What's the point of buying new phones every years?
Other than your carrier give it for free or cheap, I don't really see the reason why should you buy new phone. I've been using Redmi Note 9 for past 3 years and recently got my had on Poco F5. I don't see the point of my 'upgrade'. I sold it and come back to my Note 9.
Gaming? Most of them are p2w or microtransaction garbage or just gimped version of its PC/Console counterpart. I mean, $400 still get you PS4, TV and Switch if you don't mind buying used. At least here where I live.
Storage? Dude, newer phone wont even let you have SD Card.
Features? Well, all I see is newer phones take more features than it adds. Headphone jack, more ads, and repairability are to name a few.
Battery? Just replace them. However, my Note 9 still get through day with one 80% charge in the dawn. Which takes 1 hour.
I am genuinely curious why newer phone always selling like hot cakes. Since there's virtually no difference between 4gb of RAM and 12gb of RAM, or 12mp camera and 100mp camera on phone.
I mean, most of the population isn't buying a new phone every year, it's just that there are enough people using phones in general that at any given time there are people buying new models. It's the same reason why there are people buying cars every year.
I personally use my phones for about 3 years. Sometimes up to 4, but usually year 3-4 is when the battery degradation gets so horribly bad and performance stutters so much that I figure if I'm going to do a full reset and buy a new battery and all that, I might as well get a new phone.
The main reason to do it is when the manufacturer no longer releases security updates for the phone. Given the security history and the typical corporate attitude of caring little for the customer, I want to minimize the risk posed by not having a very out of date operating system.
I have a Fairphone 3 that I got in January 2020. Its a great device. I want to using it daily for between 5 to 10 years. And I have no doubt it will do that.
Meanwhile my brother has bought 3 Samsung devices in that time. And each one still works fine. He doesn't need a new phone each time but he will still insist on it.
The only real issue are updates. After just 3 years my previous phone didn't get any security updates and I had to get new hardware. I actually liked my previous phone more than my current one. But it is how it is.
I buy a new phone when my current one breaks. So like every five years.
Lots of people are bad with money or don't prioritize the same things I do. I try not to worry about this. I worry about other unimportant shit like why do people roll for stats in DND 5e.
The world around you uses Instagram daily. They do need a better camera and all the AI photo enhancement filters. Plus, consumerism, you know.
Other than that, there's no technical reason to buy anything better than what flafhsips were a few years back. I have one and it's constantly underutilized.
I mean, maybe 5G or wifi 6 could be a reason to migrate.
Status symbol. That, and many people are horrible with their devices. They drop them and scratch them, crack the screen, chip them.
They abuse them and load them with tons of apps. Fill up the phone with videos and photos. The battery holds less of a charge because many people use their phones as computers and will constantly be cycling it dead 3 times a day or more.
Apps update and use more resources and space. They could just clean up their phone, do a reset, and have a case for protection but choose not to and just buy a new one.
I can't see why you can't see the difference. I've been swapping every few years from the lowest tier phone that's recently come out and each change feels like night and day each and every time. Perhaps you should stop buying overpriced phones?
It used to be that a new phone came with a relatively substantial new feature set. People have become accustomed to this and businesses have been built around this. At this point, it’s mostly about consumerism.
I’m still rocking an iPhone 12 Mini without the slightest hiccup as well as an original iPhone SE as my main music player. I used to be the person who got every new phone because there used to be such a jump in performance and hardware features. Now I have no reason to upgrade at all. Honestly, I’d love to get rid of my phone all together and just use an iPad, Apple Watch, and my camera and journal.
20 years ago, I had an insurance plan with AT&T. For $30 I could "replace" my phone under the insurance policy (once per year). Then the plan changed it was a refurbished phone not new..... then eventually the insurance plan went to a surcharge of $200 to replace with a refurbished phone.
Back in the old days I simply upgraded every one or two years under the insurance plan. But that was the days before smartphones really took off.
These days I don't have that insurance plan, and simply hold onto my phones as long as possible. I don't get it either.
I have a Galaxy S9 that I've had for five years and it just won't die on me. Not that I'm complaining, I honestly have no clue what I'll buy next. But I don't get the need to upgrade annually.
I feel like when I was younger and phone tech was changing a lot in the early days of the iOS and Android the difference even 1 year made was sometimes huge. Nowadays it’s much more incremental. A slight processor boost here, a couple GB of Ram there. I think a large part as to why that is is two things.
One, the tech has stagnated to some degree. Innovation doesn’t exactly sell a phone to regular non tech folks, a stable “don’t have to think about it” experience is what most people are after.
Two, a lot more issues with the cell phone platform are solved with software rather than throwing around more powerful hardware.
All that being said when I was younger I loved the idea of bleeding edge tech in my pocket, I upgraded all the time. The appeal was more customization at a lesser cost to performance, I wanted all the bells and whistles and less of the jank that came with it. I’m a little older now and lean much more towards the “give me something that works and doesn’t crash for the 10 minutes I have to look at my phone” club.
For those that upgrade to the latest iPhone/Pixel every year no matter what, I chalk that up to lots of expendable funds. It doesn’t appeal to me any more but I can also recognize that there are probably plenty of people out there now, like I was 10 years ago, so it could also be a general interest in the tech and how the bleeding edge keeps pushing for faster, more efficient technology.
A 1.5 year old flagship costs the same as a brand new midrange phone, but is significantly better.
I just got a S21 Ultra for cheaper than I would have paid for an A54. (Also Exynos is hot fucking garbage. I wanted to get away from Samsung altogether, but the price on this made sense and I has a snapdragon. Significantly better)
I have never upgraded every year, I used to every two years, then three. Now I’ve had my iPhone 11 for almost four years, and I’m planning to keep it for 5. It will probably still get new OS updates for another 1 year after that (total of 6).
There is no reason to update your phone every year.
There are OS updates and there are security updates. Check with your manufacturer as these periods may be quite short, and considering how tied our finances and porivate info are to our phones, it could be a huge hazard. Most android manufacturers, for example, I think offer 2 years of OS updates and 3 or 4 years of security updates. Apples does 6 and 8 - which is wild to me for all the talk of Android users about FOSS and privacy and security. Samsung does 4 and 5, which IIRC, is one of the highest in the android world.
I'm certain someone will mention GrapheneOS, so let me get ahead of that: You can completely de-google your android phone and get as many years of OS upgrades as your hardware can physically support... but is the average person really going to do that?
The big reason is updates. Phones will only get Android and security updates for so long. After that point, you buy a new phone or run the risk of being exposed.
Z fold user here. This thing has a limited number of times of being folded and unfolded. My early upgrade plan is kinda to prevent the inevitable happening while I'm the device owner.
In Canada, for years, you were almost a fool for not upgrading your device every two years. The "regular" plans we all had involved a 2-yr contract in which time your phone would be paid off. But after that term was up, the monthly bill remained exactly the same. It was stupid, but a lot of Canadians just said, "Welp. Might as well upgrade then." Then the CRTC here stepped up and told the big three carriers here to knock it off.
I had a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ that I held onto for three and a half years. That was the longest I'd ever kept a smartphone. It was going strong too. Alas, I found out security updates were knocked down to quarterly from monthly. And after this year, it would receive nothing more. I reluctantly looked into the Galaxy S23 Ultra as a replacement and thanks to a good deal, I have that phone now. It's an amazing device too and I hope it carries me for another 3+ years.
There are people that like new things, there are people who prefer older things. I am willing to spend money on a new phone every 2 years because it is my main computing device. I, also, don’t miss a lot of things of older phones. I never used as SD card, I never replaced a battery, and I haven’t used wired headphones in a decade.
I like my iPhone 14, the LiDAR gives me a ton of cool applications, the camera takes the best photos I’ve ever taken before, it will be kept updated for the next 5 years and the always-on screen is very useful for unlock-free info.
If you trade-in a fairly new phone, you can heavily discount a new phone purchase as well. It’s more like leasing a car vs owning a car. Pay for the time you use the phone, return it while it still has value in the 2nd hand market and get a fresh phone.
On the other hand, my brother sticks his phone in his pocket all day and doesn’t look at it at home. He bought an iPhone SE a few years ago and it just works. He would argue buying a new phone is silly as well. But we use our phones very differently and so our purchase habits will be different.
I was at work last week and two colleagues loaded on an apple update to their phones. Their phones slowed to a crawl and lost battery charge quickly through the day.
The next thing I saw was one of them with the internet browser open putting his credit card details in to buy a new iPhone £650 gone just like that.
iPhone users wouldn't balk at expensive contracts or spending £600 quid on a new iPhone.
It seems to me apple deliberately trash their phones and users accept it and upgrade to a newer model. I could understand if it was a cheap phone but jeeze crazy money for something with such a short lifespan. Would you buy a ln expensive TV if you thought it wouldn't last you any more than a couple of years?
There was a couple years where I could trade in last year's Samsung for like $100 below the cost of the new phone, and they'd give me $250 in accessories with that. It was honestly just the cheapest option for a bit.
I bought a Redmi Note 11 pro last year and it's a great phone! Really though, buying new phones every year is something only well off people can afford (or people who are ok getting into lots of credit card debt). There really is no point right now, newer phones just aren't that much better and in fact smartphone sales worldwide are slowing down exactly because everyone who wants a good enough smartphone already has one. My current phone does absolutely everything I need, in fact it's much more powerful than my first laptop ever was, I can emulate most retro consoles, watch uhd videos, use any app I need, listen to all the music I want, I can even do things like use microsoft office on it. I don't need a new one, this works just perfect for me. The only thing that would make it better is to get it rooted so I can install a custom rom and get rid of xiaomi's bloatware infested android rom
My iphone is almost 7 years old and still runs great. No problems with the battery, speed is just fine, everything is fine. I paid about $1,000 for it and I'm determined to squeeze every last penny of life out of it. No plans to change until it breaks or becomes unusable somehow.
I break them, then buy a new unlocked "last gen" phone cheap to replace it. I am usually one or two versions behind the "newest" phone, but I'm spending less than using carrier based device insurance. Phones have become like sunglasses to me. I don't buy particularly nice ones because I just destroy them.
Performance gains for certain software or games. Especially if you are into emulation then the higher power of newer flagships or better cooling design, mean that you can run more recent games on your phone. Same thing goes with camera lenses, better camera means you can get better shots so if you are into photography it makes sense to upgrade.
Thrift wise, there is never really a reason to upgrade as long as it still texts and makes calls but the non-phone features are why you would upgrade early.
IDK, I always buy used phones and pretty much use them until they either die or are no longer usable because they were abandoned by the manufacturer for too long. I haven't had a new phone in probably close to a decade now. The last new phone I bought was an Xperia Z3 Compact.
Unpopular opinion: everyone focuses on productivity, then on features. Literally zero consideration for performance. Also lack of customization. I can flash Linux, hackintosh or any other random OS on any laptop I buy, but not on smartphone...
Kind of sucks that my Cat S62 Pro smartphone suck ass with it's slowness and lags and I can blame Cat as a manufacturer for that, but lack of standards (so I can flash generic OS onto it simply sucks).
So I am forced to buy new phone every 1-2 years because it gets slow... 🤷
Oh wait! Batteries are not replaceable! USB-C port is also incresibly hard to change!
I finally dropped my S10e too many times. I tried switching to my backup phone which was a Pixel 2 but it is pretty limited in terms of bands for my carrier. So I bought a Pixel 6a. I would love a Zenfone 9 but it is a tad pricey.
Would I have upgraded of my phone hadn't died? Probably. It stopped receiving security updates. The battery was starting to not last all day. There were some things it was starting to get slow on. The camera was okay in good lighting but shit in bad lighting.
Newer phones are not actually selling all that well. Still good but there aren't really likes it the door on release day like there used to be. People are keeping their phones for a lot longer now or opting for midrange ones.
Been rocking a oneplus 8 for the last two and half years, replaced the back glass a couple times and the battery once. I definitely don't baby my phone, it's a tool meant to be used, but overall am pretty good at not dropping things so I can reckon I'll keep going with it until it gets too slow or something breaks.
When choosing a new phone, I usually go for something new that's one level below the latest flagship, and check to see if LineageOS is being developed for it, as then I know it's likely to receive software updates for long after I've moved on to the next.
Thing is, I like, many people here, am a techie, and I'm not afraid to install custom ROMs and open up my phone for repair. The majority of people don't want that, so I'm really looking forward to the upcoming EU regulation on user replaceable batteries! Then it's possible for everyone to keep their phone for longer.
I'm in a good financial position and swapping the battery isn't rocket surgery, but it's a bit of a risk I'm not willing to take. Plus Pixel phones go on a decently deep discount in September before the next model is released.
And I wait until the battery is bloated so it's kinda a safety thing too.
I have been using my poco f1 for more than 4 years now, the only problem i have had is the battery. It has an sdcard slot, headphone jack, 6gb of ram which has been more than enough and latest lineageos is supported.
see https://fsfe.org/activities/upcyclingandroid/index.en.html
Your carries never gives it to you cheap. At best they sell you it at cost. More likely they sell it to you at MSRP. the cost is wrapped up in your monthly, and they hope people are too stupid or lazy to notice.
It's turned into the car stereo thing. In 2002, I wanted a rainbow vomit colored faceplate, CD-R and MP3 support, CD carousel in the trunk, a USB port, steering wheel remote
Now I just want bluetooth, an aux in and a volume button.
Until phones merge with a steamdeck or something, there isn't much to look forwards to anymore.
My phone from 2014 pretty much did everything my current phone can. Certainly nothing worth spending hundreds of dollars on if you have a working cell.
I had an S10E that I loved. But then I had a baby and wanted better pictures as memories. So I upgraded the camera I had on me at all times, and went for an S22U. Took a while to get used to the huge size difference, but I couldn't be happier.
Also got it 'used' from Facebook marketplace, brand new in its box for almost half price. The guy had it as a free upgrade from his service provider, didn't want to change phones, and wanted some quick cash for it. Had all the paperwork and everything.
The only time I ever "upgrade" is when I break a phone beyond reasonable repair. If batteries were easier / more cost effective to replace, I would keep this Pixel 4a a few more years. The battery is starting to lose capacity now, I'll have to check on the cost of battery replacement before too long.
I have Android 7 and Jerboa {the official Lemmy app) requires Android 8 or higher. So people told me to upgrade but I wasn't having that. It turns out there is a fork with Android 6 and 7 support that might get merged into mainline, so my phone will be cool for a while longer. But the upgrade pressure is out there.
I only get a new phone when my current phone just dies. The hardware for even the best phones out there really doesn't change much even in 5 year spans. It's actually kind of annoying. The biggest difference between the phone I have now and the first smart phone I ever had is a few hundred cycles faster CPU and it has 4 cameras instead of just 2.
I wish these things were like a desktop PC and I could just buy parts and build it myself so I could have the raw power I want.
No difference between 4GB of RAM and 12GB
You... You're serious? I guess if you're a super casual user, it won't matter. But if you want to do more at once, you need more RAM. Shit, even if you don't more RAM does make a difference when the apps start consuming more and more as time goes on.
I'm only replacing my Galaxy S8 because apps are beginning to malfunction and some apps are even emailing me to warn about end of software support for my phones OS, which I cant upgrade because of the age of the phone lol.
I think you would notice a difference between models with the specs you list at the bottom of the post though...
When I find a good deal on a used/refurbished/open box phone on eBay I grab it and throw it in my drawer until my current phone breaks or becomes considerably difficult to use. I haven't paid more than $250 for a phone in a long time.
For me it's just an unhealthy fascination. Tech is the one place where consumerism got it's dirty claws in me. We didn't have a computer in my household until I was 15 and it was a super slow and old PC my older brother bought for $500. This was back in 1999. I eventually became obsessed with finding the best value for money mobile devices and bought way too many phones, laptops and computers.
I upgraded twice from Redmi note 7 to Redmi note 9 to poco X4, only reason I updated was because my siblings lost their phones and I saw it as an opportunity to try a newer version of something I liked.
I don't think I'll upgrade unless the new phone also has an IR blaster and headphone jack. The IR blaster is so incredibly convenient
I like new cameras, higher refresh rates, and super fast page loads.
Selling my phone on Craigslist every year and buying new is about the same price as buying new every few years.
$1500 phone. 3 years. $500 per year.
$1500 phone. Sell for $900-$1000 at one year old. Buy new phone for $1500. $500-600 per year. And I have a always warranty (extended by my credit card).
Similar price per year, night and day better product.
I have a Pixel 2 I picked up in 2018, a few months after they were released (my previous Nexus 5x got the bootloops).
I held off upgrading due to the free original quality Google photos. When that ran out, I did follow new releases, and found the features appealing, but then I'd see the ever inflating prices and couldn't justify spending so much to replace a device that still works fine.
And it does still work. Granted, it's had a new battery and a couple of charging ports (I've gotten a lot bolder with cleaning the ports now, don't expect it to need a 4th any time soon).
I'm fortunate to be capable of making those repairs myself, I'd have probably given in and bought an A model otherwise. For now though, I just have to say, maybe next year.
As mentioned by others, security updates and the camera. If the right 'phone comes along at the right price, then is when I'll consider doing the upgrade. Upgrading when the latest greatest 'phone is released is something I would never consider.
I spoke about this with a person, who wanted to get a new phone and replace their 3yo model. Ultimately, they just wanted a new thing, because it'd make them happier. That's irrational.
Still rocking my iPhone 7, and I’m planning on using it until it completely gives out. I agree that there’s very little reason to get a new phone, these days pretty much all of the improvements are just incremental and have no effect on the basic functions—calls, texts, web browsing, etc. Hell, even the fancy new cameras aren’t really needed, past 12mp (~4K) your camera quality doesn’t really make a big impact on image quality (most people have 1080p or 2k displays anyways) and you can only get so far with multiple lenses and AI stuff.
Google provides a stripped down base Linux kernel to hardware manufacturers. This kernel works with android and allows the manufacturer to load all the proprietary code needed to support the processor, modem, and hardware peripherals without the manufacturer merging the source code into the mainline Linux kernel. This means the community can never support the hardware in the kernel. As software changes in android, features are added, and vulnerabilities are fixed, the only party that can update the device's kernel is the manufacturer. This is a criminal scheme to exploit the end user and force them to constantly buy new hardware. Proprietary is always about theft of ownership from the end user. It is a tool for exploitation. It is not about intellectual property or business. These arguments are praying on naïveté. Everything can and is reverse engineered in this hardware and software by every serious competing company. The only reason proprietary exists is criminal exploitation of the end user.
Every year no.... Every two maybe, most stop receiving updates after the 2 years, except for some brands and maybe top models...
Nowadays it's slightly better as usually there is a couple more years of security updates but that's it.
Of course if there is scene and you can get some custom ROM like lineage or similar it is slightly better.... But honestly most phones nowadays are locked down.
I don't understand it either. The only reason I upgraded from my Galaxy S10 was because the USB port no longer worked. I could still charge it via wireless charging, but it was annoying not being able to plug it into my car to use Google Maps. If the USB port didn't break, I'd probably still be using the old S10.
I follow my life rule of changing phone every 5 years. But my phone broke and become unusable after 4 years. Was xiaomi user for yrs, i bought s23 ultra now as xiaomi prices became expansive. Buy good phone mainly for the picture quality.
For me, I kept my last phone for 3 years and upgraded because I didn't have enough storage. New phone is a little nicer, has a few new features, but I may well keep it for a few years again.
I refuse to upgrade past a pixel 4a, because as far as I'm concerned it has everything I need. When my last one broke I just brought another pixel 4a, why? Because they cost like 150 quid second hand on Amazon.
When I have shown the phone to friends and such, I get the same reaction to the price since it looks like a really good phone. And cost significantly less.
I've been using the same galaxy note 20 ultra since launch. It's been 3 years now and it's still working no problem. I do struggle with the USB-C port, it got loose and the wire falls off easily, but no big deal. If this dies, I'm buying the same phone from eBay and I'll be rooting it when Samsung stops sending updates.
Exactly this. I bought a Oneplus 7 Pro for AUD $750 ($500 USD) in early 2020 and tried to "upgrade" to an iPhone 13 Pro recently. Ended up giving it to my husband and have no plans on getting a new phone again until this one dies. This phone was the last good Oneplus phone before they started transitioning to...whatever they are now. I've rooted it, I've switched ROMs a few times, I've unrooted it and gone back to stock ROM. Love this 2019 phone that seems to be unlike anything else available in the market rn.
I have been using same phone for 5 years now. Never visited to service center. Always used cover & screen protector. I usually see two strategies either buy very cheap phone and keep upgrading in 2 year or buy a mid-range use it for 5-10 year before upgrading. There is usually no significant upgrade in tech in 1 year but wait for 5 and you will feel you are actually getting something new and better
I upgrade when the opsys gets hopelessly outdated (as in apps no longer supporting it) or the device physically breaks. My last phone (Huawei Ascend P7) lasted for 7 years, but the Android 4.4 got just a bit too old, plus I cracked the screen a month after removing the battered to hell glass screen protector...
I don't care much about the phone not getting OS updates since I don't keep anything important on a phone in the first place and I don't care much about CPU/GPU performance since I don't run intensive apps on my phone—that's what my desktop and server are for. My current phone I bought last year will last probably for 5 more years.
The Google Pixel 7P that I have now I bought because I dropped the 6P on the ground so bad that it wouldn’t even start. The 6P I got because it had significantly better camera and was faster than the OnePlus 6T I had before. I know you say 100mp doesn’t make a difference from 12mp but there’s really a huge difference in image quality with the Pixel compared to the 6T, especially in low-light conditions or when you zoom. And it’s not just me, people have been commenting at how good the pictures are without even knowing what phone I own.
I also enjoy new features like the gestures to control apps. Overall, apps and the OS get slower because new features keep being added, and security updates stop coming, so I need to renew the hardware to keep up. I use the phone for hours a day every day, all year around, so I think it’s worth putting some money into it. But I don’t get a new one every year. Maybe 3 years, or possibly 2 years depending on what gets released.
I totally agree :) I'm S10 until the thing melts, I managed to replace the battery under warranty and plan to rock it as long as humanly possible.
Headphone jack is a huge factor in that as I would not want to lose something I use every day, but also like you say, performance is fine! On top of that is the fact that I'm paying £8 a month for unlimited everything without a contract! :)
I guess there used to be a night and day change, and people kind of still expect that from the next flagship each time they're offered an upgrade?
That said, these days the trends tend to steer into things I don't use much, or improving what's already good enough - its a good time to be on a budget I guess! :)
I just enjoy new tech and trying new things in that arena. So new phones before I technically need to is one of the things I spend disposable income on when something in that arena catches my interest.
Does have a nice side effect of constantly reenforcing the use of platform agnostic services and retaining ultimate control of my data if it is something I care about, since it really allows me to just move the sim to a new phone and be up and running in a hour or less with more or less any Apple or Android phone.
Galaxy S10e gang checking in. Resoldered the USB port because it was corroded. Everything else is working perfectly fine. No plans to ditch it as of now.
I usually break my phone within 12-18 months because they're so damn cheaply made. Why so much glass?
If I could go back to a Treo600 I would do it in a hot second, that was a great phone. I had it for years, it was mostly plastic that I beat up quite a bit, but they use gsm bands that aren't supported anymore.
Still using my moto g40 since 2021 , don't think I will be needing a new phone for few more years . Might install lineage os to get that latest Android version
I've felt this way for a long time. After paying off an expensive contract for a S7 edge, I swore to never pay more than £100 for a phone. My S7 lasted 5 years before the battery gave out and the phone started to struggle.
I replaced it with a Redmi not 9 and after a year and a half i was having problems running my most used apps, bit to mention the ammount of bloatware was shocking.
I have just bought a refurbished Pixel 6 for £250 and the difference is in quality and performance is staggering! I have never been happier with a phone.
So my advice would be avoid the cheap brands and buy something future proof, but i totally agree there is no need to get a kew phone every year.
I used to do that because I love new shiny things and at that time most Android phones did not get software upgrades anyway. So I just bought entry-level phones every year.
Until in 2016 I found a mid-range phone with the right price at least in my country, and with a good history of software upgrades, the Zenfone 3. I used it until the camera sensor and vibration motor died after about 3 years of use. Today I'm only looking for a phone with atleast 3 years of upgrades and replace it until it fails. I plan to use my current Samsung A54 until it doesn't receive software upgrades and patches for the next 5 years.
My Galaxy S8 had a lot of annoying problems both on stock ROM and Lineage OS. After three years I switched to Zenfone 8 and so far I am satisfied. The battery life is crap though, especially after updating to Android 13. I'm considering a downgrade if it's even possible
There is no point. We realised it only recently. If you remember the cell phones from the time before smartphones, there hadn't been much technological progress. My first cellphone, a Nokia, could store up to 10 short messages. It's pedecessor had the same storage capacity. Of course, there were technological milestones that have been passed, e.g. antennas which didn't protrude out of the phone, vibration motors, (in comparison to today) really shitty photo-cameras (and the buggy software that was needed to transfer the photos to the computer), etc.
The point is, that they all were capable to do the same thing: calling and texting. Looking back, there was not really a need to replace the old cellphone. Advertising made us want new shiny things.
This changed when smartphones emerged. Hardware wise, there are not many differences. Some have faster processors than others, others have better cameras. The storage capabilities are sufficient. For the normal user these specifications don't matter. All smartphones are capable of accessing the (real) internet. The main difference today is in the software (operating system). Older phones run on software that is too outdated to keep pace, and the software support is often limited, which as a result leads to possible security flaws - because the user is supposed to upgrade the hardware, not the operating system only. And that's why new phones are bought, despite the old ones would still do.
My smartphone ist running on Android 8 (Nougat). It's still working and is sufficient for my needs. But I wouldn't run my online banking with that phone. Also, it gets pretty hot and slow when navigating with Google Maps.
Conclusion: It's not the hardware specifications which lead to the replacement of smartphones. It's the more complex (security wise) software requirements certain applications (online banking apps, medical apps, e.g. insuline tracking apps, overall more sophisticated apps that runs slow on an outdated smartphone) demand today.
I use my phones until the battery life is too degraded to be practical and the phone is too damaged to have the batt6replaced. My Samsung A71 is about 3 years old. Some months ago I noticed the battery was pillowing. Since it was still holding charge for more than a day, the guy at a repair shop (where I took it to get a new battery) just punched a pinprick to deflate it, and it's still going strong.
I only ever buy some cheap shit when my last shit bucket phone starts packing in and hasn't received a security update in a while. I try to drag it out as long as I can but the budget phone makers seem to be getting more scummy and supporting their phones for shorter periods of time. For the first time in my life I'm getting tempted to buy an apple product.
As to why people buy new every year; from the adverts it all seems to be about more megapixels and ai image processing as phone makers rarely ever seem to boast about anything else anymore, apart from the occasional gimmick. Dunno why anyone needs an extra billion or so megapixels, especially as phone lenses are kinda shit in general.
I haven’t gotten a new phone in the last 3 years and I don’t think that I will get one before the iPhone 15 comes out. I’m well satisfied with my iPhone 13 mini.
The fact that most newly released phones don’t go that small annoys me so I’ll keep it until I find something worth while or of similar size.