[unni246]

Originally Posted by Hatari

How often do you upgrade your phone?

The million dollar question for our generation!

I have a 4yr old Oneplus 5 that im still using.

A million dollar question indeed

Voted for 4 years as that is normally what I average upon since 2007

The first ever 'smartphone' that I owned was the fantastic N73 from Nokia back in 2007 - bought in Dubai this one was 'made in Finland'. Have got it still lying around in my rack.

Next being the HTC Wildfire bought in end of 2010 from a Physical store on Brigade Road this served me well until 2014 (did have some lags in the end).

The android journey still continued with one of the most hyped phone of the year Xiaomi Mi3 in 2014. Considered myself lucky then when this was a flash sale product on Flipkart

2017, the Mi3 was still running good. But the itch for an upgrade kept bothering me and the trend was the Oneplus 5. Got a good deal with the credit card deal clubbed with my mi3 in exchange.

Fast forward 2021 the Oneplus 5 still runs good. The 6gb ram does get lag sometimes and the 64 GB does run out of space in about a year and a half when its time for a backup and a full reset of the phone. Once reset the phone's as good as new. Surprised with the quality of the hardware that not even the battery has failed on this one yet, touchwood !

Hope this one survives until end of this year

[prabhu.reddy92]

I am a OCD hence I keep my mobiles clean and safe inside a otterbox or spigen case.

I always prefer high end model and use it for 5 years or more.

In 2009, I bought a Nokia 5800 which served me till 2013.

In 2013, I bought a Samsung Note 3 which served me till 2018. Android on an average doesn’t support with updates for more than 2 years, irrespective of whether it is a high end phone or a basic model.

So, I switched to Apple in 2018 and I bought a iPhone 8 plus which is as good as new even today inside a otterbox symmetry case and I am hoping to use it till Apple stops updating it, so my next mobile will be in 2023 or 2024.

[MadRasTan4986]

Overall average 2 years. Using mobile phones since 2005. Had a Motorola which served me well through college and upgraded to another Motorola which was one of those slim ones designed to look like a razr but was not a flip phone. Dabbled with Samsung for a good 3 years but got fed up with their battery and lack of is updates. Switched back to Motorola around 2014 with the G3 and kept that for a good 3 years before dabbling with Apple for 2 years. Decided it was not what I was just comfortable with and it was quite delicate esp since I was in plant. Switched to HMD Nokia 6.1 plus and loved it's simple os and battery life. made the switch to Pixel 3a around 2 years back and I'm very happy with it. Battery life has started to degrade a bit. But I'll stick with this for another year before upgrading to another Pixel or OnePlus. One plus phones overall seem to have a good life and stay updated longer like a pixel phone.

[Tapish]

I usually get a Spigen/ similar case that helps keep the phone new. Another thing, I usually only buy phones from the flagship series since they are usually better built or have better hardware (even if its a generation prior).

My current phone is a Samsung S7 that I bought in Dec 2017. Few days ago, I refreshed the phone and got a new case since I think it will last me another year.

[saisree]

I don’t upgrade my phones, my company does it. It’s been 7 years I bought a phone for myself and I’m too lethargic to have a second number.

[Abhinav_2502]

Have always changed My Phone when there was something wrong with it that affected my routine or was completely unusable. The last 3 phones I changed were almost exactly after 3 years and all due to battery degradation that became extreme almost exactly at the 3 year mark.

With the new faster charging phones I expect average battery life of mobiles to drop further. My current OnePlus despite fast charging(which I use pretty frequently), seems to be holding up well compared to other brands within the family with respect to battery life. Felt really bad upgrading from my previous phone because it worked perfectly well apart from the battery running out within 2 or 3 hours towards the 3 year mark.

[Shiftlock]

One thing I am observing is that generally people with Android phones (except OnePlus) tend to upgrade or change their phones after 2-3 years whereas those with iPhones are content with the performance and hold on for 4 years or more. This shows how good software support helps in retention of devices.

One word to those who recently switched over from Android to iOS: you will be quite surprised to see 3 years later, how your phone will run like new with only a minimal drop in battery life which one can live with for an extra year or two. Unless you get bored of the software experience I feel the iOS trap is quite effective.

[SilentEngine]

5 phones in last 18 years, and 6th one is starting life today! So, 3.5 years seems to be the average for me.

2003-2007 - Nokia 3315 (became obsolete)
2007-2011 - Nokia 6230i (replaced battery once, stayed with me longer as it was working nicely with my Punto's Blue&Me)
2011-2014 - HTC Incredible S (dropped and broke screen)
2014-2017 - iPhone 5s (forced upgrade because of battery drain, it was used as a second phone at home for few more months)
2017-2021 - iPhone 8 plus (forced upgrade because of phone hardware issues, will continue to be used as a second device at home)
2021-* - iPhone 12 mini (just received yesterday! hopefully lasts 3+ years at least)

[HammerHead]

Originally Posted by Hatari

How often do you upgrade your phone?

Currently the logic I use is, till I get meaningful software updates.
I'm still holding on to my iPhone 5S while I also have iPhone 11.

It really depends on what you expectations are. Years back I wanted a big screen phone so moved from Samsung S series over to Samsung Note series. Then I realized that carrying and operating a big screen phone is not as comfortable at it sounds. Yeah again went for a big size phone as there was requirement to read emails comfortably on the go!!

I feel that Samsung S9 or Google Pixel series are of the right size phones.

[Highh5]

Generally, I used to upgrade within 3 years but this time I'm going to hold on to my one plus 6 a bit longer. The camera is not that fluid anymore and even the phone tends to act slow whenever I access the gallery due to 80GB of photos. But still serve the purpose well.

On a side note, when I bought one plus 6 top-spec phone, it cost me less than 40k in 2018 and this time around I can't see any flagships in that range. Technology does getting costly along with time as well.

[viXit]

If it ain't broke, don't replace it.

That said, iPhone users tend to hold on to their phones longer because of the amazing support apple gives for a minimum of 5 years. Not the same case with android. Most phones get 2 years of updates. Off late manufacturers are promising more, but only time will tell.

[vredesbyrd]

Oh boy. Here we go again!

It is a long list, be prepared for it! (photos for reference only)

2009-10: Samsung S3500



My first phone. Absolutely gorgeous phone with great display and sound. Only let down by a slow processor.

2010-12: Nokia XpressMusic 5233



Class Xth Boards result gift. My first foray into touch screens and smartphones. Very nice overall but limited apps, no autofocus and resistive screen.

2012-14: Sony Xperia S LT26i



Class Xth cleared, got into an engineering college and my first android and a flagship phone. Absolutely stellar phone. Felt way better than my current phones. Only let down by subpar work on 4.1 Jellybean update which introduced excessive heating and hanging.

2014-15: LG Nexus 5



Amazing phone. Fast, functional and deadly. Great camera too. Only issue was power button. After two motherboard swaps under warranty, went to a local shop and got power button replaced for 300 bucks. Also, my first experience with custom ROMs (Cyanogenmod) as the phone came with bootloader unlocked.

2015-16: Apple iPhone 5S



Dad wanted the Nexus 5, so here comes the new phone. The best phone I have ever used. Bar none. Everything was nice and premium about it and the biometric sensor was lightning fast. Best camera. Clean and meaningful interface. Less trashy apps. Nothing was built to a cost and OS exceptionally well optimised.
Had to let go due to overheating while charging (nice metal body, who makes those anymore anyway). Wish I had kept it. Apple fixed the overheating and performance drops after the slow update lawsuit.

2016-17: Samsung Galaxy S5



Decent phone but really flimsy and plasticy body. This is the era when Samsung starts providing poor software support to older flagship phones. My first ever screen break. Phone has never been the same after that. Somewhere still in the house. Does't turn on. Also, biometrics were horrible. First signs that I should have stuck to iPhones.

2017-: Samsung Galaxy S7



Gorgeous phone with exceptional screen and camera only second to iPhone. Samsung stock software gives a battery life of 6-8 hours so that's that. Still have it as a test bed. Currently running Black Diamond 9.0 ROM. Battery life back to 18-22 hours but UPI doesn't work because custom ROM.

2019-: LG V30 Plus



Another great looking phone let down by LG's pathetic software support. It has stellar audio and Quad-DAC DSP. Came with B&O Play earphones. Quite a decent camera but OIS is terrible. It is my work/business phone now. Will keep using it for a while.

2019-: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 128GB



By this time, I should have realised that people at Samsung (or Android manufacturers and users) don't care at all about flagship phones post 18 months of launch but me stupid
Very nice screen but curved edge makes it very prone to breakage and cracks. Horrible performance and battery life despite trying to keep the phone and cache as clean as possible. I give up on Samsung and Android. This is my primary personal/media/banking phone. Camera is better than V30 but nowhere near S7 or 5S. Average audio quality and the top firing speaker (which is the earpiece) is already starting to get distorted.

Saving up for iPhone 12/12 Mini as it brings back the design language of 5S.

Mods: If the post is too long, please slice and dice it as you see fit

[punto_]

I usually replace my phones every 3 years, mostly that has beem my average time. I have been using Samsung S series flagships after Microsoft ditched Lumia Flagships. After Lumia 920 & 1020, switched to S6 Edge. After over 3+ years with it, moved to S9. It's 4 months shy from completing 3 years, I would like to move to iOS this time.

I want to hold on to my S9 till next iPhone launches, my phone battery has been acting up since last couple of months, hopefully it will work till end of year. Fingers crossed.

[Quoter]

Originally Posted by Hatari

How often do you upgrade your phone?

The million dollar question for our generation!

I have a 4yr old Oneplus 5 that im still using.

I am still on my 5 year old Oneplus 3

The motherboard gave way around 6 months back but Oneplus was doing a free replacement of all Oneplus 3 and 3t motherboards, so it's as good as new now. The original battery still shows 80% capacity

[GKR9900]

Wow...lemme see if I can take a stroll down the memory lane with this one!

2007 -

My first phone was a Nokia 1600b.This was gifted by my dad when I went away for medical entrance coaching for a month. Loved the way it felt in the hand. Had everything one could ask for in those days polyphonic ringtones, speaking alarm clock, music creator. I still remember the days when I used to take my post lunch recess and try to recreate the titanic tune

2007 -

Cleared my entrance exam and got into a medical college. Nokia N series was all the rage back then. I was gifted an N70 music edition by my parents. Came preloaded with some 100 songs or so. I still remember the road trips (was not of legal driving age yet) with one end of the earphones plugged into the N70 and the other plugged into my ear. Surreal experience!

2008 -

The upgrade bug hit me hard and I couldn't resist myself from getting the Nokia N96. Came preloaded with a hundred or so video album songs and the entire Shah Rukh Khan flick 'Om Shanthi Om'. Yup! I watched the entire movie on the phone Feeling nostalgic about the moments when me and my friends were lying down on the hostel terrace facing the night sky and watching the movie together. Another thing that came included with the phone was a great set of earphones with an integrated remote control. Just had to clip it onto the shirt and never had to remove the phone from my pocket during those long bus/train trips. Unfortunately I got a bit too adventurous with this one. In an age when IP ratings were unheard of, I took the N96 to shoot a motorcycle vlog while on a fairly long trip with my friend. A sudden burst of rainy weather meant the phone was soaking wet and the display damaged. Original display replacement would cost a bomb, so went ahead with a duplicate one and continued using it. Also this was the time when market started shifting towards touchscreens. Having spent 35k on a phone already, couldn't muster up the courage to bring up the topic of touchscreen phone at home. So I went into tinkering mode. Got hold of some website that could make the symbian OS respond to accelerometer inputs. I was determined to make it work and blindly followed the instructions given in the site, uploaded something on to a Russian website, they sent me back a file, downloaded it and installed it onto my N96 and voila! I could control my phone with mere twisting motions of my wrist. Hard to keep that up on a day to day basis though. By the end of almost 3 years, it had become really slow and the battery would just die in a span of 3 hours or so.

2011 -

Time to enter a new galaxy with the Samsung Galaxy S2. Bought one and this was my first foray into touchscreens and android. Loved the android experience which was a breath of fresh air compared to the Symbian. The display was OLED, I had never seen such deep blacks on a phone before. Everything worked flawlessly, but the touchwiz UI slowly weighed the phone down. Formatted the phone a couple of times, continued using it until it was time to let go.

2013 -

I decided to have a clean OS rather than the bloatware rich OS of the other manufacturers. Decided to go with the LG Nexus 5. The phone was smooth as butter. I instantly fell in love with the clean stock android OS. Battery life was the main issue though. By the end of 2014, battery life was becoming a joke. Another issue was the power button loosening up and automatically getting pressed resulting in unintended phone restarts. I still have it with me. Using it as a security camera with Alfred cam app.

2015 -

I loved stock android, but wanted a bit more flexibility. Was wary of bloatware injected UI. Enter the OnePlus 2. The renowned flagship killer was introduced at a killer price. Decided to get one and this was the first time I made a smartphone purchase online. Never visited a mobile shop for purchase since then. Enjoyed the phone a lot. Mine had a sandstone finish at the back which made it very grippy to hold. It is one phone that has aged gracefully. Even after 6 years, it is still snappy. Installed all the updates that OnePlus had thrown in. Currently using it as a secondary phone. I was a OnePlus fan from the moment I bought this phone, so much so that I bought my wife a OnePlus 3 the next year and my cousin a OnePlus 3T the year after that.

2017 -

Oneplus 2 was holding up well, but then I came across this ad of an LG phone being subjected to rugged usage and couldn't keep myself from getting it. Thus the LG G6 was bought. Twin cameras, proper IP 68 rating, military grade 810G durability rating. This was a phone that I would take with me to shoot underwater videos. It was my regular pool companion. And boy did it impress. But the dreaded bloatware issue that I was trying to conveniently forget while getting the G6 slowly cropped up again. Phone was getting slow. Periodic backups, un-necessary apps uninstalled, recurrent formats, nothing worked good. Donated this to my mom. Nowadays, she is subjecting it to proper durability testing in the kitchen, akin to 'Jerry rigs everything'

2019 -

It was decided, I wanted a clean OS with customization options, NO to bloatware, time to rekindle my love for OnePlus. Picked up a OnePlus 7 pro and still using the same. 6.7 in QHD AMOLED with 90 Hz refresh rate is pure awesomeness. The pop up camera ensures that the screen stays clear of any ungainly notches or punch holes. Battery life is great and fast charging is even better. I charge the phone everyday morning when getting ready for work. Everything about the phone feels good and the upgrade bug has not yet hit me, though the phone is nearing 2 years of ownership. I hope to keep it that way.