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.

stagen,
@stagen@feddit.dk avatar

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.

nerdria,

My dream is that Apple will release a mini every 3 or 4 years just for me. I currently have a 13 mini too, and I reckon a 16 mini would be perfect.

Otherwise I might end up with an Asus Zenfone, even though it is bigger than a mini.

-hypnotoad-,
@-hypnotoad-@kbin.social avatar

I would look into Asus' software upgrade policy. From what I understand it's pretty abysmal; something to consider when you're someone who holds onto phones for more than 2 years. Google and Samsung have much longer support cycles.

Jaywarbs,

I love my 13 mini! Yeah I’m the same with wanting smaller phones. I had the iPhone 7, then waited until the SE 2020 model, and now the 13 mini. Hopefully they keep releasing mini models.

taldennz,

I have a Note 10+

With the way it’s measuring up today for performance and battery life, if it were going to keep getting OS updates and security updates it’d keep being a great phone for another couple of years yet.

…And compared to some I know, I’m updating frequently.

I really do wish they’d squeeze another 1-2 OS updates into it’s life-span. But at this rate I’ll still be replacing it with whatever its up-to-date peer is in another year or so…

…and re-purposing this one - it’s still awesome (awesomer if it allowed root without losing updates and pay-services)

lancerrx,
@lancerrx@lemmy.world avatar

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.

Latecoere,
@Latecoere@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

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.

001100010010,
@001100010010@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

If you buy budget phones, don’t be surprised they stop working soon after the warranty expires. I had a Samsung Galaxy A32 and just a few days after the 1 years mark, the camera lens started to fall out, even when glued back together, the image quality degraded because of exposure to dust and moisture. As to the camera, there is a huge difference between image quality as the phone price goes up. If you get a flagship, the phone camera is just as good as an actual camera. Flagships aren’t really that expensive if you wait a bit for prices to drop. Android phones goes on sale within a few months of release. You can get an Unlocked Google Pixel 7 128GB for $499 in the US, $100 cheaper than the 2 years older iPhone 12. All phones since Google Pixel 6 have minimum 5 years of security updates, same as Apple. Flagships aren’t that expensive if you wait for sales. Using a Pixel 7 for 5 years is better than buying a $100 phone every year.

Latecoere,
@Latecoere@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Yeah you vastly over estimate how much I can afford lol. I’ve had this cheap ass piece of shit for almost three years now. I’ll get another cheap ass piece of shit at the end of this year or maybe next. You really gotta make shit last when you’re perpetually broke.

The top of the range phone camera megapixel and ai processing arms race is just pure masturbation.

b3nsn0w,
@b3nsn0w@pricefield.org avatar

Only reason I see is because of phones breaking. My current Mi 10T Lite was great for the first two years, then it started getting annoying. I can no longer use Wallpaper Engine because of a stupid system update, notifications started getting stuck, sometimes it has other minor annoyances. The hardware is still fine, there’s no reason this phone shouldn’t work, but it doesn’t. Xiaomi clearly wants me to go buy another phone.

So I did. Just not from them. My Fairphone should be arriving any day now. My friend already got hers, and she got me super excited for it.

MurphysPaw,

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.

solrize,

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.

godofpainTR,

Android 7 is quite old though, isn’t there any custom ROM development for your phone? I know there are downsides but it’s usually been fine for me

solrize, (edited )

I am not sure of the custom rom situation but I use this phone every day so I don’t want to mess with it. I can consider it if I get a new phone while the old one still works.

001100010010,
@001100010010@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

You can use the web version and hold on to your phone even longer 😉

solrize,

I had trouble with the web version but it works now so I’m using it. I’ll try Jerboa again sometime. I had to uninstall the 0.17 fork I was using after lemmy.world upgraded it’s backend.

bilb,
@bilb@lem.monster avatar

I do it because it might fill the terrifying emptiness inside me for a moment or two. Looking forward to trading my Z Fold 4 in for a Z Fold 5 soon!

TanknSpank,

I only upgrade every 3-4 years, but there's a lot of subtle differences that make it worth it. For example my current phone is far more reliable with Bluetooth connections than the previous one. It's got a better camera with AI photo touching. It's waterproof. Its fingering sensor is more sensitive and quicker.

unplug,

I’ve been getting a new phone every 4 years, but it isn’t hard to answer your question tbh. New products feel amazing. Companies invest millions if not billions of dollars in marketing to make you crave the newest device, even if yours is quite decent. I think that’s also the reason Apple pays so much attention to the packaging and their setup wizards so that getting a new product is an almost magical experience you want to relive. Ask any person with a shopping addiction, they’ll explain to you the rush of a new product like no one else.

Rolder,

I try to milk my phones as long as possible. But that’s mostly because I’m lazy and moving all the 2FA and getting things set up how I like and whatnot is a ball ache.

SecretPancake,

I used to get a new one every two years. Back then the changes were big enough to make it worthwhile. Nowadays there is not much to get from a new phone other than the hardware keeping up with the software and an improved camera.

I’d say, as with any device, keep it until it annoys you or doesn’t get any more security updates.

My iPhone 11 from 2019 starts to feel laggy and the touch screen is not responding as well anymore. Battery health is still over 90% but due to higher energy demand of the newer OSs and apps I often still need to juice up during the day. So this year I’m finally going to get the new model but I’ll keep the 11 as a webcam.

Whisper06,

Because my simple or brain likes shiny new things.

Strayce,

Right there with you. I’m a sucker for the new shiny and I actually kinda hate it.

DriftingMangoes,
@DriftingMangoes@lemmy.world avatar

Yeah it’s really not that deep. A lot of people simply like the idea of having the latest and greatest.

just_another_person,

To keep our corporate overlords in their elegant fineries. DUH-HOY

amir_s89,
@amir_s89@lemmy.ml avatar

Each year new products & models are launching, so that those in need of it can aquire them. These companies are delivering OS updates for these smartphones so they last longer as realistically possible.

If when yours is broken or far too old, then you should consider aquiring this year’s model. So that you can use something that is compatible with studies, work, activities etc.

Obviously each individual/ family/ organization does their own analysis regarding if there is a need or desire to aquire said products. Also what for.

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