Information and Communication technology has birthed many innovations, all contributing to ease and convenience in communicating across the globe.
One of the useful inventions of ICT is the burner phone.
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| Beauty of Burner Phones: Benefits and Usage | Guide: eAskme |
At the mention of the burner phone, questions arise as to:
- what it could be about?
- Is it like a mobile phone?
- What are the components of the phone?
- What is it used for?
This article will find out everything there is about a burner phone and its usefulness.
Description of a Burner Phone
Burner phone can be described in the following ways:
- It is a prepaid mobile device that is often purchased to use it for a short term purpose.
- It is a cheap mobile phone and can therefore be destroyed or discarded once the purpose of purchasing it has been fulfilled.
- It is like an analog mobile device that has no Internet connection but to make and receive calls as well as to send and receive texts
- Unlike a smartphone which can operate either with a cellular network or with a Wi-Fi connection, a burner phone is a mobile device that requires only a burner SIM to work; it does not work with a WI-FI connection.
- The burner sim helps the burner phone to perform its functions especially calling and texting. Without it, the burner phone may only be useful for only SOS or emergency calls.
Uses of Burner Phone
A burner phone, like every technology device, has its usefulness. A burner can be used for several purposes, which are described as follows:
Calling:
First, you can use a burner phone to make and receive calls.
Unlike smartphones, there is no such thing as data calls on a burner phone, meaning the is always a connection charge on any Voip, chat lines or toll-free number calls.
Load credit on the burner sim, which will then be used to make calls.
The sim provider deducts the credit at a specific rate according to the time spent on the call. On the other hand, you do not need to load credit to receive calls on a burner phone.
The caller needs to dial your burner phone number with a smartphone or another burner phone, and the caller will be charged for the call.
However, unlike smartphones, there is no such thing as conference calls on burner phones.
In other words, you cannot use a burner phone to call multiple people at the same time.
Messaging:
You can use a burner phone to send and receive messages. This function can be quite inconvenient given the size of the phone and the nature of the keypads.
That is why burner phones are mostly used for short texts.
Unlike smartphones, there is no such thing as data messages like WhatsApp Messenger and Facebook messenger on a burner phone.
Load credit on the burner sim, which will then be used to send texts.
The sim provider deducts the credit at a specific rate according to the length of the message.
On the other hand, you do not need to load credit to receive texts on a burner phone.
The other person needs to input your burner phone number as the recipient of his message either with a smartphone or with another burner phone and send the texts.
The sender, instead, will be charged for the text. It is possible to use a burner phone to send messages to more than one recipient at the same time.
Radio Freqeuncy:
You can use a burner phone to connect to a radio frequency.
The burner phone gives an edge over smartphones in this function because most smartphones require an antenna, e.g., an earphone, to connect to a radio frequency.
Burner phones need no such things to connect to a radio frequency.
All you need to do is open the radio app on the burner phone and search and connect to any radio frequency of your choice.
Then, in a cliché scenario, criminals use it to connect to news on the radio to get information about the police searching for them.
Light Browsing:
You can use a burner phone for light browsing on the Internet.
It is called light browsing because, given the screen size, memory capacity, and processor of the burner phone, there is only so much you can do on the Internet.
You may be able to access only a few sites like for example, log in to Facebook, make a Google search, and so on.
With a burner phone, you can do some light browsing either with data or with credit.
If it is data, you will need to load credit on the burner sim and then use it to purchase data from the sim network provider. It is that data you will then use to browse on the burner phone.
The data is deducted at a specific rate decided by the sim network provider depending on how much time you spend on the Internet browsing.
If you choose to browse with credit, you need to load credit on the burner sim and start browsing on the browser app.
The credit will be deducted at a specific rate decided by the network sim provider. This type of browsing may, however, be more expensive than data browsing.
Store Information:
You can use a burner phone to store information such as photos, videos, and recordings.
Some burner phones have attached 2mp or 3mp cameras which can take average quality pictures.
The cameras also have video recording functions that you can use to record live actions and store them on the phone for whatever purpose.
There is also an audio recording function on a burner phone which you can use to record your calls, interviews, secret information, and so on.
In cliché scenarios, undercover law enforcement agents use burner phones to record criminal activities, including admissions and confessions, because they are small and not easily detected.
Benefits of using a Burner Phone
Smartphones are the rave of the ICT world, given the limitless capacity and functions that they possess.
However, they cannot take away some advantages of using burner phones.
These advantages are described as follows:
Protect Identity and Privacy:
A burner phone helps you to protect your identity and privacy.
For example, you can register a burner sim and not link it to your identity such that whatever you do with the burner phone cannot be traced to you.
Efficient:
Burner phones allow you to be readily available and accessible.
This is possible because burner phones have excellent battery life and apps and functions that do not demand much energy from the battery.
In addition, they can be on standby for days which makes it possible for anyone to reach you on the burner line at any time.
Cheap Maintainance:
Burner phones are cheap to maintain.
Burner phones do not require you to load large sums of data to utilize the phone, unlike smartphones fully.
Just a little credit can make as many calls or texts as possible depending on the charges of the sim network provider.
Decongest:
Burner phones can help you decongest messages on your main phone.
This is very useful if you want to avoid spams from marketers and advertisers whose incessant disturbances can drain your smartphone's battery life.
Messages can be very demanding of memory space on your main phone, and the more they are, the less the phone has memory space to run its routine apps.
With a burner phone, you can switch out the number from your smartphone to the burner, which you can either silence or even put off while you focus on your daily routines on your main phone.
Extra Storage:
Burner creates extra storage for you to ease up the burden on your main phone.
You can store contacts, photos, videos, and recordings you don't want on your main phone on your burner phone.
However, most smartphones require enough memory space to perform well at a good speed.
As a result, you will need to clear out the memory space at certain points of usage.
This may create a dilemma, especially when you have files you do not want to dispense with yet.
Burner phones create an avenue for you to clear your main phone memory space for optimum function of the phone and at the same time not lose your files.
Conclusion
A Burner phone may be an obsolete ICT tool, but it serves some irredeemable functions that explain why it is still available for purchase in online stores, supermarkets, malls, etc.
Its practical functions include:
- Making and receiving calls.
- Sending and receiving texts.
- Light Internet browsing.
- Storing information.
Those who have a burner phone appreciate the practical benefits, including providing auxiliary storage, avoiding spam messages, being reachable all the time, and easily discarded since it is cheap.
Its only disadvantage may be in its limited abilities when compared to a smartphone.
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