How often do you upgrade your cell phone?

I asked Gemini and it said:
The average adult upgrades their smartphone every 2-3 years. However, this can vary depending on individual needs and preferences.
Relevant factors:
Battery life, software updates, wear & tear, new features.

Perplexity was a bit more specific:
40.4% upgrade every 2-3 years
28.8% every 4-5 years
14% every year
6.6% every six months
The rest keep them more than five years. This is considered a security risk due to outdated software and lack of updates.

The average lifespan of a smartphone is about 2.67 years.
 
The average lifespan of a smartphone is about 2.67 years.
I think that’s sad. We are such creatures of disposable products. What a waste of resources and a contribution to e-waste. A phone should last more than 5 years and I think the average should be much closer to that.
 
I’ll replace the battery once. When the replacement battery won’t hold its charge, it’s time for a new phone.
 
Still debating. There are some okay Black Friday deals, but this is strictly a want to purchase. In past years, I kept phones longer, but I realized a few years ago that I enjoy getting a new phone.
 
The average lifespan of a smartphone is about 2.67 years.
Jerry1 said:
I think that’s sad. We are such creatures of disposable products. What a waste of resources and a contribution to e-waste. A phone should last more than 5 years and I think the average should be much closer to that.
We may be in agreement - I think that’s the average users choose to replace their phones, not how long the phone itself lasts. Historically Apple has supported iPhones for 5-7 years with software/security updates and they’re still useable beyond that. Our iPhones have gone 6 years with zero issues and without serious battery degradation. I agree it’s a waste, but by choice, not obsolescence or quality.
 
Still debating. There are some okay Black Friday deals, but this is strictly a want to purchase. In past years, I kept phones longer, but I realized a few years ago that I enjoy getting a new phone.
You didn't say if it was a flip phone or smart phone. What features on your existing phone are slowing you down?

Upgrading prematurely is bad for the environment. JK - just stirring the pot.
 
Every year up until my iPhone 12 mini. This size is perfect for me and it still works well. But I may have to give it up and get the latest iPhone Pro for the satellite SOS feature.
 
The average lifespan of a smartphone is about 2.67 years.
That might be how often the average person upgrades. It’s certainly not the lifespan of the phones. I’ve resold several phones a lot older than that.

Plenty of people buy and use older phones. The two limiting factors are the battery life and tech support. I replaced my first iPhone when it couldn’t run the apps anymore. I replaced my next one when the battery swelled. I replaced my last one when it had to plugged in nearly all the time. I’ve got a 13 now that I’ve had for a couple of years. So far no issues so no plans to replace it.
 
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We get new cellphones about every 3-4 years and we always get unlocked phones that can use any network. We were getting Motorola Motos but shifted the Pixels a couple years ago. Currently have Pixel 6a's and like them a lot.

We use Red Pocket Mobile. My plan is unlimited talk/text and 20GB high speed data/month for $300/year ($25/mo). DW is on a plan that has unlimited talk/text and 5GB high speed/month for $20/month.

Recently, we get the exact same phones so if DW has problems it is easier for me to help her out.
 
Approximately every 5-6 years. I buy cheaper phones and the only reason I traded up the last couple times was because I ran out of GB of storage. My last 2 phones only had 16GB and 32GB, this time I upgraded to 128GB so it should last for as long as the battery lasts.
 
I usually go quite a bit longer. I think I went from the original iPhone SE (like 8?) to an iPhone 13 and was very happy with the eSIM and 5G support. I got an iPhone 15 Pro this year because DH really encouraged me to get the much better camera.

If your prior phone is not that old, you can get quite a bit on the trade-in so it’s not so painful.
 
When apps say I can't run on this phone, its time to upgrade.
+1
Also security has to be an issue these days. Apple usually improves the security protocols on the phones. Sadly security for our pocket computers is a high priority concern even for the "little people" like me.

Looking forward to 5g service and face recognition at some point.
 
A phone that rides with me is in harm's way. If I get two years I am pleased. This will change with retirement.
 
Every 3-4 years. I do not need a lot of apps and phone features, so I buy low end Android smartphones. If I can get at least 3 years out of a cheap phone, I am fine with it.
 
I go as long as I can. I just replaced the battery on my current phone, an iPhone SE 2nd gen, from 2020, I believe.
DH has the ProMax11, still works great and updates fine.
 
I upgrade every 2-3 years.

I mostly upgrade for the improved camera. It's my only camera, so I appreciate the incremental improvements.
 
I believe in conspiracies and that includes cell phones. It's my opinion that they have built in viruses that cause them to slowly start to get glitchy and degrade performance over time. My phone is about 2 years old and starting this trend now. Most recently, it will fail to find any cell provider. My wife has the same phone on the same family plan and she'll show full 5G signal and mine nothing. I can put my phone in airplane mode, then back again to re-establish signal, but I had the same problem 2 years ago with my old phone where eventually it failed every time I left the house. I took it to an Xfinity store where I bought it and have as my cell provider. They swapped out the SIM chip and it worked for around 6 months, then failed again. So again I took it in, and this time they offered us a deal on new phones we couldn't refuse. I imagine they'll do the same again with this phone.
 
I believe in conspiracies and that includes cell phones. It's my opinion that they have built in viruses that cause them to slowly start to get glitchy and degrade performance over time. My phone is about 2 years old and starting this trend now. Most recently, it will fail to find any cell provider. My wife has the same phone on the same family plan and she'll show full 5G signal and mine nothing. I can put my phone in airplane mode, then back again to re-establish signal, but I had the same problem 2 years ago with my old phone where eventually it failed every time I left the house. I took it to an Xfinity store where I bought it and have as my cell provider. They swapped out the SIM chip and it worked for around 6 months, then failed again. So again I took it in, and this time they offered us a deal on new phones we couldn't refuse. I imagine they'll do the same again with this phone.

What brand and model phone is it?

My family has had Pixel phones since since 2017 and have never encountered this problem. I've not heard of this happening with iPhones either, at least since Apple confessed to throttling performance to extend battery life, but that was 6 or 7 years ago.
 
What brand and model phone is it?

My family has had Pixel phones since since 2017 and have never encountered this problem. I've not heard of this happening with iPhones either, at least since Apple confessed to throttling performance to extend battery life, but that was 6 or 7 years ago.
Motorola brand
Moto G Power 5G - 2023
 
I believe in conspiracies and that includes cell phones. It's my opinion that they have built in viruses that cause them to slowly start to get glitchy and degrade performance over time. My phone is about 2 years old and starting this trend now. Most recently, it will fail to find any cell provider. My wife has the same phone on the same family plan and she'll show full 5G signal and mine nothing. I can put my phone in airplane mode, then back again to re-establish signal, but I had the same problem 2 years ago with my old phone where eventually it failed every time I left the house. I took it to an Xfinity store where I bought it and have as my cell provider. They swapped out the SIM chip and it worked for around 6 months, then failed again. So again I took it in, and this time they offered us a deal on new phones we couldn't refuse. I imagine they'll do the same again with this phone.
AFAIK Android is open source. I think any "viruses" would have been found by the community.

I upgrade my phone every 3 years or so. I buy a refurb, on Amazon, of the previous version of whatever is the current/newest model.
 
AFAIK Android is open source. I think any "viruses" would have been found by the community.

I upgrade my phone every 3 years or so. I buy a refurb, on Amazon, of the previous version of whatever is the current/newest model.
Yeah, I'm thinking this is something internal to Android and in capitulation with the phone manufacturers themselves, where Android upgrades the OS to a level that current phones start to perform poorly, so the owner decides they need to upgrade their phone. Which they do need to upgrade their phone to successfully run the updated version of Android. Heck, they probably even do this on patches like Windows does, where you can't stop them from doing patches. Windows does the same thing; they upgrade Windows with patches until your computer is unable to work well due to the limitations of memory the computer had to start with. I saw that on my laptops; I'd launch my computer which was running windows and then check on Task Manager to see how much memory and CPU is utilized just from doing that launch. With each upgrade/patch or whatever they call it; I'd see an increase in those resources being tied up. For example, I have a 2-year-old laptop with 16gigabite of RAM. With only Windows Edge browser open, nothing else, 73% of that 16gb of RAM is in use, leaving only 27% remaining. Edge is using 4GB of the 16gb available, so it has to be the internal programs within Windows OR maybe there's programs within the laptop itself. In my case, it's a LENOVO laptop. When I first bought this laptop, it was 38%. I imagine within another year or two, the RAM will be maxed out and I'll have to 'upgrade' my computer.
 
I believe in conspiracies and that includes cell phones. It's my opinion that they have built in viruses that cause them to slowly start to get glitchy and degrade performance over time.

clippy.png
 
I bought this phone new from Motorola 22 months ago. When the time came to update the OS, I got passed-by. The phone now runs an unsupported version of Android (11). That's a risk when you go with the less expensive phone, I guess. It's a racket. I never charge to full and never let it get too low. The battery is in pristine condition, and it's has a screen protector and been in a case. I can only get $50 or less for it.
 
I use them until they start to give me battery problems or the iOS is no longer supported. Started with a iPhone 5, then a 7plus and current phone is the 12 promax. All have been used or refurbished and bought outright.
 
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