I have had my smartphone for over two years. I like it. It was the right combination of features and price. Its limitations are that it’s restricted to the 3G band and the battery life is…disappointing for a major technology company. Out of curiosity I surfed to see what other offerings from the same manufacturer are available and in my price range. Found a great looking brand new model that certainly would represent an upgrade, but…I am having a hard time convincing myself to discard a perfectly fine phone. That’s my tendency…to hang on to technology for a while. For example, I am still using Windows 7 on a mid-range Intel Core CPU desktop. What about your phone buying tendencies?
I’m approaching the four year mark on my iPhone 5s. It still does what I need. I did replace the battery several months ago. DH also on year four of the same old iPhone phone with a new battery. Our kids, who also had 5s iPhones purchased at the same time as ours, we recently upgraded them to iPhone 7. They were having more problems with their phones than a battery would fix. We don’t go for the newest thing, but we do want functional devices.
My MacBook Pro is 9 years old and TurboTax informed me that I can’t use that operating system next year. It’s upgraded to the newest OS it can handle so I’ll either have to use the five year old desktop next year, or buy. New computer.
My tendency is when I buy, I buy one of the most updated phones but keep it as long as it cooperates for 2-3 years. I like having a break in monthly phone payments if possible before diving in again. I will update when I my phone runs out of space or I feel like I’m missing out on tech options/advantages of newer phones. I like tech products!!!
Now that I think about it, I’ve been replacing my phone every 2-3 years. When I updated to the iphone 6s (and it wasn’t latest version anymore) it felt like a big jump from the 5. Two years later, its still serving my smartphone needs so to need to replace.
DH and I both replaced our first smartphones, 4-year old Samsung Minis. He got a new Samsung and I got an LG, both lower end–we use them for lots of things but don’t need a great camera or other advanced features. We replaced them because neither would accept any charger, and after trying some short term fixes, we decided we wanted a larger screen and better battery life. Very happy with the upgrade–we’re amazed how much longer the hold a charge!
I bought my new phone when it was slowing down, and the battery life was not good. I had the battery replaced once and it was going to have to be replaced again.
Also my new phone is water resistant. It was time to upgrade
I went from a 5 to an iPhone 7. Also Verizon gave me a very very good deal turning in my 5
When it stops working well, I’ll get a new phone. I have an IPhone 6 that’s a few years old and so far so good.
I kept my phone forever. I went from iphone 4 to 6s plus and wish I went further. Had no idea the capabilities that were available especially on the photo front.
Is 3G sufficient for your use? (what phone sold new in the last two years does not have LTE?)
Are new replacement batteries available? (note: cell phone batteries live a hard life that tends to cause degradation – frequent charge/discharge cycles, often ranging from full to nearly empty)
Is the phone getting security fix software updates? If not, can you and are you willing to put LineageOS on it?
I had a beginner smartphone–Samsung Core Prime. Just replaced after 2.5 years–it had almost no space left–i was deleting things every day, emptying cache more than once a day, etc. Could not use apps i wanted to. Replaced just last week with a Google Pixel 2. Still learning its tricks. It has eight times the capacity of the one it replaced, hoping to have it a good long time.
Garland–I know the feeling. I got to the point that I couldn’t do anything but make a phone call. Couldn’t update apps because there wasn’t enough space on my phone.
Lack of storage was why I bought a new phone the last time. Then I discovered Google suite and now I store my photos and docs in the cloud.
I “upgrade” when my children give me their hand-me-downs. They want the latest technology. I don’t really care as long as it works for me. Currently still on an IPhone 5s
If you have an apple product, you can sell it for a decent price. I get a few hundred dollars for a Mac. For an iPhone, I get under $100. I had an iPhone 5s for four years before I upgraded a few months ago. I keep it until they run out of memory or slow down.
2-3 years. I rely on my phone a lot for both business and personal use. I want the best. I just went from 6 to 10, which was my biggest jump yet.
I have a 5 year old Samsung that sttill works fine. The battery lasts a few days of light use. I’ll replace it when I have trouble with it.
As a woman, bigger and bigger and bigger phones have no appeal at all regardless of the features. I hope I can keep my Iphone 6 forever.
I used my iPhone 5 for almost 4.5 years. Stopped updating its iOS when it would not take updates due to too little memory left even when I moved all photos off it. I lived with iOS 6 until last summer… I am not technology challenged. I just don’t want to spend my money on such stuff unless I need to. 
I’m also going to say this question with vary with what type of phone user you are. Some people seem to use it for the occasional call, a little texting and checking the weather.
I like apps. I do a fair amount of surfing on it. I want good photos. I keep track of lots of stuff on it from books I want to read, to exercise to all my calendars.
I have NEVER got a new phone and regretted it. I usually will say “why did I wait so long?! This is wonderful!”
Our phones used to be “free” with our inexpensive family plan with TMobile. The first smart phone we bought was the iPhone5s for all of us on Sprint in Dec 2012. It was “free” with unlimited data.
After 2+ years we were ready to switch companies and got OnePlus One phones and TMobile for 1/2 the price of Sprint monthly charge.
A little over 2 years ago, S brought a new iPhone 6s for him and me for Christmas 2015. H and D got OnePlus 3 and 3+. S recently got himself an iPhone 8. I just got myself a new battery and am happy with my 6s. When they stop updating the software, I will upgrade because I’m afraid of viruses. I use my phone a lot every day as a mini computer. I’m hoping to get another year or two of use from my 6s. It currently meets my needs well.