To ask how often you upgrade your phone?

I used to upgrade every two years when my contract ran out but realized a couple of years ago that I didn't need to do that anymore because I haven't actually smashed my screen for once. I've just taken out a another SIM only deal and I'm hoping this phone lasts at least another two years.

When it stops working, or when the screen has smashed too many times to make it worth repairing.

Always bought phones outright myself. Normally from Backmarket, a reconditioned one. Much cheaper than a brand new one and never had any issues.

When it breaks. Usually by me smashing the screen and it can't be replaced before any battery or other issues develop. I get a second hand refurbished one on ebay.

Only when necessary. Just replaced my old one after something like 5 years. It was no longer installing system updates and it got to a point where mobile internet, texts and calls no longer worked, so I could only use it if there was WiFi!

When it stops working.

I had an iPhone5 from 2015-2022 that still worked but the battery died. Got a 12 at that point and hopefully it’ll last many more years from now, it’s almost 3 years old and still perfect, and the battery is replaceable on this one so might last even longer.

I wonder if a lot of people see the “upgrade your phone for free” and don’t really understand that it’s not infact free at all.

When my contract runs out, but I love new tech, if the phone is in good condition I'll sell it to CEX or trade it in.

I have the Samsung S23 ultra at the moment, and I absolutely love the camera (I love taking photos). It's not due for an upgrade for another year so they'll be one with a better camera by then.

My previous one I had for about 5-6 years and the battery was awful and the storage space was terrible so upgraded then. This one I will upgrade (or more accurately downgrade to a less fancy phone) as I really don't like it and also I broke the screen and it hasn't worked the same since

I changed my 2.5 years ago as I felt the camera on my sisters phone took much better photos. I’ll change again when I feel like a phone is significantly better than what I have or my current phone breaks. The phone was circa £1000 so I’d like to have it at least 3.5 years or it doesn’t work out much cheaper than getting a contract if that makes sense!

I bought an iPhone 7 outright in July 2017 (for £630 I think) with a SIM only deal for £5 per month. Replaced the battery twice (£40 a time). Have only recently bought an iPhone 16 and it was mainly because the Google Family link app was no longer updating. So managed to get over 7 years out of the iPhone 7 and plan to do the same with my current phone.

I replaced my Samsung A5 earlier this year but only because some apps no longer worked on it. It was 7 years old and I felt quite resentful about having to change it.

I wait until it stops working or gets lost or smashed. My current phone is 4 or 5 years old and still working perfectly, but the Ryanair website won't load on it (incompatible with device) so I am guessing I will be encountering more problems as time goes on.

Still have my XR that I bought in 2019. It works perfectly fine, does everything I need and I don’t care about impressing anyone with the latest model. I pay less than £8 per month for a SIM only contract with more data than I could possibly need.
Completely pointless to keep upgrading phones when there’s nothing wrong with the one you have. Much better for the planet to keep your phone long term.

Same here OP. I used to upgrade every two years at the end of the contract. However I don't know whether it is maturity or lack of excitement that has stopped me now. I currently have the iPhone 12 and when the contract ended I just moved to sim only rather than upgrading. The phone is still in perfect condition and so I just couldn't see the point of upgrading. Also, I think upgrading used to be fun - or at least for me, you'd have to manually copy over your contacts and I always used this as an opportunity to cull my contacts list of people I was no longer in regular contact with etc plus setting up the new phone and making it the way I liked it. These days phones are so advanced that when I last upgraded I literally tapped the new phone to the old one and it transferred everything straight over - all my apps laid out exactly as on the old phone. Plus the phones themselves look identical party from the camera placement etc on the back so I just didn't get any joy from it last time. I could barely tell I had a new phone! So I think I'll only upgrade now when this one actually stops working.

Every three or four years, I have a really good contract that is £11 per month so I keep that.

Every 2 years on contract. I work in IT so I like to try to keep up with the technology even though I'm management rather than hands on these days.

when they break. some lasted 2 years, current one is 7 years old. I am with Giffgaff. no contract. works out loads cheaper

Like @FriendlyNeighbourhoodAccountant I prefer to buy my phone outright and keep it until it dies. Five years on average, often more.

I pay £7.60 for my SIM only contract.

I feel irresponsible if I ditch perfectly good tech because there’s a new shiny thing available - it all feels a bit ‘single use plastic’. I know there’s a second hand market and recycling, but it still feels kind of wrong to me.

When it needs it. Last one after about 8 years?

Like others, I'm on a pay-as-you-go sim-only contract and would only replace my phone when it no longer works (i.e. broken, getting too slow or unable to run apps I need). I only ever buy second-hand phones, anyway.

Whenever one of my kids upgrade theirs, I get their old one. Which of course works perfectly fine for me, for some reason.

When it breaks or the battery packs in and stops holding a day's worth of battery power.

Only when i feel my current camera isn't very good anymore, so every 3years ish

When it stops working. And I always buy a refurbished phone rather than brand new.

On a PAYG SIM and I would only replace a phone when it is broken.
I am still on my first ever smartphone (which admittedly I only got less than 4yrs ago).

Until the operating system doesn't work well enough any more (ie - it breaks). I replaced the battery a couple of times on my last iPhone to extend its life - I had it for 6 years, and only bought my latest one in 2023 as they were going to discontinue the mini iPhone models in favour of all the giant ones. Otherwise would have kept the old one for a bit longer