Nearly half of our readers now wait three years or more to replace their phones as spec upgrades have plateaued.
Companies stopped innovating. Phones are getting worse each year, yet they cost more and more.
Survey reveals most people are holding onto their phones for a long time, and it makes sense
Submitted 2 weeks ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to economics@lemmy.world
https://www.androidauthority.com/smartphone-upgrade-cycle-duration-poll-result-3627249/
Comments
Opisek@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
riskable@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
There’s innovation! What are you even talking about‽
I just upgraded my phone two months ago and now two of the four cameras (which is the same number as my old phone that I bought four years ago) have something like 20% more pixels!
Also—now that I have the latest chip—I can talk to my phone in like three more languages. I don’t speak any of them, but… Innovation!
My new phone is also significantly heavier than the old one and the battery life is like 10% better than my old phone when it was new! Also, my display has a few extra lines of resolution on the top and bottom!
No innovation? Hah!
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
Don’t forget all of the stupid AI bullshit that you need to disable manually
TrickDacy@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Consumers behave somewhat rationally despite capitalist dipshits hoping they wouldn’t.
Cool headline bro.
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
iPhone 12 mini here. I don’t know when or what my next phone will be, but I want to get as far away from Apple and Google as possible. I seriously considered just going back to a landline, but I discovered Century Link no longer offers POTS, it’s only VOIP now, which surprised me.
zqwzzle@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Akasazh@feddit.nl 2 weeks ago
I signed up for the Jolla phone. It’s an eu based company that moves away from Android.
atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Yeah, unfortunately lots of states are dumping their “carrier of last resort” regulations, and companies in those that haven’t are doing everything they can to kill them.
bluesheep@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Same phone here. I just want a small phone man. I don’t want to carry around half a tablet every day
hildegarde@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
Every time I bought a new phone, I considered it a downgrade. There is literally no phone I am in any way interested in purchasing.
I want a phone small enough to fit in a normal pocket, and has physical buttons for basic navigation, that supports current wireless standards. No such thing seems to exist.
DarkCloud@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I buy my phones second hand and I keeps em until something starts to fail.
0ops@piefed.zip 2 weeks ago
Same, always. I’ve had good luck on eBay, but I’ve done swappa once or twice and they’re not bad either
RamRabbit@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yeah, Swappa is pretty solid for tech stuff like this.
A bunch of people who upgrade every year put their phones on sites like this. So when you do need to upgrade, you don’t have to spend nearly as much. Conversely, if you do upgrade regularly, this lets you get some of your money back, lessening the blow.
Canopyflyer@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Same here. I upgraded to a Pixel 8 just before the 9 came out. My previous phone was a Pixel 3. The only reason why I changed was because the GPS died on the 3. That’s a function I consider critical these days.
Also, the extended software updates on the 8 and the ability to charge the battery to 80% to extend its life. I plan on keeping this phone until it’s dead.
karashta@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
They’re the most incremental upgrades ever now, with very little innovation outside the foldable space.
I’m going to use this Pixel 8a until it drops dead. I’m not sure how other people feel, but smart phones have largely plateaued to me. It feels more like my PC. Like I only upgrade when something fries or I can no longer run the latest applications I need.
TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
I have a Galaxy Note 20 Ultra from 2020. Phenomenal device. The folding phones intrigued me, though, so I looked into it.
The specs are meaninglessly better, anything you get today is bundled with AI bloatware, I’d lose my stylus and any choice, even the Chinese ones (which are tricky to get and use in the US grrr) cost at least $1,700 for the privilege.
No thanks. I cracked the screen on this device and paid $250 to get pretty much the entire phone besides the main board replaced (another bitter grr, I used to swap digitizers off smart phones myself for $20) so I don’t see any reason to swap for another few years.
In this economy? It just doesn’t make sense.
Gerudo@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I have an FE 20 model, same gen. It was a high/midrange model that took their flagship and basically sized down and removed a couple gifs of ram. It has never let me down, and even years later, I still don’t need anything better. I will keep using it until security updates stop.
lost_faith@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Still rockin a pixel 6 here. I upgrade when security patches stop and/or when one of the apps is artificially made to no longer work, always have
Lemmyoutofhere@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Only reason to get a new phone these days is if your current phone dies. Currently have an iPhone13, and it just keeps trucking.
Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Phone manufactures - noted: Not enough to just lose battery life and performance. In new economy it really needs to be built to fail hard.
Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
thats what mine did, pixel 5a screen just died from a small drop.
RunJun@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
A salesperson asked what iphone I had and recoiled when I said 13 🤣
Steve@startrek.website 2 weeks ago
Shit I just upgraded to a iphone 12
TomMasz@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yes, the cameras are marginally better and the CPUs faster, but that’s about it. I don’t need, and certainly don’t want, AI features, which is often the rationale for a new phone now. A user-replaceable battery would be nice, though.
claimsou@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Some older phones will not allow you to get the latest OS. So you get stuck with an older one that no longer get security patches. This leaves you vulnerable to hacking. That’s why I eventually get a new one. This takes many years obviously.
riskable@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
FYI: Speech recognition is an AI feature and it gets (marginally) better with the newer chips. For example, in noisy environments.
That’s probably the most-used AI thing that nearly everyone uses on occasion. Older phones had to send your speech to the cloud but with the new chips all that processing can be handled locally.
Cracks_InTheWalls@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Lol.
The adhesive was pretty much come entirely off the back panel. My camera lens literally fell off the other day. My usb port has been unusable for years. There’s more than a reasonable chance it will eventually blow up in my pocket.
Still using it, though I probably actually should upgrade or get a quote for repair or something. But I’ve been saying that for like 15 months now.
thermal_shock@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Longest I made it was 7 years on a galaxy s9. Nowhere near the amount of damage you have, just a cracked back. Battery replaced every 2 years, but I made it last.
Upgraded to an S23 renewed from Amazon for $400 and hopefully will get another 5 years from it. Upgraded nowadays are just too expensive for any performance or features.
Cracks_InTheWalls@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
What I think’s funny is it’s still on its first battery. S20 FE, went through a skateboarding ‘phase’ and rarely used a case, so the poor thing has been beaten up pretty badly.
Did pick up a used S22 Ultra a couple months ago, but this was a mistake. It has have significant issues staying connected to my mobile network and apparently this is a common problem. Gave up the ghost and just put my SIM back in the S20, the Ultra’s just my Pocket Paint mini tablet at this point.
Pirky@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
My first smartphone as an S8 thought I got late 2017. I used that for 5.5 years before finally upgrading.
I would have gone longer but the battery could not go a simple workday without needing a charge. Samsung also stopped security updates, so I had to upgrade.
I fully intend to use my current one for as long, if not longer.pixeltree@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
My previous phone I had for almost a decade I think, it was an s5 galaxy I think. I used it until it refused to turn on.
toynbee@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The previous three phones I replaced were because:
- Fell off a shelf and shattered to the point of unusability
- Stopped turning on
- I wanted to try Graphene, but wanted a fall back if I broke something (after becoming confident Graphene would meet almost all my needs, I ended up sending the backup phone to a friend, so it didn’t go to waste)
MehBlah@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I had a s5 for nearly that long. It stopped charging and a replacement charging port didn’t work. bought a s10+ 1tb dirt cheap and its been nearly three years.
Noodle07@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Omg I miss my s5 so much
stoy@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I am still on an iPhone 12 Mini, I bought it in 2021, and have finally resigned myself to buying an iPhone 16 this winter.
elgordino@fedia.io 2 weeks ago
Hanging on to my 13 mini for as long as i can.
Looks like the foldable will be the next with a small, external, screen. If they can magically get the weight in the ballpark of the mini I might be interested. That said at $2k+ I probably won’t be.
stoy@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I can see myself dumping €2k for a foldable iPhone/iPad device, but then I would need to keep it for 5-6 years
TheOakTree@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Fun fact: the S24U and S25U pictured in the preview have the same camera sensor set, despite marketing materials boasting camera improvements.
Buelldozer@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
My Galaxy S22+ is over 3 years old and I expect to get at least two more years out of it. I can afford to get a new smartphone every year if I want but there’s no longer any compelling reason to do so.
riskable@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
You have to keep it for two more years! Because even Samsung can’t get Samsung to sell Samsung DRAM for new phones!
Lfrith@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Incremental upgrades has been mentioned, but biggest is likely price creep over the years turning it into a purchase that hurts the wallet more and more.
MehBlah@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’m rebuilding a iphone XR right now. Charging port screen and battery. Who want or can afford to keep buying their over priced crap.
Treczoks@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Just like with PCs. There were times when you needed a faster computer whenever possible just to work without falling asleep. Now any computer you can buy off the shelf can run all the tasks you usually need without problems (gaming excepted).
jaykrown@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The business I work for which does refurbishment has been doing extremely well. People are buying second hand more often as well which I think is good. We’re at the point where most people don’t need the newest hardware, and can easily do everything they need with a device that was released 5 years ago.
riskable@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
Time to move smartphones into the “durable goods” category.
cenariodantesco@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
pixel 7 pro on deck
Iheartcheese@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
6a here. I’d probably still be rocking my pixel 2 if it were for the 3G shutdown.
plateee@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Same here, and I’m not sure what I’ll go to next - the USB port has gotten flakey.
I want to try a Linux phone, but hardware seems to be made of unobtainium, and the software seems like it’s not quite there yet.
Part of me is tempted to just get another pixel 7 Pro on swappa.
RyanDownyJr@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I stopped getting a new Samsung S# every year when they reduced their trade-in plan drastically. Went from like half the price of a new phone to just $200 if that. Between the and the standard S# slowly approaching $1k each year, I only upgrade every other year and even then I buy the previous model year. Genneraly costs under 800$ for both my wife and I to upgrade.
Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Didn’t read article, but is every other year what we are considering a ‘long time?’ That’s what I consider a long time for some hard cheeses, but certainly not a phone.
RamRabbit@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Yeah, we are seeing people all up and the down the replacement pipeline move up a notch. I have a few friends who used to do the every year upgrade thing, and they are almost all on 2-3 year cycles now. While everyone else shifted to: “well, my current phone still works” cadence.
IphtashuFitz@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Only reason my wife upgraded her iPhone 7 was because it was stolen.
shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
i am running a OnePlus Nord N200 5G (2021 release) that i bought brand new in 2023. It works well enough, and I run lineage OS on it with no Google Play services of any kind.
Thankfully, phones cost less and less Monero every year, so I can upgrade when I feel like it, though I don’t want to if I don’t have to.
racketlauncher831@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
Are you sure? From where I stand, phones cost más y más dineros every year. There is no option to buy a cheap phone that barely works anymore. Everything is flagship and costs me a fortune.
shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Yeah, a couple of years ago, a flagship device such as an iPhone would have cost something like 6.6 Monero, and now it’s down to around 3. Some mid-range devices can be head for under one Monero, where they use the cost around three.
snooggums@piefed.world 2 weeks ago
Three years is a long time?
I usually have mine for at least five years, and only replace them when the battery won’t hold a charge and there is some kind of massive discount.
RamRabbit@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I usually keep mine for as long as it is getting security updates (plus a few months). This currently means 5-7 years.
And quite frankly, I would like to keep it longer. New phones just aren’t that much better anymore.
thermal_shock@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Battery replacement is $50-100, don’t replace the whole phone for battery performance.
snooggums@piefed.world 2 weeks ago
While good advice, the replacements have been between zero and $100 but I wouldn’t have bothered switching for free if the battery wasn’t going dead.
nova@lemmy.wtf 2 weeks ago
Yeah, my last phone’s battery was starting to go and I was able to get a last gen flagship for a riddiculous £400 with a £200 cashback from Samusng just for buying it and I got £75 for my old phone in trade-in so it ended up being not that much more expensive than changing the battery. I’d had the last one for almost 5 years before trading it in.
ragas@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
My last phone was 8 years old and was still doing well.
Really after 8 years the new phones were finally significantly better for the same price.