OT: How long before you switch to new cell phone? And why? | The Boneyard

OT: How long before you switch to new cell phone? And why?

Hans Sprungfeld

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My last few phones have had major failures, requiring replacement. This one is different. It's a 14 month old Moto G5+, which has stopped sending Voice Mail notifications and won't get me to the necessary screen to clear cache ever since the upgrade from Android 7.1.1 to 8.1. Not major, but annoying, and so far not easily solved.

I bought it and its two Moto successors because of their stock Android & value pricing, with good specs & performance, believing that premium phones don't warrant the cost for a 2-3 year lifespan.

Do I wade around in Lenovo Forums looking for answers that aren't jumping out, or just pony up another ~$250 (or less) for the G6, with better specs and none of the digital clutter that comes with heavy use, too many apps, stretched memory, etc.?

Asking as someone happy with buying a car off lease and keeping it until it's worn out.

How do you make the call?
 

ConnHuskBask

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Funny enough, I bought a Moto G6 for around $200 bucks on Black Friday. My Samsung S5 after 4 years could no longer hold a charge.

Put me in the camp of waiting until your phone dies before getting a new one.

Also, I walk through an Apple Store everyday to work and have to laugh at all the iPhone fan boys shelling out $700-$1,000 bucks for an Instagram/Facebook/snap chat machine solely based on marketing alone.
 
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Funny enough, I bought a Moto G6 for around $200 bucks on Black Friday. My Samsung S5 after 4 years could no longer hold a charge.

Put me in the camp of waiting until your phone dies before getting a new one.

Also, I walk through an Apple Store everyday to work and have to laugh at all the iPhone fan boys shelling out $700-$1,000 bucks for an Instagram/Facebook/snap chat machine solely based on marketing alone.


In fairness, I was once in the camp of buying a new iPhone every year and one thing that gets missed is a $1000 new iPhone will sell on eBay for $700 the following year, so after your initial investment you are paying a much lower “upgrade” fee. That being said, new phone upgrades are nominal (and I now have kids so less disposable income to throw away) so I stick to more of a two year cycle.
 

HuskyHawk

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I'll get rid of my Apple 8+ as soon as it hits two years old. The newer phones have larger screens with a smaller format and weigh much less. This thing is so heavy.
 
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I have an iphone 6s only 16 gb and will keep it until it doesn't work. I missed out on the $29.99 battery special apple ran last year but I'm tempted to get it changed in the next year before buying a new phone. I don't see a need to keep up with the Jones. I just need a phone that can call, text and use the internet. I obviously don't have many apps on my phone so that isn't important. I was tempted by the Iphone XR trade in special but the screen isn't that great and 5g is just around the corner. Better to wait.
 
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My daughter brought me a pixel XL (the original) a couple of years ago. Before then I would buy (i.e. or upgrade) every 2 years, thinking I wanted to keep up with the latest tech, including better/stable wifi and bluetooth, quicker response, larger drive, etc.. That was when phones were under $400 bucks.

Now my Pixel is outdated, yet still does everything I need it to business wise and socially. Also it still receives the OS updates immediately. Furthermore I have not even used it to its full potential. I will keep this phone until it breaks or becomes unusable. If they stop automatically updating it I'll just root it. Even if it get water damaged I will use the rice trick first, which worked a couple of times before with other phones.

In other words I don't need a new phone. There are no new features I need or will use often enough to justify. I will say I do keep up with the latest and greatest phones out there, but damn spending $800 to make phone calls, take a few pics, check emails and texts is crazy.

When that day comes I will take a strong look at a 'newer model phone' but used, and unlocked.
 
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I usually keep my phone until it breaks or doesn't hold a charge. 3-4 years typically. I've had an OG pixel for about 2 years now and it's the best phone ive ever owned.
 

storrsroars

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Same here. No need to upgrade if the phone is doing what I need it to do. Currently an LG Nexus 5 on GoogleFi plan.
 

ConnHuskBask

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Until it dies.

Why do walk through an Apple Store to get to work?

Tough to explain the layout unless you've ever been the World Trade Center Oculus. But essentially it's the best way to get to ground level.
 

8893

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Like everything else, I use it until it dies. I was one of the last BlackBerry holdouts and I still regret having to switch to iPhone. I have only seen one person with a BlackBerry since, around a month ago, and I asked if I could hold it because I still miss the real keyboard.

In any event, I switched to an iPhone 6, which was the newest at the time, and that's what I still have. I believe it's almost five years old now and I have no issues, except that it's not a BlackBerry.
 
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I usually keep mine till it doesn't hold a charge or i break it from dropping/ running it over with equipment. My screens are always cracked cause I abuse my phones. Thinking about going back to a flip phone. Miss my Motorola v60 when times were simplier
 
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I keep mine until it stops working or until I run into a 'good deal' on a stock android phone with a good value to price ratio, so budget phones. What you typically sacrifice on is the camera with these phones but otherwise they function well.

I was going to get a moto g5 plus when it came out in 2017 but I got a Huawei Honor 8 for $180 and it's worked great. Found the perfect case for it and have dropped it many times and it's still going strong.

Alcatel Idol 5S - 32 GB - Unlocked (YMMV) $49 02-05-2019

See if you can find this for $49, might be a nice 1 year investment if there's stock at the clearance price near you.
 
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I have an iphone 6s only 16 gb and will keep it until it doesn't work. I missed out on the $29.99 battery special apple ran last year but I'm tempted to get it changed in the next year before buying a new phone. I don't see a need to keep up with the Jones. I just need a phone that can call, text and use the internet. I obviously don't have many apps on my phone so that isn't important. I was tempted by the Iphone XR trade in special but the screen isn't that great and 5g is just around the corner. Better to wait.
I did battery change and it worked for 3-4 months before that was no longer helping. So don't feel like you missed out. Did same thing with my wife's phone with similar results.
 
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It sounds like this is a thread for old grumpy men. I'm reminded of the Progressive commercial where the guy shows everyone his flip phone and says "why should I get a new one? This one works fine." Not judging it. You be you. I think the every year upgrade is a bit excessive, but I do enjoy getting new tech every once in a while.

I personally try to go three years. I just upgraded from my iphone 7 at 2 years, however, because I dropped the phone while plugged in and I think I bent the charging port. So the cable had to be jiggled to stay attached and many times I'd find my phone dead despite being plugged in. I decided to go with a new phone despite only being 2 years old because I didn't want to spend money on it.

One of the main reasons I upgrade periodically is for the camera. I have a really nice SLR camera. It never leaves the house. We capture so much of our lives on the phone, that I find a periodic upgrade to a better camera to be worth the price.
 
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My last Samsung Galaxy wasn't holding a charge and basically stopped working, I took the case off to see that the battery had expanded and the phone was separating from the battery. Glad it didn't explode on me. When this happens it's a good time to get a new phone.
 
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I have had an iphone6 for over 4 years. Got the battery replaced and all is fine. I may upgrade to get more storage. My wife has a Samsung S8 and has many more issues then I do. @3rdbass - you should check with Apple I think you can still get the $29.95 battery replacement.
 

Husky25

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My last few phones have had major failures, requiring replacement. This one is different. It's a 14 month old Moto G5+, which has stopped sending Voice Mail notifications and won't get me to the necessary screen to clear cache ever since the upgrade from Android 7.1.1 to 8.1. Not major, but annoying, and so far not easily solved.
...

Asking as someone happy with buying a car off lease and keeping it until it's worn out.

How do you make the call?

Sometimes you get what you pay for.

I've had a Samsung Galaxy S7 for over three years. They are paid off, so I don't have much of a desire to get another until I am absolutely forced to, which will probably be when Samsung no longer supports it and/or the battery life become unbearably short. I don't know when that will be, but my wife is close to meeting the latter criteria. Two cons of Samsung is the expense and the pre-loaded bloatware, but a major pro for us is the connectivity. We have two Samsung TV's and three tablets. My parents and brother's family also have Samsung phones, so it's easy to share photos and such.

Like @8893, I had a Blackberry (Tour) two phones ago. I bought it just before I went on my honeymoon because it had worldwide roaming (I've been married since '09) and I loved the tactile keyboard. Sometime in late 2012, my wife and I bought Galaxy S3's a few weeks after they were available, when my Tour randomly began not being able to hold a charge. I had intended on getting the GS2 and she was reasonably happy with her Curve, but because we could get another GS3 for 1/2 off, we both upgraded.
 

Husky25

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Like everything else, I use it until it dies. I was one of the last BlackBerry holdouts and I still regret having to switch to iPhone. I have only seen one person with a BlackBerry since, around a month ago, and I asked if I could hold it because I still miss the real keyboard.

In any event, I switched to an iPhone 6, which was the newest at the time, and that's what I still have. I believe it's almost five years old now and I have no issues, except that it's not a BlackBerry.
Liked as a former Blackberry user. Tempted to unlike because you went to Apple. ;)
 
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Funny enough, I bought a Moto G6 for around $200 bucks on Black Friday. My Samsung S5 after 4 years could no longer hold a charge.

Put me in the camp of waiting until your phone dies before getting a new one.

Also, I walk through an Apple Store everyday to work and have to laugh at all the iPhone fan boys shelling out $700-$1,000 bucks for an Instagram/Facebook/snap chat machine solely based on marketing alone.
I have the S5, also. I'll keep it until it dies. A new battery is much, much cheaper than a new phone.
 

ConnHuskBask

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I have the S5, also. I'll keep it until it dies. A new battery is much, much cheaper than a new phone.

My charging port no longer worked, so I had to buy an external battery charger (I had multiple batteries). The solution was cheap, but after a month or so I got annoyed having to constantly pull out the battery, so I I got the Moto G6.

The Moto G6 doesn't do anything fancy, but I like the user interface, apps, texts, internet work great and the best part to me is that the battery charges in like 30 mins via usbc and the charge can last a full day. When I go to bed around midnight I still have 30/40% left.
 

polycom

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I get a new phone basically every 1.5 years but I've stopped doing that this past cycle because the iPhone's aren't changing anymore.
 

CL82

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Like everything else, I use it until it dies. I was one of the last BlackBerry holdouts and I still regret having to switch to iPhone. I have only seen one person with a BlackBerry since, around a month ago, and I asked if I could hold it because I still miss the real keyboard.

In any event, I switched to an iPhone 6, which was the newest at the time, and that's what I still have. I believe it's almost five years old now and I have no issues, except that it's not a BlackBerry.
My iPhone 7 is started to not to hold a charge and can be a twitchy about charging. I was a Samsung guy before that phone but switched because my kids made the the persuasive argument of " something, something, iPhone, something, sooo much better, something group chats." Well upon hearing that I was so convinced that I shook my head and said "whatever."

So. now I am faced with deciding whether to go back, or to stick with iPhone. I'm not a fan of how Apple tries to push you into other Apple stuff, but I know a switch to the new iPhone (X is it) will be seemless. Any thought on Apple vs. Samsung?
 

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