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.

SeaJ,

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.

MythicWolf,

I drop my phone so often that how easy or hard it is to replace the screen on my own and how cheap a replacement is factors onto deciding to buy a phone.

zikk_transport2,

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!

B16_BR0TH3R,

There’s lots of focus on performance from vendors like Apple, Samsung and others operating in the same space. Cat phones, however, are known for having crappy perfomance due to the cheap CPUs they use.

MajorMajormajormajor,

Have you thought about flashing a custom rom on your phone, or getting a phone that supports custom roms if you don’t have one already?

I have an old samsung galaxy s5 still running LineageOS and while a little slow it’s still usable as a backup in case my current phone shits the bed.

The process is fairly straightforward, and if you’ve installed linux on a laptop you can install LOS on a phone.

mojo,

This is why I exclusively stick to Pixels. Honestly don’t really care about the hardware, it’s okay. But it’s the only phone that lets you flash it and reflash it with a custom key so you can have verified boot on a custom OS.

Android is a tricky situation, there’s very few phones that actually allow you to unlock the bootloader, and only Pixels can do it securely. Samsungs are basically a no go unless it’s an older phone that has gotten cracked open. Like Samsung S5 old.

So ironically Google phones are by far the best to degoogle your phone lol, and they actually go above and beyond to let you do so. Even the new Pixel fold and tablets support this. I personally recommend GrapeheneOS or CalyxOS for these devices, both are really good.

I choose my custom OS first and then pick the actual physical phone second. For me, I value software over hardware, but obviously that’s important too.

_haha_oh_wow_,
@_haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works avatar

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.

float,

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.

TheAnonymouseJoker,
@TheAnonymouseJoker@lemmy.ml avatar

Got any clues on a modern compact device, other than Asus Zenfone 10? Its getting so bad for us compact enjoyers, and all the research makes me end up either on Zenfones, Sonys and budget Oppos/Vivos.

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.

Nobug404,

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.

palantus,

Never say never. After buying my OnePlus 9 pro, my carrier transferred the money to me instead of from me. Realizing the mistake, they immediately transfered it back again, but that only resulted in a 0 and thus I never actually paid for the phone :)

In most other cases you are right though.

richteratmosphere,
@richteratmosphere@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

I bought an unlocked Pixel 6 near launch on sale and intend to use it until security updates cease (five years from launch).

wheeldawg,

I got the pixel 7 last year since my old pixel 2xl was out of security.

Well that and the battery was terrible and it was sluggish as well in general and a screen crack that didn’t affect functionally, but was annoying af. Still have it around as a spare device to go back to if this one has an issue.

nouben,

Same here, kept a pixel 2 for way too long, i had to charge it 2 times a day if i used it as a smartphone ^^ though i didn’t feel it become sluggish

drekly,

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.

Kyoyeou,
@Kyoyeou@lemmy.world avatar

That’s a very wholesome story

fidodo,

The only feature that motivated me to upgrade to my latest phone was a much better camera and I wanted that for traveling.

NENathaniel,

I like having high-end cameras and screens on my phones.

I keep my phones in excellent condition and sell them whenever I upgrade, which doesn’t make it a crazy expensive process.

GentlemenPreferBongs,

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.

Pssk,
@Pssk@lemmy.ml avatar

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 fsfe.org/activities/…/index.en.html

sloonark,

In my experience, batteries start to deteriorate after about two years or so.

Synthead,

Ain’t it a shame that you’re talking about tossing a phone for an $8 battery?

misterundercoat,

It’s such a racket. My 3 year old phone is perfect except for the battery. I remember back in the day I could pop open my case with my thumbnail and the battery was just sitting there ready to swap. Nowadays that process involves specialized tools and heating pads to melt glue. I’m hopeful that the industry is trending toward removable batteries again, but that’s still years away.

TheAnonymouseJoker,
@TheAnonymouseJoker@lemmy.ml avatar

No, you absolutely do not need a heat gun and special tools for like 95% of phones. You can use a multi screwdriver kit, spirit/alcohol and T-7000 glue, all of which cost together under $20. Alcohol to dissolve the glue beneath the sticky pull tabs/glue that phonemaker put for battery, and T-7000 glue to repaste the unibody back cover. This covers basically every phone ever made.

I did love my removable battery phones, but this is purely misinformation spread out of lost convenience for something you need to do once in 2-3 years.

_haha_oh_wow_,
@_haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works avatar

Heat guns aren’t even all that expensive. I got a really nice one for like $100.

TheAnonymouseJoker,
@TheAnonymouseJoker@lemmy.ml avatar

I am giving advice to people emotional about their removable batteries, and that will find more money spending as an excuse to justify their whining. Not spending $10-15 makes them look bad, $100 gets a bit expensive. Most of these people whining are either students with no income, or “enthusiasts” who want a Mate S23 Ultra Plus Pro Max secondhand for $200.

_haha_oh_wow_,
@_haha_oh_wow_@sh.itjust.works avatar

Fair enough.

Metallibus,

Honestly, this is more bad “charging hygiene” than anything else. I thought this was the case too until like 10 years ago when I learned how Li-on batteries worked, and since then, I’ve had negligible battery deterioration after 3+ year old devices.

The TLDR is don’t charge your phone past ~80% except on rare days you need the extra juice, and by extension, definitely don’t leave your phone on the charger overnight. Most people do exactly that and it absolutely murders your battery health.

If you’re on Android, AccuBattery is helpful with charge alarms and detailed info if you want to learn about it.

If you have a Samsung with the “protect battery” quick option, it’s a god send and makes this all super easy.

Synthead,

If the battery greatly damages itself by charging past 80%, then the device should be aware of that and accommodate. I should never have to set an alarm to unplug my phone in fear of destroying it. This isn’t the 90s, where we tried to avoid over-charging Ni-Cd batteries. Making it work for the lowest common denominator is the only way to do it.

If, you know, you’re a company that doesn’t want your customers to buy more of your stuff. Yay e-waste.

sloonark,

I don’t know about other manufacturers but I have a Pixel phone and it has a smart charging feature that learns what time you normally unplug it in the morning, and it intelligently manages the charge overnight to minimise potential battery damage from overcharging. Is this not a standard feature across phone manufacturers?

Synthead,

My OnePlus 7t also has this feature, but it was added as a recent Android software update. It’s great to see that it’s on the Pixel! This probably means that it’ll probably be distributed among other flavors!

passepartout,

Consider buying a phone which lets you change the battery considerably easy. I watch teardown videos of phones before i buy one to compare the process and the likeliness of me breaking something in the process. Of course not everyone is going to do this, but you could ask a friend to do it (i changed batteries for phones of at least 3 or 4 people by now).

hsr,
@hsr@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

I’d say that’s only half the problem. While ease of disassembly is a factor I’d personally consider when buying a phone, I feel like the more difficult part is finding a good quality battery replacement. For the most popular phones (Galaxy S series, iPhones, and a few others) you can probably find a battery at a reputable site like iFixit, otherwise you’re stuck with ordering something that supposedly matches the part number on Amazon or some sketchy Chinese site. Is it a new part or a refurbished OEM battery? Is it anywhere close to advertised capacity? Will it work any better than the used battery you’re replacing?

TheAnonymouseJoker,
@TheAnonymouseJoker@lemmy.ml avatar

Huawei P30 Lite. 4 years. More or less 1:1 size of S10e, compact enjoyer with big hands. Got battery replaced for a whopping $20, officially. No security problems, keep my Firefox with uBO updated, solid firewalling and app permissions in check.

I have a whopping total of 5 closed source apps (including Whatsapp and Discord sandboxed in work profile) with internet connection, all of which are fully safe as far as security goes, if not privacy. One of the other apps is safe for privacy as well. All of my apps that are not these 5, are installed from F-Droid.

I will upgrade though, because the camera on this at night is no longer competent enough, and there are camera sensors far superior than 1/2.8" on main and 1/4.0" on ultrawide. (1/1.0" main and 1/1.5" ultrawide are peak hardware these days, amounting to atleast 2x better photos and videos which is significant and worth it.)

DJDarren,

Because the megacorps who make the phones like money and that’s how they get it.

From an individual perspective, unless you can afford it and like having the new phones, there’s basically no point in upgrading every year.

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