Ask Lemmy

When someone is giving away a better phone than mine. A lot of hand me downs out there.

Only when it's unusable. I recently got a new phone, my old one was an iPhone XR but the last few months it just randomly restarts and overheats like crazy.

I did a battery replacement a year ago but I think it was time. I also got a cheap Samsung, I'm not about to pay the money that Apple is charging customers just so I can make phone calls and use maps

My previous phone was a Xiaomi on which I installed LineageOS. I was very happy with it, but my GF's son had a very very old phone, so I changed it after only 3 years and replaced it with another Xiaomi. I'm deeply unhappy this time because they've made it practically impossible to unlock the bootloader without using dodgy unverified tools. It's only a year old and now I'm replacing it with a second hand Pixel.

Before the first Xiaomi, I had a OnePlus that I kept for six years.

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

5 years if I can't flash open rom and nearly 7 years if I can.

When it breaks. I don't remember how long I've had this one but it was made in 2019.

When it stops working.

When I was younger I got new cheap Tracfones at least once a year cause I didn't take very good care of them. Nowadays I've had 2 phones since 2020 with the second being one I got last year since my previous one nearly shattered after dropping it at work (it was a moto g power).

• 2006 or so
• 2009 or so,
• 2012? 13? gifted to me
• around 2017, first smartphone, my previous' phone speaker broke, got a used one
• 2019 or so, used phone's battery died badly, friend gave me this reconditioned one
• 2025, previous phone's screen turned purple, idk what's up with that

2006 - 2G Siemens

2016 - 3G Samsung (2G turned off)

2022 - 4G ZTE (3G turned off)

I bought my current phone in 2017. It will be replaced when the cons of continuing to use it outweigh the cons of buying a new one. Fortunately phone manufacturers have removed most of the features I want in a phone and added nothing of value so I'm saving a ton of money.

went from pixel 2016, pixel 2 2018-22?, and then disasterous PIXEL 5A 2025 it died in Jan.

got a ONE PLUS 12 R currently.

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.

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.

Haven't had enough phones yet to determine that. I got my first proper phone 3 years ago which was a Samsung Galaxy A14. I LOVED it when I first got it, then had to watch as every update it got made the phone worse until it got so bad I HATED using it. Then out of nowhere just a few days ago, my Mom surprised me with a new Motorola G Stylus 2025. Runs better, has better battery, and DOESN'T look ugly as hell so contrary to what I thought it wasn't Android that got worse (I mean, it probably still did lol) it was all the fault of Samsung SUCKING.

2020 - Samsung A13 5g

2025 - Xiaomi 14

Seven years so far.

When I had the chance, I had a Samsung A01 Core for 5 years, and now I finally managed to change my phone. The other one still worked, but I decided to buy another one. I don't understand people who change their phones every year

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)

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

When the battery quits. I replaced the battery in my last phone myself, got an extra year and a half out of it, but then I f‘d up the camera and figured that was it. So…6-7 years? Went from a iphone X to a 16, and previously it was a 6, so 5+ years for that one. The recent replaced phones were traded in to knock a few $ off the purchase price, but previously phones were handed down to the kids to use. Still have a couple working 4s‘s around.

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.

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.

When Motorola renders it unusable with software "updates"

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)

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.

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

Last time i bought one is 2018, then it got replaced for free in 2020, and i am still using it right now

Huawei Honor 10

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

As a Sailfish Linux OS user, perhaps about every five to six years. The last two died because of falls / hardware damage. Performance was fine.

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.