Asking because… On one hand I do see smartphones being released left-and-right, and they are rather integral to modern life
On the other hand I’m still chugging alone with my Pixel 6a that I bought 3 years ago with a replaced battery and a somewhat clogged charging port… and all my previous phones I only replaced when they have serious deficits that make them difficult to use
Wondering when you all replace phones. Please definitely mention it too if you ended up repurposing the old phone for something else
When it’s broken beyond repair, I’ll order a cheap one and go without for a couple weeks. This happens every 4 years or so.
My iPhone is up to 5 years, and has no issues. If it had battery problems, I could just replace it.
If your phone contractor says they can give you a free phone with lock in, question how they’re paying for it. I pay my provider $240/yr ($20/mo). They have some less favorable phone-buying plans but work fine. To avoid being an advertising shill, I won’t name them; just make sure you include yearly prepaid options in your price comparison.
Usually when I think that its time for a new one because my current one has an unuseable battery or is unuseably slow, but most important is, that I need to be table to afford a phone. My current phone is now closing in on 6 years, but I want to get a new one when I can afford it (maybe until the end of year I should be table to gather enough money for a new one)
Have you tried a contract? With a price comparison site (they get exclusive prices) they are actually quite cheap and are often cheaper than a phone + SIM only.
I have a contract for my SIM and I have no intention in changing it. I also dont want to go through the trouble of doing that.
Also I want to have a fair phone AS my next phone, so I can swap the battery and install a custom ROM on it without it loosing warranty.
when it breaks, which is not very often so around 5-6 years. this P9PXL is getting quite a lot of software support though, so ideally I’ll keep it around longer than that.
unfortunately I know people who get a new phone once simply the battery starts to go bad, as if there wasn’t a less expensive way to fix that issue. :(
I had second to last phone for 5 years before it accidentally slide out of my pocked and I crushed it with a foldable chair. Next phone was also around 4.5 year until January 2025 I was driving back home for 14h and by the end GPS app froze and after restart couldnt transmit AndroidAuto to car’s infotainment system anymore. Had to upgrade to g85. If I can go with it next 4-5 years, would be great.
tl;dr 4.5 years on average.
Don’t see the point of changing each year. Waste of money and electronics.
In August it will be 15 years since I purchased the phone I’m typing this reply on, Samsung Galaxy S2. All I do is calling, basic browsing, and checking the weather, so I don’t really feel like I need a new phone. Battery is replacable, so until the screen is broken, this phone will serve its purpose.
Is that with LineageOS?
When it no longer holds charge.
This is usually about 5 years. I’d change the battery, but by then the web has slowed down and become inefficient enough to warrant a new phone anyway.
When I had a phone with a replaceable battery I used it until the power button stopped working. I wish more phones had replaceable batteries.
My company buys me a new phone every two years. So that often.
Will be getting the 18 Pro this fall to replace my 16 Pro
I tried to keep my phone until it’s on its last legs. I had my OnePlus 6T for over 6 years after the battery life was abysmal. Before that I had a Sony Xperia Z3 Compact that literally fell apart.
I’d like to keep my Pixel 9 Pro for several years, fingers crossed!
About every 3 years, when I break it eventually, I’m forced to get a new one. Would keep this one forever.
My first “own” smartphone and not second hand from family members was a samsung galaxy s7 I bought in 2016, I kept using it until the battery nearly died (took a whooping… 15 minutes to go from 100% to 0%) in 2022 and I couldn’t simply change it due to the glass back being broken, the screen had severe burn-ins and the OS was no longer maintained so I ended up switching.
That first phone that lasted only 6 years was a valuable lesson, it shaped my wishlist for a “perfect” phone, which ironicaly enough was another samsung one, but xcover rather than S. Hoping that this one with no glass back, an amovible battery, no oled screen and that went from android 12 to 16 (and still going) will last longer.
I wish my old S7 could have any use beside paperweigh but I couldn’t find any sadly.
I would say that 6 years is quite good. Phone batteries are supposed to be replaced every two years, and if you got it replaced then you could have kept using it until 2024.
The xcover is a solid phone, waterproof, pretty shock proof and can survive falling into a hoover full of burnt engine oil and then the hardcore solvents required to remove said oil.
Had mine for 5 years now and the only actual damage is there’s some schmoo in the headphone jack.
When I was a poor teenager it was about 3 years before it became unusable. Now that I know how to find good second hand models and can afford better quality it’s more like 6 years before I feel the device is kind of inadequate.
I replace my phone when my current one stops working. Went from a Galaxy S2 to a Nexus 5X to a OnePlus 5T. The 5T is starting to exhibit the occasional lag, and the battery life isn’t too good any more, but it is good enough. Hopefully get another year out of it. And it has a headphone jack!!!
I replaced my OnePlus 6T recently and thought the performance was great, until I went back to it a couple of weeks later for something and it felt incredibly slow and laggy.
Have you replaced the battery at all? The battery life was getting extremely poor on mine which is ultimately what made me buy a new phone.
I’ve not replaced the battery. It lasts about 16 hours with my usage. I’m running a custom rom that does not include google play services, so that probably helps a lot with performance and battery.
I’m happy if a phone lasts 5 years. I’ve been using custom ROM the whole time.
Pixel 8 currently with GrapheneOS until something hardware breaks that I can’t repair or Graphene due to G**gle.
