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
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
That’s the rational answer. Replace a thing when it’s no longer fit for its purpose, typically because it’s broken.
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.
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.
Better with a small plastic one, less risk of splinters
I am doing it… My local convenience store also sells tooth cleaners shaped like tiny brushes which I use. It does help a bit but not entirely
Is there lint packed into the bottom of the port? It’s not just dust on the contacts making a bad connection, it’s dust shoved into the bottom physically preventing the plug from inserting fully. I out my faith in smart ports and use the metal Sim eject tool, alternating with air. Canned air is best, but I’ve done just fine with a hard cheek-loaded puff. Both my type-c phones (pixel 3a, pixel 7) have shiny port floors (the 0) so it’s pretty obvious when I clean it properly
On topic: I’m in the same boat as you. My phone still works and has a decent battery life, so I don’t see the point of upgrading. I don’t game on my phone, well, nothing resource intensive anyway, and setting up a new one to my liking is a pain.
The other criterion for me is whether the phone still gets security updates. Once those stop, it’s time to look around. That may mean a new phone, but for Pixels you also gave Graphene OS as a possibility.
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.
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?
I’m still running Jelly Bean. I know that I could get a more modern OS with Lineage OS, but for my very limited purposes the old Android is good enough.
How does even a single Lemmy client work on that?
Web browser. I only have two other social media accounts, on Reddit and LinkedIn, and I use a browser for these as well. Even if a dedicated app worked in my OS, my phone doesn’t have enough memory to install it.
Which browser are you using?
Brave. Not sure about the version number, but it’s been working fine.
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
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
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’m still on a 4a too! I’m kind of thinking about upgrading 'cause I run GrapheneOS on it and nowadays whenever I reboot it I get a warning that it’s no longer supported, but also it still works so whatever.
I think maybe if I see a newer Pixel that’s cheap second-hand somewhere I might think about it, that way I can keep using GrapheneOS and not give any money to Google.
4A club member! I love the hell out of this phone but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking for a good upgrade option. I’ve got burned in notification and tray icons and this guy has been in the drink a couple times. The 9A looks okay but I really hate all the AI integration phones have now.
About every 5 years, usually when either the phone breaks, or key software no longer supported.
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.
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.
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.
