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
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2022 and I couldn’t simply change it due to the glass back being broken, the screen had severe burn-ins and the OS was no longer maintained so I ended up switching.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.
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.
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.