Ask Lemmy

Only when an essential function breaks. Current phone is about to turn 6 years old.

ITT: it is confirmed that nearly everyone on Lemmy is die-hard "if it aint broke don't replace it" about their phone (hell yeah)

Whenever the old one dies or becomes unusable. A new phone doesn't really offer much new, so I see no reason to upgrade just for the sake of upgrading

If it aint broke, don't fix it. That's my general idea anyway. The other thing to consider is security upgrades (end of life). Then again, this time around I may just install a de-googled OS instead of buying again.

Its been 6-7 years for this one. I replace them when they stop working

I use my phone until it is completely inoperable so a few years.

I once used a phone where half the screen was broken but the touch sensors still worked and I'd memorized where all the buttons were so I could still receive and send calls and texts.

People that replace electronic devices that still work confuse and annoy me.

As long as the one I have works, I keep using it.

Every 3-4 years which is when it starts becoming really slow or something breaks. I still keep and use the old phone though and it usually works, just not enough to daily drive.

Only when the previous one is completely out of commission. My last phone was a Samsung S20 I got in 2020 and it finally died when it took it's last fall on to some concrete, and I replaced it a few months ago with an S24

Bit off topic, but do yourself a favour, take a wooden toothpick and gently remove the lint from the USB-C port. You can thank me later.

I won't replace it unless it's needed. And that includes data security reasons. If my phone stops receiving security updates, I buy a new one. Trying to sort out identity theft is not worth being cheap over.

I've always thought it's a little crazy to buy a new phone on a schedule. Like some people do every year or two. That's expensive and terrible for the environment.

About every 5 years, usually when either the phone breaks, or key software no longer supported.

When I can't use the old one anymore. Every time so far, that's been because of a hardware failure.

I'm currently on a Pixel 4A. It's running Android 16 (LineageOS), and I limit battery charge with AccA so that it doesn't wear out. It's currently showing 92% capacity, which seems pretty good for five years. I don't think I'd actually like a new phone; it would be faster and have a better camera, but my current phone isn't a bottleneck, and a new phone's camera will still be worse than my Olympus. It would have 5G, but why should I care? Most new phones are bigger, and as an adult, my hands are not growing.

I love that answers like this are popular here. There was a time when phone tech was improving fast enough that frequent upgrades made a lot of sense, but now is not that time.

I had a moment of reflection last year about this. I told a coworker that my phone doesn't have service in the building and I refuse to get on company Wi-Fi with my personal device.

He explained that when he gets a new phone, he uses his old one as work only.

My brain hovered for a minute in "but the old one is broken do you get it fixed or something?" Before clicking in "oh, he buys a new phone before the old one goes bad"

My brain genuinely struggled with the concept. Maybe if he'd been a rich person it would have connected sooner. I dunno

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.

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.

When it is no longer able to do things I actually need it to do, and fixing is difficult/expensive.

So far that's about 5 years per phone for me.

I have averaged about every 5-6 years

Generally I wait until it dies. My current one is testing my patience at 3 years old while I've disliked it since the start, but the cost of a new one is sobering enough to let me suck it up.

My first phone died under a bus after 4 years, my second one stopped getting security updates after 2 or 3 years and was starting to get seriously slow, so that one I sold, my third one took 5 years to die to repeated water exposure... And this is my fifth one.

When it dies.

I've had my current one since 2019. One before that I had for about the same amount of time.

This current one is starting to get issues with battery drain though (going from 100% to dead in less than 4 hours, used to last 8-12 hours)

I would still be using my pixel 3 XL if the battery hadn't died. 

Until a foldable is inexpensive, I don't see much point. They seem to have stopped major innovations that I care about.

I will use this pixel 8a until it is a brick like the 3XL

I used to yearly, but i told myself that was shitty for the environment. In my mind Ive been thinking I had my current phone for 3 years, but i looked it up and its been 5.

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.

The last three have been s/h when I have bought them and then I have hung on to them for around 5 years each myself.

My current phone is about to start a fourth year, and it still works fine. I replace only when I need to. (My previous phone's charging port/mobo broke down.)

Current phone is from 2019 (iPhone 11 Pro) so 6 years and counting, but im getting real jealous of Android users as all the cool FOSS stuff gets released there first or exclusive . Wont be buying a new one until it breaks though. Honestly its a miracle how well it still works, I did swap out most apps with FOSS alternatives though and I do notice the difference when i compare it to an iPhone 15 running Instagram and other spyware in terms of battery life and overall performance. Liquid ass, 120hz, 5G and other stuff doesn't help either.

I replace mine when it either breaks or becomes too slow for/incompatible with the apps I use. If it works, why upgrade?

I also find old phones make for great dash cams. There's a few apps out there built specifically for this purpose and they work pretty well overall

Never. I never buy a new phone. If my current phone suffers a critical, unrepairable mishap, I'll buy a refurbished used phone, two or three generations old.

I'd say about every 7 years, or older. Using custom roms, it's possible to keep a phone up-to-date for a while, or even to escape google services (on android, of course) using MicroG. Personally, I use /e/os, which has all that built in (including a tracker blocker). It is very neat.

https://e.foundation/e-os/

When it is about to die, then I buy the best one I can find for less than 300€ in second hand or refurbished. It is easy to find 4 year old flagships.

My current is now going on 8 years and I have no intention of replacing it. About time for a new battery tho

I typically use it untill it becomes unusable. Typically around 5 to 6 years I guess. On my last phone I had changed so many parts it was practically a new phone.

I use my 2018 Samsung S9+. Still has the original battery and screen

When I can no longer update apps because the phone is not able to update operating systems due to old hardware/memory issues etc.

A) A new phone comes out with a feature I'm dying to have, and I happen to have some fun money tucked away

B) My old phone is degraded to the point of noticeably affecting my experience

C (most common)) A little of A, a little of B, and I get a great trade in or upgrade deal

Usually on a 2-3 year cycle, finances allowing

I use my phones until they're limping and pleading me to just let them die. At that point I look on the used market and buy the best previous-gen phone I can find for the cheapest price, then repeat. I'm not a fan of cell contracts - I like to buy my phone outright to keep my monthly bill as low as possible.

Up until now I was only buying used Pixels so I could install Graphene, but if Goog ever locks the bootloader or anything like that I will move to something else supported by Graphene.

Or maybe just revert to dumbphone and start carrying a small ultralight laptop around for internet stuff. Probably less doomscrolling that way.

Because I use my phone for banking I am stuck with OEM android. I have an S21 that loses support soon, that pushes me to upgrade when the next version comes out but will also be jumping to the S26 Ultra. The S26 series gets updates for 7 years so after that I will look at upgrading again.

Hardware changes are no longer huge leaps like they used to be. With devices no longer being functionally obsolete every few years squeezing as much life as possible is the new game.

My old devices end up being used for dashboards for HomeAssistant or turned into picture frames. So they will live on and still be useful for a long time.

I started with an iPhone 5. I replaced it after the second battery started dying with an iPhone 8. Replaced that with an iPhone 16 when the second battery started dying. I always have them in an OtterBox Defender case and take good care of them, so batteries become the deciding factor.

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'm banking on my fairphone lasting at least a decade.

I purchased my current phone (Fairphone 4) in January 2022. And that was because my last phone's battery was dying, and the screen was very cracked.

I decided for a Fairphone because you can easily replace the battery (already done once) and the screen (not yet broken).

As of now, I still have no plans to buy a new phone.

I typically only replace my phones when they’re significantly worse than what a new, more modern phone would get me. So, that usually means when there are a bunch of new hardware features on the newer models or when the battery in my current phone is so old that it holds significantly less charge than it did when it was new.

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.

I replace a phone when it becomes intolerably difficult to use due to hardware failure.

My current phone was bought refurbished in July of 2020. Phone before that was purchased in 2018, and the phone before was purchased new in 2014.

The current one is a Samsung Galaxy S10, and I'm not seeing any reason to replace it yet.