Asklemmy

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

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.

I kinda have to buy a new phone every few years because I only get a handful of years in terms of updates (Pixel 5). After my phone is unsupported by GrapheneOS I might turn CalyxOS and by then maybe I'll buy a new phone.

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

There's a lot of reasons. Single people can spend a lot on tech without thinking. People have lot of money. People don't like their current phone. I say let them spend and keep the companies in business. If all of us stopped buying phones every year and only bought once in 4-5 years, the companies producing phones will have to shut down sooner or later and we'd have just one or two left. I only upgraded recently after 6 years because the phone OS was too old and the cpu was like snail.

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)

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.

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.

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!

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 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.

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)

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

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

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.

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 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.

I had to wait 6 years untill someone released a device that's atleast in some aspects better than the one I already had. If I were forced to switch every year I'd hate most of them.

Switched from LG V20 to Galaxy XCover 6Pro

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

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.