Technologies

Tech Clutter Overload: New CNET Survey Shows 31% of US Adults Hang On to Old Devices

Despite incentives for selling and trading in tech devices, a large number of phones, computers and game consoles end up neglected and unused.

Whether you’re upgrading to the latest iPhone or Samsung Galaxy phone, or snagging a new ultralight laptop for work on the go, the joy of gaining that powerful technology comes with a small burden — what to do with your old smartphone or computer? For a large number of people, the answer is «nothing.»

A recent CNET survey reveals that over three in 10 (31%) US adults hang onto old devices, because they aren’t sure what to do with smartphones, video game consoles, laptops and other tech accessories they no longer use. Nearly one in five (19%) US adults throw away these devices. However, many prefer to trade in their old devices for an exchange or upgrade (37%), while 25% are selling them.

With tariffs expected to drive up electronics prices, there are still ways to save money on new tech, and selling your old devices can help offset the cost. If your device is broken or too outdated to sell, experts recommend using an electronics recycling service to avoid polluting the environment and so valuable materials like copper and aluminum can be reused.

Here’s what the latest CNET survey found about how US adults are disposing of tech they don’t want anymore and tips for what you can do with yours.

Key takeaways:

31% of US adults are still holding on to old tech devices because they’re not sure what to do with them.
37% of Americans trade in or exchange their old devices, while 25% sell them.
29% use a recycling service to dispose of old tech, while 19% toss old devices in the trash.

Over one-third of US adults trade in or exchange their old tech

Many US adults (37%) trade in smartphones, gaming devices, laptops and accessories for another device or an upgrade. That can come in handy if a retailer offers a discount on the new gadget in exchange for the trade.

Other popular disposal methods include giving it to a loved one or recycling it. Some US adults even try selling their devices, which can bring in some extra cash. Here’s a closer look at some common disposal methods based on CNET’s survey.

Read more: Spring Cleaning? Free Expert Tech Recycling Tips for a Greener Home

How to maximize the value of your smartphone trade-in

One-third of US adults trade in their smartphones for an exchange or upgrade to lower the price of a new one. Others use a recycling service or give the old device away. Here’s a closer look.

If you plan to trade an old device, start with your phone carrier, said Patrick Holland, CNET’s managing editor for mobile. Many manufacturers, like Apple and Samsung, will partner with carriers to offer steep discounts on a new model when you trade in an old one.

«These deals usually happen within the first month a new phone goes on sale and can sometimes cover the entire price — just depends on how old and what condition the phone you’re trading in is,» he said. Some manufacturers may offer steeper discounts during the preorder period before a new phone is released, Holland added.

The longer you wait to trade in your device, the less you’re likely to get. For example, if you’re upgrading to the iPhone 16, you may need an iPhone 12 Pro or newer model to get a full promotional offer. Check your retailer’s trade-in requirements to make sure your device qualifies.

Most importantly, make sure your device works and is in good condition, with minimal scratches or cracks. You may also compare trade-in offers by getting estimates from different retailers and carriers for the best deal.

If your phone doesn’t qualify for a trade-in offer, or if you think the offer is too low, consider selling your phone. CNET experts recommend Swappa, an online marketplace to sell and buy used electronics. Swappa helps you set your price fairly by comparing similar models and features to yours. But there are other options to consider, too.

«I’ve had a lot of luck on eBay and Gazelle,» Holland said. «Selling a phone on eBay can involve a little work and take some time, but you’ll usually get more money there.»

Gazelle and similar resale sites are usually quicker than selling on eBay or Facebook Marketplace. but you may get less money for your device, Holland said. You can also trade in your tech with Best Buy’s trade-in program. And if your device’s value is too low, you can recycle it right at the store.

On the other hand, if you’re not looking to get any money back from your old phone, many retailers and carriers — like Apple, Best Buy and AT&T — will recycle it for free. It’s best to call the physical store to make sure in advance. Holland also recommends donating your old phone to charity, like Cell Phones For Soldiers, if the phone is in good, working condition.

Read more: Apple iPhone 16 Trade-In Tips: Getting Your Next Phone Using Your Old One

Many US adults recycle or gift old laptops and computers

By the numbers, nearly a quarter of US adults recycle their computers and computer accessories, while 18% give the old computer to family or friends. But 21% are unsure of what to do with the computer.

There are a few options, but regardless of how you discard, it’s important to remove your personal data first.

Before you recycle your laptop or give it away, CNET’s computing and home entertainment managing editor Josh Goldman recommends restoring it to its original condition to make sure your sensitive data is wiped from the machine.

«Remove any software you’re not using, delete any unnecessary files and update the operating system,» Goldman said. «Back up all your important files, write down all the software you need — and find the license keys if you paid for it — and do a full system reset to start fresh.»

Manufacturers typically offer free-to-download software for securely deleting data. Windows devices have a secure erase option built into the system. Finish by blowing out any dust and debris with a can of compressed air and cleaning the outside with a cloth that’s safe for electronics.

For extra protection, Goldman suggests removing the hard drive or solid-state drive from your computer and destroying it. «It’s not necessary, but it’s extra peace of mind,» Goldman said. If that’s not an option, he recommends resetting the laptop, then using software to erase the solid-state drive or hard disk drive.

You’re then free to gift or donate your device. Many communities offer free electronics recycling drop-off locations. Goldman recommends starting your search with the Department of Public Works in your city or county.

«If you’re not sure where to start, use Earth911.com‘s search. Just pop in your ZIP code and it’ll give you local options,» he said.

Many gamers opt to sell old consoles

When it comes to getting rid of unused video game systems, 17% of gamers prefer to sell their old consoles, followed by gifting them to family or friends (16%). If you no longer use a video game system, selling your old console could earn you some extra money. You just need to take a few precautions.

Scott Stein, CNET’s editor at large, cautions anyone selling a gaming console to a retailer to make sure they’re getting a fair price. You can also sell directly to buyers on eBay and community groups like Facebook Marketplace and Offer Up. He also recommends community groups as another way to sell.

When determining the price, assess the resale value and the condition of your accessories and console. You may also look at how other sellers are pricing their consoles to determine a fair price. Lastly, think about the value of your games and how rare they are — that could increase your console’s value.

Before selling or gifting a video game console, reset all content and account settings. Most importantly, remove any credit card payment information you may have stored on your account details. Most consoles have an easy reset-to-factory setting to make erasing your data easy.

Other ways to recycle old tech

Still struggling with where to get rid of devices you don’t want anymore? Major office supply stores like Staples and Office Depot offer recycling services, and so does Best Buy. Some stores even offer store credits in exchange for your old tech.

Check the list of accepted items before you go to the store. For example, larger monitors can be recycled for $20 at Staples, and while most personal tech is accepted, medical devices and TVs are a few items that aren’t.

Methodology

CNET commissioned YouGov Plc to conduct the survey. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,511 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken from March 26-28, 2025. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults (aged 18 and over).

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Monday, May 19

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for May 19.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword is pretty easy. 5-Across, «one for whom every day is Boxing Day,» stumped me because I really wanted the answer to have something to do with cats. (Spoiler: It did not.) Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get at those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Network satirized on «30 Rock,» for short
Answer: NBC

4A clue: Sport played on horseback
Answer: POLO

5A clue: One for whom every day is Boxing Day?
Answer: MOVED

6A clue: Like correct letters in Wordle
Answer: GREEN

7A clue: Blend together
Answer: MELD

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: «Invisible Man» or «Little Women»
Answer: NOVEL

2D clue: Run in the wash
Answer: BLEED

3D clue: What bourbon whiskey is primarily made from
Answer: CORN

4D clue: Tiny hole in the skin
Answer: PORE

5D clue: Longtime movie studio acquired by Amazon in 2022
Answer: MGM

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for May 19, #238

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 238, for May 19.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Connections: Sports Edition might be tough today if, like me, you don’t know what «loge» means. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Brag.

Green group hint: Where’s my seat?

Blue group hint: City that never sleeps.

Purple group hint: Opposite of go.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Boast

Green group: Stadium seating sections

Blue group: New York Knicks

Purple group: ____ stop

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is boast. The four answers are crow, gloat, grandstand and showboat.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is stadium seating sections. The four answers are bleacher, loge, suites and upper deck.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is New York Knicks. The four answers are Bridges, Hart, McBride and Towns.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ____ stop. The four answers are back, jump, pit and short.

Technologies

Blade Runner: 18-Rotor «Volocopter» Moving from Concept to Prototype

It may look "nutty" and like a "blender," but the designers say the craft could challenge helicopters

Inventor and physicist Thomas Senkel created an Internet sensation with the October 2011 video of his maiden—and only—test flight of a spidery proof-of-concept 16-rotor helicopter dubbed Multicopter 1. Now the maker of the experimental personal aviation craft, the European start-up e-volo, is back with a revised «volocopter» design that adds two more rotors, a serial hybrid drive and long-term plans for going to 100 percent battery power.

The new design calls for 1.8-meter, 0.5-kilogram carbon-fiber blades, each paired with a motor. They are arrayed around a hub in two concentric circles over a boxy one- or two-person cockpit.

After awarding the volocopter concept a Lindbergh Prize for Innovation in April, Yolanka Wulff, executive director of The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation, admitted the idea of the multi-blade chopper at first seems «nutty.» Looking beyond the novel appearance, however, she says, e-volo’s concept excels in safety, energy efficiency and simplicity, which were the bases of the prize.

All three attributes arrive thanks largely to evolo’s removal of classic helicopter elements. First, the energy-robbing high-mass main rotor, transmission, tail boom and tail rotor are gone. The enormous blades over a normal chopper’s cabin create lift, but their mass creates a high degree of stress and wear on the craft. And the small tail rotor, perched vertically out on a boom behind the cabin, keeps the helicopter’s body from spinning in the opposite direction as the main blades, but it also eats up about 30 percent of a helicopter’s power.

The volocopter’s multiple rotor blades individually would not create the torque that a single large rotor produces, and they offer redundancy for safety. Hypothetically, the volocopter could fly with a few as 12 functioning rotors, as long as those rotors were not all clustered together on one side, says Senkel, the aircraft’s co-inventor and e-volo’s lead construction engineer.

Without the iconic two-prop configuration, the craft would be lighter, making it more fuel efficient and reducing the physical complexity of delivering power to the top and rear blades from a single engine. Nor would the volocopter need an energy-hungry transmission. In fact, «there will be no mechanical connection between the gas engine and the blades,» Senkel says. That means fewer points of energy loss and more redundancy for safety.

E-volo’s design eliminates the dependence on a single source of power to the blades. As a serial-hybrid vehicle, the volocopter would have a gas-fueled engine, in this case an engine capable of generating 50- to 75 kilowatts, typical of ultralight aircraft. Rather than mechanically drive the rotors, the engine would generate power for electric motors as well as charge onboard lithium batteries. Should it fail, the batteries are expected to provide enough backup power so the craft could make a controlled landing.

Whereas helicopters navigate by changing the pitch of the main and tail rotor blades, the volocopter’s maneuverability will depend on changing the speed of individual rotors. Although more complex, it is more precise in principle to control a craft using three to six redundant microcontrollers (in case one or more fails) interpreting instructions from a pilot using a game console–like joystick—instead of rudder pedals, a control stick and a throttle.

Wulff’s first impression about the volocopter’s design is not uncommon. E-volo’s computer-animated promotional videos of a gleaming white, carbon-fiber and fiberglass craft beneath a thatch of blades recall the many-winged would-be flying machines of the late 19th century. This point is not lost on Senkel.

«I understand these skeptical opinions,» he says. «The design concept looks like a blender. But we really are making a safe flying machine.»

That would be progress in itself. Multicopter 1 looked like something from an especially iffy episode of MacGyver, complete with landing gear that involved a silver yoga ball. Senkel rode seated amid all those rotors powered only by lithium batteries. Multicopter 1 generated an average of 20 kilowatts for hovering and was aloft for just a few minutes.

There’s a reason why the experimental craft flew briefly and only once.Senkel describes that first craft as «glued and screwed together.» Seated on the same platform as the spinning blades, he says, «I was aware of the fact that I will be dead, maybe. Besides, we showed that the concept works. What do we win if we fly it twice?» he asks rhetorically.

Other than putting the pilot safely below the blades, the revised volocopter design would operate largely the same as the initial prototype. The design calls for three to six redundant accelerometers and gyroscopes to measure the volocopter’s position and orientation, creating a feedback loop that gives the craft stability and makes it easier to fly, Senkel says.

The volocopter’s revised prototype under construction could debut as soon as next spring. The first production models, available in perhaps three years, are expected to fly for at least an hour at speeds exceeding 100 kilometers per hour and a minimum altitude of about 2,000 meters, still far shy of standard helicopter’s normal operating altitude of about 3,000 meters. «This could change our lives, but I don’t expect anything like that for 10 years,» Senkel adds.

Given that most of the technology needed to build the volocopter is already available, «this idea is fairly easy to realize,» says Carl Kühn, managing director of e-volo partner Smoto GmbH, a company that integrates electric drive systems and related components.

Like Senkel, Kühn has modest short-term expectations despite his repeated emphasis on the standard nature of the technology involved. «I guess that e-volo will have [a prototype] aircraft in three years that can do the job—that it will lift one or two persons from one point to another,» he says.

The biggest immediate limitations appear to be regulatory. For instance, European aviation regulators consider any electrical system greater than 60 volts to be high voltage and regulate such systems more aggressively, Kühn says. As a result, the volocopter will operate below that threshold. The craft will also need to weigh no more than 450 kilograms to remain in the ultralight category, which is likewise subject to fewer government aviation regulations, according to Senkel.

The Lindbergh Foundation’s Wulff says the organization’s judges felt e-volo had «a greater than 50 percent chance of succeeding, or they wouldn’t have given them the innovation award.» Asked if she would line up to fly one someday, she says, «I sure would. It looks very compelling to me.»