If your Android is starting to lag so badly you’re tempted to throw it against a wall, hold off on spending hundreds of dollars on a new one. Let’s be brutally honest: your phone isn’t dying, it’s just suffocating under all the digital junk you’ve been hoarding.

Those constant freezes and apps that take forever to open aren’t a death sentence. Your phone is just bogged down by all the apps you never use, the countless old files you’ve forgotten, and all the mystery processes draining your battery in the background. And while you’re at it, you should probably just wipe down the physical phone itself-it’s almost certainly gross.

So, don’t give up on it yet. A few simple fixes are all it takes to clear out the clutter, boost its speed, and make your phone feel a whole lot less ancient.

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For more, check out our Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy S25 Plus reviews.

Delete all of your forgotten apps

Take a few minutes to go through your home screen or app drawer and delete any and all apps you no longer use. Not only do those apps take up precious storage, but they also potentially have access to the personal information or permissions you approved when the app was first launched. 

How you go about deleting an app can vary based on who makes your device, but I covered all the bases in this post. Give it a read if you don’t see an uninstall option after long-pressing on the app’s icon. 

Eliminate old files to free up storage

After removing any old apps, free up more storage by going through the files saved on your Android phone. It’s far too easy to forget about all of the files you’ve randomly downloaded — like the takeout menu of the new place down the road or a GIF a friend sent. And those files add up. The quickest and easiest way to manage your phone’s storage is to use the Files app that comes preinstalled. 

Actually, some phones use a variation of that same app. On Samsung, for example, it’s called My Files. On the Pixel lineup, it’s just Files. On the OnePlus 10 Pro, it’s File Manager — you get the point. 

I recommend opening the app drawer on your phone and reaching for «files.» Odds are that will reveal whatever your phone-maker calls the app. 

Start with checking the Downloads folder, where you can either delete the files you no longer want or move them somewhere like Google Drive.

Most file apps will also reveal any large files that are saved on your device. For instance, the OnePlus 10 Pro’s File Manager app has a dedicated section in the app for files that are taking up a lot of space.

Tweak home screen settings for a new look

One of the best parts of Android is how much you can customize the entire look of your phone. From installing app icon packs to completely replacing the launcher your phone uses, there are plenty of options to personalize your phone. 

While you can definitely jump into tweaking launchers and installing app icons, start by digging into the home screen settings your phone already provides. I do this once in a while, and it’s surprising how subtle tweaks to aspects like app layout can make it feel like an entirely new phone. 

Long-press on a blank area of your home screen, then select Home settings (or some variation of that). That will open the options for your home screen, where you can customize various settings. 

Settings like the size of the app grid. It may seem like a small change to go from a grid of 4×5 apps to 5×5, but that extra column can make a big difference (the same can be said about shrinking the grid). 

This is also where you’ll find settings for things like swiping down on the home screen to view notifications instead of having to swipe from the top of the screen. 

Go through the respective settings your phone has and experiment with your home screen setup. 

Optimize your device settings

Speaking of settings, now is a good time to go through and change any settings that have been annoying you. I have a roundup of settings you’ll want to change and customize on any Android phone to get the most out of it. 

For example, turning on dark mode not only makes the app look better, but it also saves battery life. And yes, I even show you how to stop app icons from automatically appearing on your home screen. 

Customize your privacy options

Before you take a break, do yourself and your Android phone one last favor — double-check your privacy settings.

Open the Settings app then tap Privacy > Permissions Manager. Go through each category to see which apps currently have access to which treasure trove of your personal data. Find an app you don’t want to have access to your location? Turn it off. The same goes for contacts, calendar or camera. 

It doesn’t take long to go through each section, and even if it did, it’s well worth the effort. 

Game of Thrones was a cultural phenomenon in its prime, and it still seems to generate plenty of interest. That’s why, six years after the show ended, Chinese phone-maker Realme has collaborated with Warner Bros. Discovery to give us a phone that appears to have come straight out of Westeros. Instead of just adding a theme to the UI or a couple of design changes, the two companies have transformed a midrange smartphone into a unique collector’s piece.

An unboxing experience like no other

Unlike modern smartphones, the Realme 15 Pro Game of Thrones Limited Edition screams premium (and royal) from its packaging. It’s filled with Easter eggs from the show. You get a walnut wood-textured gift box with metallic edges, which features eye-catching design elements like the sigils of all nine houses of Westeros and a GOT metal nameplate.

I was already amazed with the packaging, but wasn’t ready for what was to come.

Opening the box reveals a stunning 3D Iron Throne, designed to hold the phone. Once you look past that over-the-top craftsmanship, you’re led to an inlaid map of Westeros with introductions to Houses Stark and Targaryen. It evokes the grandeur and drama that GOT fans would expect.

Lifting the right side of this flatly laid box reveals the phone, while the left side houses customized accessories and more Easter eggs, including a UV-treated letter whose text is only visible when exposed to sunlight. And that’s not even the best part.

My favorite is the customized SIM-ejector tool, which is inspired by Tyrion Lannister and styled to look like the King’s Hand pin. Other phone accessories include a case, an 80-watt charger and a USB-A to USB-C cable. Plus, there are a few stickers and four postcards with portraits of Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, Arya Stark and Tyrion Lannister.

This is the perfect mix of artistry and innovation

The Realme 15 Pro Game of Thrones Limited Edition features some striking visual elements. It has Westeros house sigils engraved under the glass housing of the now-extended camera module, with dragon claws digging into the two bottom corners.

Each camera lens sports a gold accent ring with different engravings. The main lens is engraved with House Stark’s iconic «Winter is Coming,» while the chroma sensor ring below features House Lannister’s «Hear Me Roar.» Moving toward the bottom of the camera module, you’ll find another elegant «Fire and Blood» engraving. 

Too much text can sometimes lessen the charm of a design, but not on this phone. The black-and-gold themed camera island has so many details and, surprisingly, none of them grabs attention from the other.

The Realme 15 Pro Game of Thrones Limited Edition also features a 3D-engraved House Targaryen sigil on its lower back. Its gold accent offers a stunning contrast to the rest of the back’s black color, and is only accentuated by the matte finish on the gold side frame. Every time I pick this phone up, I pause and look at it for a bit. You can admire this design all day long.

As if that wasn’t enough, Realme made a color-changing back panel. Its black leather transforms into a vivid red color when exposed to temperatures of 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) or higher. As it cools, the panel returns to its original black. It’s super cool to see the color-changing effect in action. The phone is IP68 and IP69 rated, so you don’t need to worry about water getting through.

This immersive experience continues as you switch on and set up the phone. Realme’s GOT-themed design language extends to its UI, including a Targaryen house sigil on the fingerprint unlock, two unique camera filters (Northland and Kingdom), custom icons and Light and Fire-themed live wallpapers.

As for the specifications, it’s identical to the regular Realme 15 Pro. So, you get a 6.8-inch AMOLED screen with support for a 144Hz refresh rate. It’s easily legible outdoors.

The new Realme phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chipset, paired with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. It packs a 7,000 mAh battery with support for 80-watt fast charging, which is rated to charge the phone from 20% to 100% within an hour. 

Despite the big battery and screen size, this special edition Realme phone weighs under 200 grams. It might not seem like a huge deal on paper, but it’s one of the most comfortable-to-use big phones, in my experience. It’s also slimmer than many mainstream flagship phones. For context, it measures 7.84mm, which is less than the iPhone 17 (7.95mm) and Google Pixel 10 (8.6mm). Doing this with a hint of luxury makes it an excellent value proposition.

The Realme 15 Pro Game of Thrones Limited Edition is a spectacular mix of artistry, innovation, drama and grandeur. It sports the right amount of extravagance and practicality to be a collector’s item as well as a day-to-day phone.

Realme is only making 5,000 units of this special-edition device, and it’s now available to purchase in India, though it’s currently out of stock. The Realme 15 Pro Game of Thrones Limited Edition doesn’t get a huge price bump over the regular model. It remains attainable at 44,999 rupees (approximately $510), which is a great price when you account for all the unique extras. 

After breathing a deep sigh, I feel better — don’t you? It’s relaxing. And it turns out there’s a good reason why we feel relief after big breaths. It comes down to a special fluid inside our lungs. The liquid — pulmonary surfactant — helps our lungs work. Without it, we’d be in serious trouble. But researchers at ETH Zurich, a university in Switzerland, found that deep breaths have an interesting effect on how this fluid interacts with the lungs. The new research was published in the journal Science Advances and could have meaningful implications for future medicine and therapies. 

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‘Magic’ lung fluid to the rescue 

For a long time, scientists have been interested in how this fluid helps us breathe. In the 1980s, research into this area resulted in a life-saving treatment for babies born prematurely with underdeveloped lungs. 

By extracting fluid from animal lungs and injecting it into those of premature infants, doctors were able to reduce respiratory distress syndrome from developing right after birth. The fluid reduces surface stress in the lungs.

«This surface stress influences how compliant the lungs are,» said ETH Zurich professor Jan Vermant. «The more compliant the lungs are, the less resistance there is to expansion and contraction — and the easier it is to breathe.»

Breathing deep to ease tension

The research team wanted to see how lung fluid behaved when it was stretched and recompressed, so they simulated the movements of normal and deep breaths in the lab. 

They measured the fluid’s surface stress in each case and compared the data. The researchers found that surface stress decreases significantly after a deep breath. 

The utmost layer of the thin film that the fluid leaves on a lung settles and hardens over time. 

«Directly at the boundary with the air, there is a slightly stiffer surface layer,» said Maria Novaes-Silva, a doctoral student in Vermant’s research group and the study’s first author. She said that the pronounced stretching and compression of the pulmonary fluid that comes with a deep sigh actually rearranges the surface layer’s composition.

So, after you let out a deep breath, it becomes easier for you to breathe. That’s why we feel a sense of relief from a deep sigh. 

An ETH Zurich spokesperson said that clinical practice has also found that breathing becomes increasingly complex with constant shallow breaths. So, the lab measurements seem to follow real-world observations. 

The researchers theorize that this study may contribute to a better understanding of adult lung failure.