1. When I have to or 2) when I want to, whichever comes first.

I used to upgrade every 2 years until I got an iPhone 15 Pro. I was going to ride or die with my 13 mini but I really wanted to get all my devices on usb-c. I splurged on my current phone with the intention to keep it for a long time. Going on 3 years now.

I used to go hard on the androids with rooting and customizing. I’ve since resigned myself to wanting a phone that “just works.”

The thing about rich people is that they don’t care about making responsible choices. $1000 is throwaway money to them when they have a $60,000 leased car and go to disney twice a year.

This depends a lot on the person. There’s plenty of rich people that earned it rather than being born into it, and still live frugally. I work at a big tech company and there’s plenty of people with mid to high six figure salaries that still use coupons, keep their phone for 4-5 years, and save as much money as they can. Living well within your means on a higher salary lets you retire early, and for some people that’s worth more than any frivolous spending.

If you’re getting a new phone every year, you’re not throwing away $1000. You can easily sell it after a year for $700 or more.

I’m not sure about Apple, but Samsung has some ridiculously good trade-in offers sometimes. My wife upgraded from an S21 Ultra to an S26 Ultra this year, and got something like $250 for trading in her old phone. About the same as what they were selling for on eBay. I’ve seen them offer $600+ for last year’s model.

Apple does too.

If I wanted to get a new phone this year, I could trade my 17 pro max in and their current trade is $885, and I think it was $1400 msrp when I bought it. So I’d have actually paid $515 or something like that.

I also traded in my 15 pro max when I got the 17 and they gave me $520 on it after 2 years. And I think I actually got that one free on our phone plan when we switched. So really I got a free 15, which they then gave me $515 for, taking the 17 down to $879, which is less than what they’d give me today for it.

About every 4-5 years, depending on how the old one is lasting. Typically, it’s battery life that frustrates me enough to go shopping. I have an iPhone 17 now, and this will most likely be my last apple. Prices are beyond justification

you know batteries can be replaced right

Never had any success trying to replace an iPhone battery. Tried twice through the alleged Genius Store, and both times with an aftermarket supplier. Failed to have any success. Phones were an 8 and an X. Maybe in other markets, but had no luck in Australia

Brutal. What do they charge for an official repair in AuD $

?

Depends on the repair. Never used to be possible to even get an aftermarket screen, although you can now. I have walked in with a broken screen on a current model phone to be told it can’t be fixed and they would use it as a trade in.

Fortunately, you can now get genuine parts from third parties.

A third party repair of a screen is about $175. Apple is over $250. Last time I had it quoted was a couple of years ago though, so YMMV.

you either did something wrong, or need to stop overpaying apple for iphones. i’ve never heard of batteries being this difficult on regular ones.

Judgemental much? Stop being a dick. You need to understand that every body has reasons for doing the things they do, and has different experiences.

Up until 2021, I wasn’t allowed an android device for work. I got, and still get, an allowance for bringing my own device.

Obviously, you have never had to have an apple device repaired in Australia.

you are way too defensive about your planned obsolescence phone. but eh, apple people tend to be like this.

And you are a dick.

stop calling people names because of products.

I didn’t. I called you a dick because of your attitude.

my atitude of connecting a couple of dots? you’re way too emotional about a phone.

Jesus Christ. Fuck off loser

you are the one who keeps coming back just to call me names, winner (cause that is what a winner does)

I stopped buying new phones when I started running GrapheneOS on my phone. I bought a used pixel 8 thinking it would be supported by Google for 8 years. Needless to say I greatly underestimated Google doing evil things and not being absolute obstinate weasels on abiding by the GPL. Currently looking for options on running a cheap Linux phone to weigh what to swap to in the future.

At least 4 years. The only exception will be when the Motorola+GrapheneOS phone launches next year, which will be replacing the phone I bought this year

I got my first smartphone in 2014, and I’m on my third now, so once every 4 years on average. Hoping the graphene motorola will be out when my current pixel goes EoL in 2027.

I currently have a refurbished Pixel 8 (chosen because it’s the oldest phone recommended by GrapheneOS). I got it less than a year ago when my previous phone (a refurbished Pixel 7) started having screen problems. I got that one a few years before, when my refurbished Pixel 6 fell out of my pocket in a parking lot and got driven over by a car.

If it weren’t for breakages and Graphene system requirements (for security features, not performance), I’d probably still be using the Pixel 6, if not some phone I had even before that. It’s been at least half a decade or so since the last time I felt like upgrading because my phone wasn’t good enough.

I only upgraded my 6a to a 9a because there was that battery fiasco and Google effectively paid for a new phone. It’s funny because the 9a feels like the exact same phone, particularly on GrapheneOS.

I loved my Pixel 6. It stopped working earlier this year and I bought a refurbished 8 pro, which is also great, but I would have used my 6 forever.

Rocking a pixel 7 still and my boys both have pixel 6. Great phones.

Whenever the screen breaks or the phone can't run the game I was trying to play smoothly enough. Yes, I have switched phones because they could barely run a specific game (and I don't even do much gaming at all anymore)

When the old one is no longer suitable for use as a primary phone:

• Nexus 5 - broke the screen. Actually still mostly works to this day, and I have Android 9 on it.
• Sony X Compact - small onboard storage, Android’s crappy SD card support, and a lack of quality third-party ROMs after official support ended shortened this one’s service life.
• Pixel 4a - current phone, don’t want to “upgrade” to something that’s bigger and doesn’t have a headphone jack, mildly annoyed the fingerprint sensor broke.

Somewhere between 3 & 4 years. Typically something has to go wrong with my current one.

Just smashed my iphone 11 in a derailer, which is a railroad related accident.

I had bought it used about 8 years ago, the iPhone 11, and took the opportunity to spend 500$ on a pixel 10a and put graphene OS on it.

Funny story: I set up the duress password, and afterwards, was setting up new users. Well one of the new users I setup us3d the same pin as as the duress password! D’Oh! Anyways… The duress pin works! Had to go to cricket to implement a new esim! Lol.

Love the phone tho!

You bought an iPhone 11 eight years ago?

It wasn’t even released 8 years ago. Much less available used yet.

My ini5ial impression is that I own an iPhone 11. I don’t know what it actually is. I can’t be arsed to look, either.it’s a corporate brand that in glad to be rid of tho. Sorry.

New phone? I only ever buy used.

I don’t understand why people would upgrade their phone every year. It’s so wasteful, and there’s barely any changes from year to year. Most of the larger upgrades these days are in software rather than hardware.

Lmao why make shit up?

Android fanboys think about Apple more than anyone else.

Also, you’re just wrong. Apple users keep their phones longer

medium.com/…/why-do-apple-users-tend-to-keep-thei…

…substack.com/…/iphone-owners-keep-phones-longer

I use a phone till it stops working. Usually get 3-4 years out of it. I usually will buy a refurbished “flagship” phone from the previous year or two. I like a big screen and lots of memory. I’m currently using a pixel 9pro xl. It’s fine. I like the idea of using graphene, but haven’t yet summoned the energy to do it.

The GrapheneOS installation is ridiculously easy, you basically just click through the setup on their website. And once you’re accustomed to its features, you’ll never want to go back to stock Android.

A few phones back I started getting a second hand flagdhip phone every 3-4 years, I think it’s well worth the flagship second hand 1 year old model instead of the mid range phones I used to get for the same price.

Plus the last couple have been pixels for GraphineOS, so it’s nice to not be directly handingb Google money.

About 5 years unless i lose it in the ocean. Which has happened twice in the last decade

When I developed for Android: every two or three years or so: HTC Magic Nexus One (one year later, but was gifted it by Google) Nexus 4 Nexus 6 pro

At that point I changed jobs and had to pay for my own phone. Also, became a parent. Samsung Galaxy s8 - cracked the screen after half a year in a child-related incident. Kept going for a while. Samsung galaxy s10 - cracked the screen quite fast in a sleep deprivation related incident. Google Pixel Pro 7 (At this point I started wrapping my phone in mous. Samsung Galaxy S26 ultra (I won this in a competition, but didn’t need to replace my old phone)

So… I never felt like I needed to chase new features after I stopped working with android development, and really, the wild development rush pretty much stopped, but I kept changing phones because I kept breaking them all of a sudden.

Nexus One. That brings back memories. Great little phone that was with the trackball that could light up.

Still remember being blown away at the HUGE screen … that was 3.5”. Was a good first smartphone for me though, and the trackball was nice because I was coming from a Blackberry Pearl.

Finally smashed the screen on my ~4 year old Sony Xperia 1 IV recently. I got a used screen (and a new battery while I was at it) off AliExpress. Cost about $400 but it feels brand new, so hopefully i’ll get a good few more years out of it.

i haven’t bought a new phone for decade+.

daily driver is a 2013 phone. i do have newer phones i got from family members that stopped using them, but to me they’re less comfortable than my old phone. gonna keep it till it breaks or Y2038 hits

I bought a new phone every year, until i bought the Oneplus 5, in 2017. Until then, every new Phone had a “wow”-effect, big differeces in speed, camera, … Right around that time, phones have gotten so good, that i stopped buying new ones, there is no need anymore. You buy a new phone and the camera is 5% better, you wont see that. I now buy new, when the Phone doesnt get Updates. Currently on Fairphone 4, running Lineage OS. Next Phone will probably be a Fairphone again.

Until death does us apart. On avg. that’s 4 years and generally the first failure it’s their battery life

Usually it’s about 5-7 years for me, depends on when the battery starts being too annoying to keep charged

Normally I keep a phone until severe hardware failure (spicy pillow, broken digitizer, not charging…)

The only thing that has gotten me to upgrade was the Boox Palma 2 Pro for it’s e-ink display specifically, due to eyestrain from reading on LCD, and my Galaxy A23 5G i received as a gift having its display start falling out (and fear of future storage/ram prices)

(technically almost a phone due SIMs only being supported for mobile data, but i use a flip phone for SIM-based calls/sms anyway)

whenever my phone is so broken i cant fix it, i think i have had my current phone for 5 years and i am thinking about getting a pixel with graphene os for security and using my current phone as a mini vm box and practice htb machine

4-5 years

I think if I had the money to burn, as much as there’s distaste for the practice, I probably WOULD replace my phone frequently, or maybe at least as often as it takes my fancy or I hear about one that sounds cool. It’s nice having cool new shit. But, I’ve never had that kind of money to burn and the reality is there’s something weirdly idiosyncratic and personal to what makes a ‘good’ phone nowadays when there’s so little to separate them and they’re all pretty much amazing magical sci-fi devices so it’s always going to be 4 years minimum. Typically what ends up killing the marriage is that I’ve accidentally managed to smash the poor thing somehow, that’s even when I’ve actually ended up hating the thing. I’m just never going to waste the thing I paid for even when it turned out to be a bad buy.

I buy a phone when it runs into a problem I’m not easily able to deal with. Last upgrade was 5 years ago when the battery of my last phone was puffed up. IIRC getting a spare + tools to install it were going to cost about 2/3 as much as a new phone. Ideally it would last longer but it is what it is.

I looked into getting screw drivers for Xbox dust removal but the shop only sells the entire pack and I just want 2 screw drivers. The tools are expensive!

My smartphone progression was as follows

• Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini (Don’t remember when I got this one. I wish companies still made phones this small…)
• Huawei P9 Lite (Bought in 2016 I think)
• Xiaomi Mi 9T (Bought in 2019)
• Google Pixel 7 (Bought in 2023)

So far, none of my phones had to be replaced due to hardware failure or damage luckily. The S3 Mini simply got too old. When I upgraded, it could not even play a Youtube video in the app without lagging due to severe RAM limitations. I remember having a screenshot of the RAM usage that said I had less than a MiB of RAM remaining at some point.

My P9 lite was fine. At some point my grandmother decided she wanted a smartphone though and instead of buying a new one for herself she told me to upgrade and give her the old one. When that one got to slow for her, the cycle repeated with me giving her my Xiaomi Mi 9T and upgrading to the Pixel 7 which I use to this day.

I have a phone in my house that is bordering on ten years, I believe. Still useable.

I have another that is reaching six years old.

The one I’m personally using currently is reaching three and will replace one of those I previously mentioned.

I intend to get a de-googled phone soon and expect that to last at least eight years.

i swear the apple v android articles are fodder pumped out by media companies because it’s easy ad money.

don’t get me wrong, conspicuous consumption has ruined some people’s ability to own their identity but outside of brand fanaticism surely “normal” customers purchase phones based on when they need it. When do you buy bread? Typically when you want to eat something which has bread.

perhaps not the point of the original question but surely we’re getting beyond the point of being baited by low-quality online content.

I will use it until it stops being viable. This used to mean “until the battery dies”, but I’ve also swapped batteries in phones not designed for it, and still had to get a new one as the batteries available weren’t OEM and so bad they basically didn’t work despite being new. Like phone always just turns off at like 40% charge. That isn’t “viable” in my eyes.

Now I’ve got a Fairphone 5. It’s only been a few years, but I’m planning on 10+ years if I can make it happen. In theory some new feature could get me to buy one sooner, but I highly doubt it. Hasn’t happened in the past either.

Used to buy one every two years or so, either to upgrade or they had failed in some way. Used to spend $1000+ on them too, which is ridiculous looking back with how often they broke.

Had a $2000 phone stop charging and they refused to service it without a huge fee and shipping it oversees. (Asus for anyone wondering. I’ve fully gone off the brand since then. Very overpriced with terrible customer service.)

I was waiting for a call back after a job interview so I went and bought whatever cheap phone I could get and ended up with an oppo. That was in 2019 and it’s still going perfectly fine. Phones haven’t innovated at all since then and with how much they cost I kind of just don’t care to upgrade.

When the cost of repair, usually the screen, exceeds the used price of the phone. I’m currently on a pixel 6a with a broken screen and it’s at that point now, think it’s been 4 years and 3 screens. On screen broke falling from the sofa on to the carpet, which was annoying as it had no external damage

5 years before even thinking if I need to change. Mostly longer than that as long as it holds up well. We’re well past the point of any meaningful upgrades in hardware. A flagship phone should last anyone a really long time.

4-5 years with a battery replacement at year 2-3 for a refresh. Now I’m trying to hold out for the new Motorola/graphene os phone

Current phone is just shy of 4 years old. I have no intention of changing it. I’ve been looking after the battery, trying to keep it in the 80% to 20% range with the occasional full charge so it’s still going strong.

Last one I got 5 years out of.

Only when the current one dies

5 years the last one.

The hardware, including battery, worked great. But it has been lacking updates for some years and I’m worried about vulnerabilities. LineageOS was also not available for this phone.

I bought a phone with 7 years updates and my initial intention is keeping it for 7 years. More if an stable and secure version of LineageOS is available down the line.

Every other day! I just can’t help myself! A new model is released and the hype machine starts up; updates are released to downgrade performance on older models–I just wag my tail non-stop! It’s so exciting! Those flashy lights and colours! Ooooo! This money belongs in their wallets and everyone’s going to get a hold them! And I tell myself pathetic lies: oh, the battery can’t be replaced… if only it had screws… it’s way too hard to heart up glue and put a new battery in. Besides–all my friends are going into debt too! Plus those new features: it can make phone calls and text! Look! E-mail access too!

5 years for the last one, hopefully much longer with this one.

Last one was an iPhone 13, but the battery was shot. I wanted to get out of bit techs grasp, so I gave that phone away and bought a Fairphone 6 and put e/os on it.

As long as possible.

Either it dies, or the battery does and there’s no longer replacements available; or, the manufacturer stops updating it and a there’s no support for a third party OS.

I own my Fairphone 4 for a bit over 4 years already. Bought a new battery once and some screen protectors. It’s still doing great and I don’t understand why I would need a new one any time soon.

I’m on my 18th phone in 29 years.

I worked in app development for half that time, so there was a strong incentive to be on the latest if there were any new innovations to support.

I came here ready to say “between 2 and 3 years on average” but after seeing your message I decided to count how many phones I’ve had and I’m disappointed to see I got to 21 phones in 23 years.

3 phones were stolen; 2 were complete trash that I regretted buying; 1 got destroyed within 2 months of purchase. 1 was a dumb phone I needed as an extra at one point. 1 was a free upgrade I got for work.

For a while I was just too cheap with the phones I was buying. Other than the Nokia Lumias, those cheap phones always had some kind of issue that would drive me insane after a while. They also didn’t really work well for very long so I “had to” change more often. Once I started paying more for phones (like $200) I started keeping them longer too. I only recently replaced my 2021 phone.

I’ve had my iPhone 11 for 7 years. I have no strong desire for a new one either. I just need to replace the battery on this one and it should be good a for a few more years.

I only buy crappy ones, so usually every 2-3 years, but this Samsung a06 is making me think I should buy a new phone after only 1 year because it’s pretty bad!

at the moment i use iphones have for several years. I buy a new phone when the old one isn’t supported or when it is going so slow that it’s borderline painful to use it. it ususally is no longer supported by that time .

Longtime Apple fanboy here, I bought an SE in 2014, upgraded to the XS in 2018, and the 16 pro in 2024, so once every ~5 years or so. Couldn’t imagine buying a new phone more frequently than that.

My good friend gets a new phone as part of their plan every 4 years, so they give me their old phone and I give my old phone to my partner. Haven’t bought a phone in over 12 years, but I guess you could say I change phones every 4 years.

I buy a new one when my current one is having so many problems it’s hard to ignore. I didn’t get a smartphone till 2020. Before then it was cheap pay-as-you-go phones. That phone was a moto g power and I had it till last year when it was getting to be too slow and the screen shattered when dropping it on my way out of work. I got a pixel 10 since my phone plan gave a massive discount on it.

I kept my last phone maybe 5 years. I replaced it because my bank’s app no longer supported the old Android version and the mfg no longer provided updates.

I replaced it with a !LineageOS@lemmy.ml device because I decided not getting updates was a deal breaker.

every 5 years, which imo is even too often. the reason is usually a combo of os slowdown/battery life/lack of storage which really is a little ridiculous. f capitalism!

Until it is entirely unusable. My last phone I had for years after it stopped being supported, it would hardly charge, the screen was totally shattered, and I was still using it up until it bricked itself. I’ll probably see if I can convert my current GOS phone into a Linux phone after GOS stops supporting it, for security reasons to use a supported OS, but I want to minimise my contribution to e-waste.

I recieved my first phone in 2003 and as far as I can remember, I have owned 8 phones from 2003 to 2026.

I owned 4 phones from the ages of 14 to 19 From 20 to 30 I owned 3 phones. In my 30s I have so far only owned 1 phone. On average that means I have replaced my phones every 2.8 years.

Three of my phones were used phones I either bought from friends or got for cheap at phone stores because they had been display models.

My first phone was a nokia 3510i and I replaced it with a Sony Ericsson phone around 2005 because I wanted a camera phone and it was no longer cool to own one of the old school Nokia phones.

My next one was a bronze colored Sony Ericsson dumbphone and I think I got it in 2007. It fell into a river. We managed to save it, but it was never the same. I forget if I got it new or if this was a display model.

The one I got after that one was a purple phone, similarish to the bronze one. We are still in dumbphone land and I’m pretty sure it was 2008. I think it was one of my friends’ old phones and I bought it from her because she felt sorry for me that my “river phone” was acting up.

The one after this one was in 2011 when I got my first smartphone. Xperia Ray, I think it was called. It lasted me 4 years and then fell out of my pocket when I ran across the road and it died a horrific death on asphalt.

I got myself a used dumbphone in order to stay in contact with people, but it genuinely sucked. It had been a display model at a store and it was dirt cheap and barely worked. This phone only lasted me some months before my temper could no longer handle it being so shit at everything. I don’t even remember, what it looked like.

I finally bit the bullet and splurged on a smartphone. My first Andriod. I think it was called something-something “Edge”. Broke easily. Couldn’t handle shit. Definitely the weakest phone I ever had, productionwise. Somehow, it lasted me 7 years. Maybe out of stubbornness because I fucking hate spending money and if something has cost me more than a thousand in my country’s currency, it better survive, bitch. One day, it simply just went black after two years of barely working.

The one I have now is also an Andriod. Got in 2022 and it was apparently a dated model when I bought it, but to me it was insanely futuristic compared to my other phones. The best thing about it is that I have dropped this bitch on nearly every type of hard surface you can think of, and it’s barely got a scratch. I don’t buy phone cases for my phones because I hate phone cases. I think this might be the best phone I have had since my Nokia 3510i. This thing takes every hit life gives it and it doesn’t even flinch. The battery is still pretty good as well. I hope it will last me until 2032 at the earliest.

Every phone I buy for the rest of my life will only be replaced when I have no choice. I hate spending money and I increasingly hate modern phones.

My next phone will more than likely be a Fairphone.

About 5 years. I don’t care much about the canera. I went from a note 20 Ultra to getting a red magic 11 pro late last year. It has pretty bad cameras but everything else is awesome and the battery will probably be what will eventually make me upgrade again. Just seeing how long it will last and how hard a time it will be to get a hold of a replacement battery. I know how to repair and work on phones and electronics, so doing repairs and getting to the battery isn’t much of a challenge for myself, but getting batteries that aren’t utter trash is a lot harder.

Four years. I’ll typically buy a new phone, but an older model. I’ve still managed to always have a headphone jack!

This is what I do. Last flagship iPhone I bought new when it came out was the 6S and ever since I’ve stuck to doing what you do (no headphone jack though!). I’ve gone from 6S > SE2 > 13 Mini > 17 Base Model

Until the security updates stop coming out from the manufacturer

Once every 2 or 3 years back when I was buying the stinky cheap ones. My current Pixel, however, is approaching 5 years strong. No good reason to buy a new one at this point, maybe until the GrapheneOS Motorola comes out since I don’t do anything computationally intensive on my phone.

I’m still using my Galaxy Note 9 from 2018

Great phone, kept my S9+ until 2 years ago. Upgraded because the battery was dead. Could’ve replaced it but wanted to switch it out anyways. Couldn’t go back anymore now though, that 60Hz screen is a deal breaker for me now

I use them until they’re literally too broken to be worth fighting with anymore. Only then do I buy another one.

only right answer imo /lighthearted

Currently every 3 years for me. Normally it’s once the new models have enough added hardware features like better cameras, better microphones for video recording etc

It hasn’t been because my phone has been slow for many years because they’re at the point of being powerful even considering years of age.

I’ve only met one person who upgrades each year simply because a new phone is released yet myself and many others have iPhones.

About every 5 years. Also weird to hear that about Apple fans. Everyone I know with an iPhone uses it until they can’t anymore or it stops getting updates. Maybe we Europeans use our phones longer or something.

When it dies or becomes obsolete (~5 years)

I think it’s a tech fanboys rather than Apple fanboys that change it every year : one can observe the same modus operandi for Samsung.

Most Apple users will keep their device for a while, just as most android users. Those that change tend to value peer recognition above eveything else and having the latest gadget is a way to achieve that goal.

It keeps surprising me that in the US you are so limited in choice. Most people in this thread only refer to Apple or Samsung because that is the choice they have. I’m in China currently and Apple is not even in the top 5 and Samsung has no presence here at all in the phone market.

But I agree with you. The tech fanboys are the same. Whenever Xiaomi for example, releases a new model, it sells out in one day.

Like the iPhone fold, will barely make a dent here because all other local brands have folds that are much better and are already in their 5th iterations. The Xiaomi 18 fold sold 36. 000 units in its first day.

i strategically bought a cheap s20 for ~80$ to wait some time for the market to be better. ~6 months later i bought a waay better phone, for a good price&quality.
the s20 had a huge black spot of broken pixels.
i still use it (its in my packpack RN). decent for extra storage or even LLM(slm). but the screen is flickering so i need to get the screen replaced …etc

About every 4 years.

I’ve had my current phone for about 5 years and am thinking of getting a new one this fall.

Had my last smartphone, Honor 20, for 6 years, it didn’t get any safety updates for the last 3… Bought a refurbished iPhone 2 years ago, I will either use that until the safety updates stop or until I ragequit myself out of the modern society. Whichever happens sooner, following the ID laws and all.

But my main phone is a dumb Nokia I found from the trash. I don’t see it breaking and they do sell aftermarket batteries still, so no issues. Can call mom and so on.

Still using my OP8T (kebab) from 2020. 6 years strong with LineageOS.

I’ll wait till I leave the USA to swap to a new phone, just one more year…

Every 5 years. For next year, I want to buy a custom Android (GrapheneOS - Motorola, or Degogled Android/Ubuntu Touch - Volla, or Fairphone with /e/ os), I will see.

When my old one dies. Currently only on my 2nd smartphone.

I used to change every 2 years. First, it was included in my mobile plan and each was really better than the previous one. Then, I took a plan without mobile. I bought one, I lost it after two years. I bought a really old second-hand one, it broke after two years and it was not updated anymore, so I changed. I bought a very old one that was not updated after two years. It was frustrating, so I bought a new one four years ago. I plan to keep it as long as possible now they are updated longer.

I want to do now, I have mine since 2019 and still working but im tired of android

Linux next?

Yes, sadly im not smart or rich enough

I spent a little more to get the upgraded newest model of the android phone I’m currently typing this on, released in January 2021 and received by me in March. I had to replace my previous phone because the battery started to fail and it was failing behind in Android versions, meaning some newer apps could no longer be installed and some older apps could no longer be updated. Current phone still going strong, no signs of being any slower than it was originally. Mostly have used wireless charging and battery protection schemes in the OS, so USB port still works well and charges just fine either way. I feel like phones hit a performance plateau a few years ago and I see no reason for an “upgrade”. If my current phone needs to be replaced, I fully expect to be forced to pay more for less given the costs of memory these days. Previously I’d been basically forced to upgrade every 2 years because I always bought the contract special “free” phone and updates stopped or the battery pillowed.

I think I have you all beat. I’m still rocking an iPhone 6S Plus released in 2015. The latest update was for iOS 15.8.8 on May 11, 2026.

genuinely impressive given how lots of apps (and increasingly more of them, but afaik messaging apps generally still fall behind?) seem to require iOS 16 or later nowadays

I had the non-plus. The battery went poof on me and cracked the phone wide open.

Every 4 to 6 years; using Iphone.

Usually wait for some reason to change, which is almost always unrelated to features on new phones. Either the phone breaks, gets lost or there is something specific I want which my phone doesn’t have. Plan to get a new one this year to get a bigger screen, otherwise would have kept the existing one which works perfectly fine, does everything I need and is going on 6 years without any issues.

I use my wife’s old phone when she changes, which is roughly every 5 years or so. Chinese brand, excellent quality, running some fork of Android (couldn’t tell you which).

this article that especially Apple fanboys, buy a new phone every year when the new one comes out

send

Last I heard, that was consistently 20% across Android and Apple.

I keep using it as much as I can. Currently iPhone 16 that I don’t see upgrading it before the iPhone 21.

Before that, iPhone X.

So, moreless every 5 years.

5-6 years at least

10 years ago been using hand me downs since

I avoid it as much as possible.

The current phone I am using to type this right now is someone’s old phone that they graciously gifted to me when they went and got a new one.

Not going to spend lots of money on tech that is going to be called old in a year.

Apple fanboys, buy a new phone every year when the new one comes out

The ‘new phone every year’ types are usually on a contract with their carrier where they get the latest model every x amount of months/years. Most aren’t buying it outright

I keep my phones for 5-7 years. Generally once it stops receiving security updates I’ll get a new one

Samsung note ➡️ iPhone 6 ➡️ iPhone 10 ➡️ Pixel 8 ➡️ Pixel 11

all of my phones except for the newest have been hand-me-downs from my dad or sister. Also I planned on continuing to use my pixel 8 a lot longer but we’re forced to switch phone companies after 20 years and got ones as a signup bonus

iPhone 4 (used) -> Xiaomi Mi4c (new) -> Xiaomi Mi9SE (new) -> Google Pixel 5 (used) -> Fairphone 5 (new)

I think thats my list. Got the iPhone in 2012 or 13 from a friend. Im planning to keep the Fairphone at least until 2033 (thats how long they guarantee security updates right now) so thats around 4 yrs/phone in total, more like 3yrs until now. I used every one of those pretty much until their last breath, I even opened up two of them to replace the battery.

I don’t buy new anymore. I buy used phones and keep them until even basic functionality is kaput. Got this S9+ used in 2020. Still going strong.

I dread the day I have to buy another phone - I am not looking forward to built-in AI bullshit and permanent nagware, and I’m not smart enough to set up GrapheneOS or other such custom stuff like that.