For me, it’s just the fact that phones… are phones. They all look the same, function the same, there’s just nothing new happening with them.
Sure, chips get better and faster, they’ll add another camera to it and fiddle with the dimensions a bit, but that’s not innovation. All phones look like boring rectangular slabs.
Back in the late 90’s, phones had way more variety and personality. Candybar, flip, even the sidetalkin’ taco that was the Nokia N-Gage. A Motorola Razr looked nothing like say, a Nokia or Sony Ericsson. And those were distinctly different from your Samsung or Mitsubishi phones (Yes, Mitsubishi made phones!).
I’d love it if we went back to more phone variety, but I fear the smartphone has effectively killed every other style. Most people wouldn’t ditch their big screen smartphone to go back to a small flip phone.
The Motorola Droid 2 was my first smartphone and I sorely miss that slide out keyboard with dpad.
Foldable phones are coming back. Innovation is there its just a lot slower, probably because releasing the same phone every year makes so much money.
Well, while those flexible screen flip phones certainly look like neat tech, it’s not the same as the flip phones we used to have.
And it’ll need a few more versions before I’m comfortable buying one. Those screens tend to be just a bit too fragile.
Yeah right now they are, but that’s innovation, making foldable screens and then ultimately making them more durable.
Then cost has to come down aha, cause holy moly.
I can’t believe this page still exists
Yo, write better titles. I thought this was a video about how they didn’t want to upgrade to Android 15 or something. But it’s not. It’s just about not buying a new phone every two years 😆 In my opinion buying a new replacement isn’t ‘upgrading’.
Difference between updating and upgrading
Why I refuse to upgrade to a new phone - 8 minutes video explaining why it’s not that interesting to
upgradebuy new phones nowadaysI think that’d fit better.
But you all made me look it up on Wikipedia: “Upgrading is the process of replacing a product with a newer version of the same product. In computing and consumer electronics an upgrade is generally a replacement of hardware, software or firmware with a newer or better version, in order to bring the system up to date or to improve its characteristics.”
I’m confused. Maybe because so many people use those terms wrongly. And I suspected them doing that. But I think I’d still like to refuse using the same term for describing upgrading a computer with an additional $35 RAM stick and buying a new $2.500 gaming rig.
Personally, although the terms have become increasingly blurred over the years, I refer to changing to a new version of software (including an OS, and both ideally with some improvements) as updating it rather than upgrading.
I reserve upgrade more for changes of hardware with some form of improvement over its predecessor. I’d suspect I may not be alone in this, but I dunno how common it may be. When switching to a mix of both, I simply say I’m getting a new [insert specific device depending on which].
Although I’d hesitate to call many new phones an all-around upgrade when they’re either removing features (headphone jack/expandable storage) or getting more cumbersome to hold (can you even call some modern phones a handset anymore?).
I agree with your terminology - updating is for often small incremental software patches.
Upgrade would be a complete program overhaul, or more commonly in my use of it, a change to a newer, better physical product.
You upgrade your phone when you can no longer use the previous one. What other reason would there be? They’re all the same anyway.
That’s kind of the point. There was a time in the 2010s when each new device could do something that they couldn’t previously do. But it seems like the market has figured out what people want from their phones and that’s what they are getting now.
10+ years ago, it was very common to get an upgrade to your phone ever two years (or less). And at the time, there was a lot more variability in phones. And I mean in more than just battery life, storage capacity, camera quality, processor, etc. There used to be a variety of form factors to consider, sizes, genuinely different features and functionalities. The iPhone came about in 2009, and other smart phones soon followed, but even then there were still phones with physical keyboards, digital keyboards with stylus typing, flip phones, etc. Once smart phones completely dominated the market and all the manufacturers started just copying each other’s features and designs, eventually we got to the status quo of today where they’re all essentially the same. The only major difference now is the OS, and that’s largely just down to iOS vs Android.
Buying a new replacement totally is upgrading though.
That’s why it’s so rare to find phones with easily changeable batteries as most phones are like new if you just replace that.
I’m still on 13 just because I didn’t see any point to upgrade.
I mean, I don’t see the point in not upgrading when your device supports it. The interface pretty much stays the same at this point, and they usually do improve on security, and other background stuff.
The smartphone market has matured, so there is less of a difference between each generation. Earlier on there was a massive difference in performance:
The OG Galaxy S had 512MB of RAM, 8GB storage, and a single Arm A8 core at 1GHz, and the SII had 1GB of RAM, 16GB/32GB storage, and a dual core A9 at 1.2GHz. This is a single generation with double the RAM and more than double CPU power, and nearly 6x the GPU power (theoretically), and 2-4 times the storage.
Then the SIII came out with a quad core SoC 1.4GHz, a much larger screen with higher resolution (jumping from 480p to 720p), significantly bigger battery, and up to 64GB of storage.
The S4 doubled the RAM to 2GB, faster storage, significantly faster and more efficient SoC, a larger, 1080p display paired with a much more powerful GPU, and a significantly larger battery as well.
Back then, if you had the money, there was a considerable difference between each generation and there was a reason to upgrade, many not every year, but if you could afford it, upgrading every other year made sense.
After that, changes were much more calm. Sure, some phone makers made exciting and innovative stuff, but the hardware didn’t have a massive difference from one generation to another, and also prices were rising.
Nowadays, phones are far less exciting, but flagship phones are ludicrously expensive, and yet they sell incredibly well. While phones are being improved from one generation to the next, they feel like small steps rather than a giant leap. Our demand for power hasn’t gone up quite as fast as our phones themselves. People will keep buying phones less frequently, just like we do for laptops.
I’m using an almost four year old iPhone 12 mini, with absolutely no desire to upgrade. I plan to use this phone until it’s a brick.
I have pixel 3…works just fine. Except there are no more updates past Android 12 for this phone.
Apps that I need, like okta verify now require Android 14. So I’m forced to upgrade.
Just like others who had older iPads, then they call me asking why Chase app doesn’t work and says they need an upgrade…but old iPads won’t upgrade to the version needed.
Planned obsolescence… I hate tech nowadays. I want 90s back with dial up Internet and home built beige boxes
Just wait till you break it to buy a new one, if you’re lucky you’ll be able to hold on to your phone long enough that it will feel like an actual upgrade instead just being new.
I did that but lost my headphones jack with connected built in quad DAC, a reliable fingerprint reader mounted on the back of the phone, and front facing camera that wasn’t crammed under my screen causing an annoying dead spot…
A reliable, fast fingerprint reader that you can feel, where your index finger is naturally placed already when removing your phone from a pocket, so that you can effortlessly unlock the phone before you’ve even got it out.
Not having to wake the screen to see whether the reader is, either reach awkwardly with the thumb of the hand holding the phone, or use a finger from the other hand, then press hard maybe three times until it works (with the added side effect of a bright flash of light at night).
Why did they think this was better? Could we maybe have one on the edge, or the power button?
Having my fingerprint sensor located on the power button of my phone has been an absolute life changer. I have zero clue why companies keep insisting on putting the fingerprint sensor in some nebulous place under the screen or on the back. It’s beyond me.
I am responding to you on an LG V30 that I haven’t been able to part with because of the things you mentioned.
The battery life sucks and sometimes the fingerprint reader on the back doesn’t work right but I can’t bring myself to buy something new that doesn’t have the features I want. It just feels like I’d be downgrading.
Every 2.5 years for me. I usually get two generations back. My “newest phone” is a Pixel 6 from Oct 2021.
Honestly it feels like a subscription service these days.
I’d like replaceable batteries to come back.
My Fairphone does, and I have already purchased a batter for 35 euros, which I keep in my drawer. The phone is now just over 3 years old, probably in a year or so I will replace it. I am aiming for at least 6-7 years lifespan.
Every single phone upgrade since 2012 was because the battery would get so bad, it lasts less than an hour.
And before someone goes, “Ah try ifixit”, the cost of the replacement parts was as much or more than just getting another used phone from like swappa. I’ve done the financial math countless times.
I miss buying batteries for like $20 and watching the phone become new again.
Just buy batteries from aliexpress, ebay…
Which phones are you buying that have batteries that cost hundreds of dollars? Every battery replacement I’ve ever done cost waaaaaay less than the cost of a replacement phone.
Getting genuine or similar peforming replacement batteries for cheap is sort of a gamble.
So say we all.
Been waiting to use that ;-)
I as well. At the very least, we need some fucking differences in the market. Every phone doesn’t have to be the same. Imagine the car market if all we could buy were Chrysler 300s. It looks sleek and nice but will crap out on you in a couple years and doesn’t really fit in well with your career as a general contractor. When it dies, you have to go buy another one and start the cycle over.
That’s why I’m eyeing to get a Fairphone as soon as my current phone breaks
It doesn’t even have to be interesting. It’s enough if it’s not disgusting
Upgrade when you feel it’s time to upgrade, not because the latest and greatest just released again.
I feel it’s time to upgrade when the latest and greatest just released again.
/s
Let me give you a simpler answer than watching an 8 minute video - Money
I’m still using an iPhone 7. I might get an upgrade at some point because multiple things are broken and I don’t really have space on the storage anymore, but I totally agree that you can live many years with the same phone without any problems.
Okay but I’d rather hear this from someone who is actually using a 5+ year old phone, not a guy who has a 1 year old work phone that he “plans” to keep for an undefined amount of time. Everyone says this and then they break it and decide the cost of a repair isn’t worth it, or just cave to the first trade in deal they receive in their inbox. There is a lot of virtue signalling about e-waste and the environment from these tech reviewers and influencers on YouTube but very few of them actually follow their own guidelines.
and then they break it and decide the cost of a repair isn’t worth it
Yep, that was me with my previous phone, which I did indeed have for over 5 years.
But there’s another major factor to it.
I use Android phones, which get official software updates for only a couple years (3 years for the most part). This includes security updates.
So when I got my current one it was one of only two I even considered, because only those two manufacturers promised 5 years of (security) updates at the time.
It has gotten better though, but except for Fairphone they’re still all very hard or impossible to repair.
I’m still rocking a Galaxy S9+ with no intent of upgrading. I don’t even know what phone I would go with if I did need another.
I don’t see any reason to upgrade my S10
My anecdote…I used my last phone until it died. It was around 4 years old and the eMMC storage failed from age, making the device a suddenly totally unusable brick. Before then, it had gotten very slow and laggy over time and the battery life degraded to be pretty sucky…barely surviving the workday on standby in my pocket.
From my experience, I don’t know that I would necessarily advise using a device for that long. The battery just gets too shitty and its sudden death made it a bit of a scramble to buy a new phone. Granted, my previous phone was fairly low end, but even with a high end device, batteries degrade to almost unusable levels after a few years. I know it sucks for the environment, but it seems like less of a headache to keep a phone for only like 2-3ish years and then upgrade it while it’s still working as opposed to waiting for it to irreparably bork itself.
Edit: If you’re able to do a battery replacement, I will say that it does change the conversation somewhat. But long gone are the days of easily user serviceable battery replacements for most phones. Yes, there are obscure phones out there that make it easier to swap out the battery, but these phones aren’t exactly prominent.
I have a Galaxy S10e, purchased the day it launched, 6 March 2019. Today, March 25 2024, it is 5 years old.
My phone is in good physical shape and running fine. The battery isn’t quite what it used to be, but it loads web pages and apps well, the UI is responsive, I look at new phones and there’s not a single thing there I want. When my previous phone, an S4 Mini, was this old (yes I had an S4 Mini in service for 5 years) it was getting kind of slow, there were apps in the app store that wouldn’t run, I had replaced the battery…I still wasn’t really looking forward to upgrading. My S10e is…fine. If it kept getting updates, I’d gladly keep it in service.
What’s more, I look out at what they’re advertising on phones now and I’m like “don’t need that. Actively don’t want that. Want to not have that. Okay the anti-glare coating would be nice. Don’t need AI. Don’t need titanium. I don’t game on my phone…”
What’s more, I look out at what they’re advertising on phones now and I’m like “don’t need that. Actively don’t want that. Want to not have that. Okay the anti-glare coating would be nice. Don’t need AI. Don’t need titanium. I don’t game on my phone…”
Yeah I know what you mean. Somewhere in that 2017/18/19 period phones suddenly began losing a lot of what I would consider important features like the option for a truly small size, headphone jacks, SD card slots and 16:9, uninterrupted displays and I don’t feel like any of the improvements since have justified that. I think the only thing that may force me to switch permanently to a newer device is if the 3G shutdown in Australia renders my older phones unusable. At the moment I’m using an XZ1 Compact and it’s still enjoyable to use because it nails so many of those features that I just can’t get in a newer device. I bought a secondhand razr 2023 at the start of the year but found I just preferred using older phones.
Are you really getting updates though? Samsung latest phones are expected to be getting updates for 7 years but as far as I know the s10 range isn’t officially supported anymore. Samsung don’t need to provide security updates to your phone anymore. I think the last one was Q4 of 2023 and it made the news because it was unexpected.
The S10e does have good custom ROM support so perhaps that’s how they’re getting Android updates.
It’s all about the idea. Even if the guy is not following through with his plan, a couple of the viewers might do so, marking it a success.
I sadly became one of those people last year. I had every intention of keeping my Pixel 5A for a long time but when faced with a $250 repair bill I bought a used pixel 6 for $240 instead of fixing it. I do regret it because the battery life and antenna on the 6 is awful compared to the 5a.
I’ve upgraded to Pixel 7 last year to run GrapheneOS. Honestly it was a very underwhelming upgrade. My 2019 Oneplus 7T is still kicking running LineageOS, could go back any second and not notice.
Using a pixel 4a still. OS is unsupported and battery life has gone down the drain. I’m holding out for the Pixel 8a because Google has pledged 8 years of support. I really wish decent phones came in sub-6.1" size, but days just what I’m working with. Losing the headphone jack will suck.
I’m rocking pixel 3.
I’ve got a friend whose earpiece on their iPhone stopped working. They could repair it, or upgrade for basically the same price. Their iPhone is a few years old at this point (3 years I think, maybe older), which is crazy to me. But it’s true. When something breaks the cost of replacement is often on par with the cost of repair for small tech like phones. Th system is basically rigged to make you upgrade. Also, with a work phone, the upgrade schedule isn’t up to him. It’s up to the IT department and the corporate office. They may decide to buy new phones next year or something.
I have a Redmi Note 8, i think. It’s att least 5 years old, maybe 6. I have no reason to change it.
Yesterday I returned to redmi 4x after mi11 lite’s quality had been proven (motherboard issues, modem) plus my “professional” repairs not working well. It is somehow working very well. Xiaomi phones until 9-10th series were great.
I mean, makes sense that people would rather get a new phone that costs the same as a repair.
That said, had been using a S5 myself for five years before the phone died. As I ain’t that big on mobile gaming (and the ones I play don’t demand much), the phone did all I needed to. Currently using a S10+, because that’s the last Galaxy S model with both headphones and SD support.
Last couple upgrades was iPhone 7 -> 11 Pro -> 15 Pro. Each brought me something significant (FaceID, 120hz screen, magsafe, wireless charging, etc) along with a nice speed boost. I feel like the sweet spot for upgrading is 3-4 generations.
I upgrade when I kill my phone. There’s just no other reason to do it otherwise
Same. However I do work manual labor, so nothing too fancy lasts long.
I went from an OPPO find 5, to oneplus 1, then OnePlus 5, and now pixel7a. The OnePlus 1 was probably the only one I was impressed by and the others were just replacements. I don’t plan on changing until Linux phones are less of a pain in the anoos or if the 7a gets totalled. I’m the family tech guy for a lot of people that always upgrade to the latest phone and nothing worthwhile ever happens in a decade of phones any more. If anything they get worse with more planned obsolescence and proprietary bullshit.
All new phones are too fucking big.
Counterpoint: my eyes are not what they used to be 20 years ago and 6,5…7" screens hit the sweet spot for useability. Especially since bezels are super thin these days so a 6,7" phone today is barely larger in total dimensions than a 5,5" phone 6 or 7 years ago.
It’s fine for bigger phones to exist, the problem is that small phones don’t exist. You don’t have the option anymore
Pixel 4a checking in. 🙂
My current phone, actually. I’ve been looking for newer at the same size or less, and it’s pissing me off.
This. Had to replace my trusted s10e. Picked the smallest I could get, which was an s23. It’s too big.
