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.
I mean, most of the population isn’t buying a new phone every year, it’s just that there are enough people using phones in general that at any given time there are people buying new models. It’s the same reason why there are people buying cars every year.
I personally use my phones for about 3 years. Sometimes up to 4, but usually year 3-4 is when the battery degradation gets so horribly bad and performance stutters so much that I figure if I’m going to do a full reset and buy a new battery and all that, I might as well get a new phone.
Not charging my old phone to 100%, rather to 85% or 90% has helped with battery longevity immensely. After almost 5 years in use, accubattery still shows 80% battery health, and even if that’s not accurate, it still lasts quite a while. The SD625 that phone had was very sluggish though, so in the end I still replaced it
I used to do that, but it was a chore to keep monitoring my battery life. I wish there were a “charge phone to 80% and stop” option.
My samsung has the feature built in, but on that old phone I rooted and installed Advanced Charge Controller. (Not feasible for most people i know)
I don’t know why Google hasn’t put this feature directly into Android. It’s honestly one of the biggest pushes away from Pixel devices for me and it’s absolutely silly.
There are apps you can install to manage it for you on android, automatically cutting off charging when a given percentage is reached.
Pretty sure this is root only. Normal apps don’t have access to the charge controller and I’ve never seen an app that claims to do this without root.
…huh, i wish i knew that earlier. I’m gonna search for it now.
Samsung phones let you restrict the battery percentage to 85 percent. I think Apple does the same now.
See thats where im with OP.
Lots of people do switch every 1-2 years.
And swapping a battery costs idk 40€ and an afternoon, full reset costs nothing and takes 20 minutes. Why would i generate that much trash and spend a thousand bucks on the latest shit thats 99% the same instead?
Capitalism and Marketing, bro.
I know, thats why it’s so annoying.
Just two more reasons not to do it.
I had a oneplus 2 since 2015 or so until upgrading to a 9 Pro in 2021.
Several important apps had locked me out and battery life slowly became a noticable problem. I would’ve been fine for another 3-5 years if the lineage image had still supplied android security updates.The only reason I had to replace my OP3 was because the buttons and screen broke down after 6 years. Battery was max 1 day but it worked for me.
Yeah everyone I know charges their phone over night every day anyway.
I had a 4 year old phone that I had to charge twice a day. I figuered I switch the battery with an official branded replacement which had costed around 100€. The difference between the old and new battery were unnoticable and I still had to charge the phone twice a day.
IPhone maybe? I know they restrict your battery capacity with software as your phone ages, so the short lifespan has nothing to do with the actual condition of the battery. Iirc some other brands do it to, but I don’t know which ones.
It‘s the other way around. Capacity decreases on its own just through usage. What Apple (and other manufacturers, as you said) does is decrease clock speeds of the CPU and RAM to make degraded batteries last longer. Basically trading performance for battery life. And that feature should deactivate automatically if the device senses a new battery being put in. At least it did with my old iPhone 6S.
tough luck. Sounds like it was straining to keep up with background apps / OS updates rather than a broken battery.
Guess trouble shooting is half the battle in these cases.Perhaps the replacement battery was manufactured a while ago?
The only real issue are updates. After just 3 years my previous phone didn’t get any security updates and I had to get new hardware. I actually liked my previous phone more than my current one. But it is how it is.
I hope I dont jinx myself with this but I dont think security updates at the OS level are that important nowadays.
This.
If you have a phone with snapdragon CPU you probably can extend it’s lifespan with custom ROMs that offers security updates. Mine released in 2019, support dropped at android 11, but unofficial LOS with android 13 works great and still updates regularly. No complains here, even the OTA works. Although I do need to flash manually because of root. I don’t see myself upgrade anytime soon.
If you are using an android phone, you can change the ROM to one that still gets updates, it’s like changing the os in a computer. The process will delete all of the user data inside the phone but you’ve got nothing to lose if it doesn’t get any security updates.
I recommend lineageOS to anyone wanting to go down this route because of its compatibility with every phone, old or new.
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Hey there! Have you checked xda for unofficial ports or other ROMs? Might still be better than vanilla
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How difficult is it to change ROM?
It depends. For Graphene OS, there is a web installer that the people who have used it said it was the easiest custom rom they’ve installed. Unfortunately, it only supports for Google Pixels.
For other custom roms… maybe not as easy…
Graphene OS Web Install: https://grapheneos.org/install/web
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Yes that’s true, but I’ve heard from others that the person involved has since stepped down from Graphene OS development, so it should be safe from now on.
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hmmm depends on the phone and what you mean difficult. If you’ve managed to format a computer you’ll be fine. If you’re having trouble downloading chrome or office, maybe think about it again - I’m not saying you shouldn’t try or learn (everybody can learn), Im just saying that it will require an amount of time that I imagine would be uncomfortable to a user that don’t wanna bother downloading a program.
Not all people enjoy computers!
that “security update” quickly gets irrelevant as the exploits for lineage (or any non-standard rom) sells for pennies compared to a stock exploit. also no one’s paying security researchers to assess lineage - also it would be completely impossible with the amount of updates and devices they release
remember that (unfortunately) security is all about money
But more people using stock roms could potentially mean any exploit is more easily found compared to custom roms. Not saying that’s the case, but it’s a factor to consider.
as more people use a software it’s not easier to find exploits but much more profitable - and you see that propagate, as in:
- More people start to use a software
- Inevitably it gets hacked - by a kid most probably
- The company starts panicking due to bad press
- They start fixing the security bugs
- (some years pass)
- Now its quite difficult to find exploit as many security bugs have been fixed
- Exploit prices skyrocket since it would affect many users and it’s difficult to develop
- Bug bounty skyrockets since the exploits are so pricey
Now the last 2 steps tend to cycle since the security of the product fluctuates
Now the above have nothing to do with “residual” products - such as custom roms. And actually, you have so many deeply specialized people around the main product that finding a bug and developing an exploit on the residual is just a matter of “who the fuck cares”.
So you’re basing your security of your phone on “care”, also known as security through obscurity (some times at least).
Another example of “who cares” security is libreoffice. When I started as a security engineer the veteran (and boss) referred to it as training material to find security bugs. I found some, but who cares? Ain’t nobody gonna pay for them as “nobody” uses the software (keep in mind that we’re referring to millions of daily users rather than thousands per month)
Sorry for sheet! ❤️ Be safe and use a password manager
That’s why I installed custom ROM on my Redmi Note 3 and used it for 4.5y until the battery swole.
Switch to iPhone. Or pixel. Longer security updates. Guaranteed
This is why we need law to mandate security updates for 5+ years.
That’s the reason why I switched to iPhone after many years of Android, security updates are vital nowadays with all the sensitive data and apps we use on our phones, Apple is the only one that guarantees al least 5 years, iPhones are not too expensive if you don’t buy the latest models and I’d rather avoid supporting companies that don’t understand the importance of security.
Pixel actually guarantees 5 years now and if you put GrapheneOS on it, then you’ll have one of the most private and secure operating systems available
just a side note for graphene: i have the feeling that it’s not for everyone. “too much” security tends to get in the UX way
Chances are if you know how to use an Android, using Graphene isn’t too much harder. You can still download from the play store and run apps like normal. If you’re reading this post then you probably have the technical knowhow to plug your phone into the computer and press the start button.
Fair point with not being for everybody though, I wouldn’t be comfortable giving it to my non-techy family and friends. You do have a fair point.
I’ve been running GrapheneOS on my Pixel 3 for three years and I have few complaints. I still cant figure out how to get automatic updates to work in Android 13 with the Neo or Droidify stores but atleast the stock GOS apps auto update. BTW, to clarify what you said, we have to use the Aurora app to download from Google Play Store.
You’re right it’s not for most people. Not having Google services installed might be a major blow for people who have become accustomed to the conveniences they provide. I just use a separate vanilla Pixel for Google services if I need them, but the phone with my SIM card is the one with GrapheneOS.
You can turn Google Services on if you would like. I personally do have it turned on as some of my apps wouldn’t get notifications without it. You could use it as a normal android downloading through the play store and nobody would notice that it’s degoogled. All the apps are sandbox and you can change what permissions that have, I previously used CalyxOS and this is much more private and secure.
Does it send telemetry? Why is CalyxOS more secure?
Out of curiosity, which Pixel phone is a good one to have GrapheneOS installed on to last a long time?
The latest Pixel would get the longest update. They follow Google’s support updates which is 5 years from the time it is available for purchase.
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You can do even better than five years with Fairphone (…Speaking as a Pixel user)
But will Fairphone be around in 5 years?
It has been around for 10 years and 4 phones by now, and only gaining in popularity and market share. No reason to predict an early demise yet. The Fairphone 1 controversially only received 3 years of updates, but since then it’s 5 years.
Sad LG Noises
Fairphone is also guaranteed only 5 years. If not, then they are probably using a custom ROM that is not directly supported by Google. I’ll keep my eye out for this company though, the repairability is great and I love the repairability of the phone.
The article I just linked says they’re extending support to 7 years: Out to 2026 for their 2019 model, the Fairphone 3. The article also links to an older article talking about how the Fairphone 2 ended up with 7 years.
I’m in the US so the Fairphone was never really a consideration for me, but if it’s available whenever I need my next phone I’ll definitely look into it. It’s pretty annoying to be using Google’s own phone, and still only have access to 3 years of OS updates.
Interesting. So 7 years for the Fairphone 3 but it seems on their website, for the Fairphone 4, it is only 5 years, they might extend it to 7 years like their previous phones though.
Edit: Apparently Fairphone 4 is coming to the U.S, but with /e/os instead of the fairphone os.
https://shop.fairphone.com/?ref=header
https://www.fairphone.com/en/open-source/
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/07/fairphone-is-coming-to-america/
Well, Google isn’t famous for being reliable in the long run with their services, Apple is proven at this point, tho who knows, I’ll wait a few years and see if Google is still at it with their Pixels.
Googles already been doing this for years.
Pixel and Samsung also have 5 years of updates promised. And more phones are giving at least 3 years. I don’t think most people nowadays are hanging onto their 5 year old phones. Most everyone switches phones every 2 or 3 years.
I’m a fringe case then lol, I keep them until they actually break, they do last 4-5 years for me, sometimes more, I don’t make intense use of my phone, I much prefer using my PC for basically everything.
Apple isn’t the only one that guarantees many years of updates. The fairphone (although currently only sold in the EU, they’re coming soon to the USA) has 5 years of promised support, Google Pixel 6 and later also have 5 years of promised updates, Samsung Galaxy, has 4 years, while one year less than its competitors, still much better than the 1-2 years most phones used to have. Android phones these days aren’t like the wild west back then, Android phones are on par with iPhones, the choice is merely personal preference.
Happy to hear companies are finally getting it.
Yeah exactly. It’s surprising how many people don’t check or care how long their device is being updated. Apple does a great job of supplying their devices with updates long-term.
If you stand there at the store with this year’s iPhone; take the full price divided by how many years you plan to own/ use it. Then you realize it’s actually relatively cheap.
iPhones have decent residual value as well. You should be able to recoup at least a third of the price after three years, if you look after it.
True, I bought an ipad more than 7 years ago to read because e-readers are too small for my liking.
I don’t use it much anymore since I have an e-writer now, but it still receives updates regularly, whatever comes to my phone comes to it as well, it’s impressive.
Both Samsung and Google give you 5 years of updates (at least 3 major Android releases + 2 years of Security updates) for a few years now.
I have just done the same.
Although Google are now promising 5 years of support for Pixel phones, Pixel phones are not a core business for Google, and as they have shown many times, Google will end projects at the drop of a hat with no regard for their customers.
There are secondary Android companies like Samsung that promise long term security updates, but are always behind the publishing curve compared to Google. This means that malicious actors have the opportunity to study Google’s published updates to reverse engineer cracks that they then exploit.
The current Android security update model is inherently insecure due to this issue. Until manufacturers are forced to update in a timely manner ( by which I mean simultaneously with Google) I won’t buy another Android phone.
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Because they welded the one consumable that needs replacement to force you to buy new every few years: the battery
Exactly this. I bought a Oneplus 7 Pro for AUD $750 ($500 USD) in early 2020 and tried to “upgrade” to an iPhone 13 Pro recently. Ended up giving it to my husband and have no plans on getting a new phone again until this one dies. This phone was the last good Oneplus phone before they started transitioning to…whatever they are now. I’ve rooted it, I’ve switched ROMs a few times, I’ve unrooted it and gone back to stock ROM. Love this 2019 phone that seems to be unlike anything else available in the market rn.
Rocking op7pro too here. Changed back covers 5 times already, swapped battery for a new one. Never owned a phone for that long and I have no intention on buying a new one.
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If you buy budget phones, don’t be surprised they stop working soon after the warranty expires. I had a Samsung Galaxy A32 and just a few days after the 1 years mark, the camera lens started to fall out, even when glued back together, the image quality degraded because of exposure to dust and moisture. As to the camera, there is a huge difference between image quality as the phone price goes up. If you get a flagship, the phone camera is just as good as an actual camera. Flagships aren’t really that expensive if you wait a bit for prices to drop. Android phones goes on sale within a few months of release. You can get an Unlocked Google Pixel 7 128GB for $499 in the US, $100 cheaper than the 2 years older iPhone 12. All phones since Google Pixel 6 have minimum 5 years of security updates, same as Apple. Flagships aren’t that expensive if you wait for sales. Using a Pixel 7 for 5 years is better than buying a $100 phone every year.
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Foldables are the only interesting thing to have happened to smartphones in the past like 6-8 years. It’s kind of sad.
While the tech is cool, I don’t see folding screens as an improvement, at least for me. Sure, a larger screen would be nice, but I already carry a laptop that’s WAY more capable than any phone.
All the folding phones are more expensive, less durable, worse battery life, and the software still isn’t 100% even 4 generations in.If I actually cared about having a bigger screen on my phone, I could just buy a normal phone + a tablet for the same price as a foldable.
As an avid user of a foldable, the main points for me are around the convenience and flexibility. I mean, it is literally a bigger screen, but carried around in my pocket. At all times. I don’t need to juggle account information and managing battery and storing/swapping between two devices if I want a screen that’s bigger than a usual phone for playing games on (RCT Classic, Baldur’s Gate, Bloons, Arknights, Crashlands, RuneScape… Lots of great games benefit from the better precision of playing on a bigger screen).
It’s great for reading manga, reading PDFs, watching videos, running two apps side by side (ticket on one side, team chat on the other), each with the normal screen real estate if a whole phone!
I adore the ability to pull out my phone and use it one handed like a normal phone, but then instantly switch to a much bigger, more comfortable canvas running the exact same instance of an app the moment I need to do something more involved than typing a few sentences or scrolling on Lemmy. If I realize I want to type with two hands, it’s so much faster and more comfortable on the inner screen thanks to the split keyboard.
Then it’s on top of all of that that with a flip out kickstand case on it I can carry around a pocket folding keyboard+trackpad in the other pocket and a decent pair of earbuds and then if I’m out and about I can comfortably use it like a mini laptop, writing code with Neovim via Termux or writing things down in my Obsidian vault, or even just chatting - All without it feeling like I’m squinting at a tiny phone screen.
To be fair … That could just be the autism though.
I think you’ve convinced me it makes sense for the right person. Especially if it’s the only device you carry around.
I don’t game on my phone apart from some really simple ones like Minesweeper and Flow Free. Everything else I do is just reading, which I have no problem doing on my Galaxy S10’s screen. I never even considered that something like RCT or RuneScape could run on a phone now. All my serious gaming happens on a desktop or my Steam Deck.
Say what you will about huawei, but in the years when they were fighting to challenge Samsung, both companies made some exciting products.
Those days are long over
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Since there’s virtually no difference between 12mp camera and 100mp camera on phone.
There is. Those huge photos waist a lot of storage space (with virtually no difference in quality) so you want to buy a new phone with bigger storage.
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.
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 is no point. We realised it only recently. If you remember the cell phones from the time before smartphones, there hadn’t been much technological progress. My first cellphone, a Nokia, could store up to 10 short messages. It’s pedecessor had the same storage capacity. Of course, there were technological milestones that have been passed, e.g. antennas which didn’t protrude out of the phone, vibration motors, (in comparison to today) really shitty photo-cameras (and the buggy software that was needed to transfer the photos to the computer), etc.
The point is, that they all were capable to do the same thing: calling and texting. Looking back, there was not really a need to replace the old cellphone. Advertising made us want new shiny things.
This changed when smartphones emerged. Hardware wise, there are not many differences. Some have faster processors than others, others have better cameras. The storage capabilities are sufficient. For the normal user these specifications don’t matter. All smartphones are capable of accessing the (real) internet. The main difference today is in the software (operating system). Older phones run on software that is too outdated to keep pace, and the software support is often limited, which as a result leads to possible security flaws - because the user is supposed to upgrade the hardware, not the operating system only. And that’s why new phones are bought, despite the old ones would still do.
My smartphone ist running on Android 8 (Nougat). It’s still working and is sufficient for my needs. But I wouldn’t run my online banking with that phone. Also, it gets pretty hot and slow when navigating with Google Maps.
Conclusion: It’s not the hardware specifications which lead to the replacement of smartphones. It’s the more complex (security wise) software requirements certain applications (online banking apps, medical apps, e.g. insuline tracking apps, overall more sophisticated apps that runs slow on an outdated smartphone) demand today.
For me, I kept my last phone for 3 years and upgraded because I didn’t have enough storage. New phone is a little nicer, has a few new features, but I may well keep it for a few years again.
My number one reason: battery life
