Thinking of trading your existing phone in when you upgrade your phone in order to get the most monetary value out of your transaction as well as to reduce the amount of technological waste produced in the environment?

You are off to a good start.

Yet, before you trade your existing phone in, you would have to back your existing phone data up lest you lose them forever.

We explore how to back your iPhone or Samsung Android before you sell or trade your phone in, to ensure maximum security and to save you a lot of hassle in keying in important data manually in your upgraded phone.

Use an iCloud Backup When You Have An iPhone

To store your existing phone data such as your photos, videos, settings and layout, sign into iCloud and enjoy 5GB of free storage. If you have more phone data, upgrade to a paid plan and enjoy 50GB, 200GB or 2TB of iCloud storage. Should you upgrade from a paid plan to another, Apple would cancel your previous (or existing plan) and charge based on the pro-rated fee of your newer storage plan.

Simply connect your device to a safe Wi-Fi network at bay, go to Settings > [your name], and tap iCloud and click onto the iCloud Backup button. Ensure that your iCloud Backup is always turned on when you are in the process of backing your data up. Check if your Wi-Fi connection is constant during the process to avoid any accidental data loss.

To monitor your backup progress and ascertain that your backup is complete, again refer to Settings > [your name] > iCloud > iCloud Backup. You can access the time and date of your most recent backup under “Back Up Now”. Go through this same process to keep your backed-up content updated and to ensure that no data gets lost due to technical or Internet glitches.

Manually Back Your iPhone Up With iTunes

If you have an iPhone, you can explore iTunes as an option to back up as much data as you wish for free and store everything on your phone that you wish to store. That being said, you must conduct manual backups by yourself. Firstly, click onto your iTunes application in your computer before linking your iPhone to your computer. Tap “Trust” or “Allow” upon seeing a message asking if you wish to “Trust This Computer/Laptop”. Choose your iPhone once it features on the sidebar of iTunes. Click “Back Up Now”.

Use Samsung Cloud When You Have A Samsung Phone

A counterpart to iCloud for Samsung phone users, Samsung Cloud can store all your phone data like phone logs, messages, videos and photos. In order to use Samsung Cloud, you should have a Samsung account for your phone.

Samsung Cloud can automatically store and back up your phone data. You have the option to manually back your phone data up in “Settings”. In the case of automatic backups, your phone apps will be backed up once a day when your phone is being charged and connected to Wi-Fi. Your screen must be turned off for an hour before the backup happens. For example, when you are inactive on your phone for extended periods of time (during work hours), your phone could undergo an automatic back up.

All you would have to do (if you have a Samsung account) is to click on Settings > Cloud and accounts > Samsung Cloud > Back up my data. Alternatively, click on Settings > Cloud and accounts or Account > Backup and reset > Back up my data

Then, turn on each item you want to back up in the Settings menu and tap "Back up now".

In order to upgrade your Samsung device storage, go to Settings > Cloud and accounts >  Samsung Cloud > Manage cloud storage > Change storage plan.

Use Your Google Account

If you do not have a Samsung account, but have a Google Account instead, consider using the latter as a platform to store all your phone data. Sign into your Google Account (if you have not done so already) on your phone. Once you are logged into your Google account, Google would back up your phone data, such as your phone display preferences, passwords, Wi-Fi networks and even your Android settings details, automatically. Google Photos would also back your existing photos and videos up. To ascertain that Google is indeed backing your phone data up, head towards “Settings” and click the search engine bar at the top. Look for "Back Up" and select the first choice that shows up -- this first choice would differ based on the type of Android phone you have.

Should your phone display "Back up to Google Drive" at the top of the screen, ensure that it is already toggled on. Otherwise, when your phone displays "Automatic restore" and “Back up my data", double-check to ensure that both are toggled on.

One benefit of using a Google account to save your phone data is that regardless of whether you have an iPhone or an Android, Google would seamlessly sync across for you and offer you free unlimited storage.

Back Your Phone Up To Safeguard Yourself And Your Data

Be prudent in backing your phone data up before you sell or trade it in. Disconnect and sign out from any online platforms and services such as Dropbox and Google once you are about to part with your preloved device. Be sure to remove your SIM card before you hand over your phone to the buyer.

The best bet to protect your data security is to trade your phone in or to sell it to reliable phone marketplaces such as Reebelo. At Reebelo, we work with the Singapore Police Force and established buyback providers to ensure that you do not compromise on your data security while you sell your phone to us as the most competitive price in the market. We aim to provide a safe and seamless experience for all our customers. Hurry up before your phone depreciates further in value and sell it!