Asklemmy

Sorry for hijacking this thread, how do you like the Poco F5? It's currently on my radar

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 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 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.

The camera technology advances significantly every year, so it really matters if you’re a photographer.

Beware of your phone going out of support and losing security updates. Android manufacturers tend to drop devices after 2-4 years, Apple after 4-5.

There's an actual reason for me, which is still not good enough of a reason for me to actually buy a new phone even if the old one is still working. Emulation! My Snapdragon 888 is good enough for 3DS, PS3 and Wii and all this stuff, but it can't keep up with the current develpments in Switch emulation. That's why I'm already looking forward to my next phone (as soon as my current one doesn't work anymore)

I finally had to upgrade after 5.5 years because software support was lagging for the version of Android I was on.

I buy a new phone anytime a new innovation comes out. I ordered the Google pixel on day 1 and am loving it.

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.

I previously thought it would be a way to upgrade phones faster without losing (much) money.

Say, you have a 800$ phone and you want a new 800$ phone. Most people would just buy a new one for 800$ (outright or installment, doesn't matter) after 2-3 years. My idea was to buy a new phone every year, sell the older one for half the price and voila - you paid the same amount but got two phone upgrades.

The problem with that logic is that reselling takes time, energy and luck to get the price you want, plus it is possible to buy new phones for cheaper by just waiting anyway.

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!

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

I only upgrade my phone when it starts to lag and slow down. My last phone I replaced the battery when the life started dropping.

Many people upgrade every year because of perceived obsolescence.