card for your dedicated music player.

That’s it. If you have any questions, let us know in the comments below and we’ll help you out.

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  1. Hi. I am not a IT person at all, so…..how can I do the factory reset if I can’t get beyond the ‘select language’ & ‘type in password’ after which my old phone says ‘the activation server cannot be reached’. It then suggests I connect to iTunes to activate it……err,how can I do that when I can’t get beyond the password.