How often do you replace your phone?

[BlackLipstick]

I'm getting a new phone after using an iPhone 6 for six years. People look at me as if I have two heads when I said I've had the same phone for six years. I buy mine outright as it's much cheaper than a contract.

Every couple of years . The batteries usually get awful .

I have a contract so every 2 years.

Every 2 years as I'm on contract.

I like huawei so used them for years. Not sure what I will do for next upgrade as I have the last version that supports Google.

Every 2 years when I'm due an upgrade on my contract

I got my iPhone 8 on a 2 year contract then went sim only. No need to upgrade to a new phone if you don't want to. A year or a cheap sim only can be the "upgrade" :)

Every year. I love my phone and other gadgets and it's my one extravagance. I upgrade and sell the older phone.

It's been every couple of years, when the battery life gets poor enough to be annoying (ie wouldn't last a day), which tends to be when software starts playing up or not being able to install.

I buy up front and about £8/month for the SIM. Old phones get passed on to someone in the family and eventually recycled.

I buy mine outright and replace it when it ceases to function. I recently bought my 4th phone in 28 years.

When it ceases to function or has been excluded from software updates.
Had my iPhone 5 for 8 years and am starting to think about a newer one.

I used to be so excited when mobiles first came out (and I was newly working as a teenager). I used to upgrade every year! Started with a BT Cellnet then had loads of different makes. Nokia, Ericsson, Blackberry, Motorola, HTC, iPhone...

Now I keep my phones until the memory is full and have stuck with iPhone for about 10 years. However, I'm tentatively looking to leap to android. I say tentatively because I buy the handset outright.

In times gone by it was about 3-6 months after the new iPhone came out so maybe yearly? Now it's normally 2-3 years

As soon as my contract expires.

This actually happens to be next week and for the first time ever, I will not be dashing out to get the latest iPhone. As times ticked on my resolve has wavered, but I've just sat down and done a comparison of my current phone with the new 12, and quite frankly I can't justify the expense.

Every 2 years or so. Dh has bought me a Google pixel 4a for my birthday to replace my honor 9 that's getting a bit flakey. Arrives tomorrow :)

When it dies a squeaky electronic death

As long as possible! I’ve had the current one for about three and a half years I think. This means of course that I’ve paid off the contract and am only paying for calls so it’s really cheap. It also drives the phone company mad and they keep calling me and trying to sell me a new one.

Seriously you should keep them as long as possible, because of the environmental impact. Next to not having one, the best thing is to keep the same one for ages. Just like cars .

When the previous one dies. I have had my current iPhone 6S for four years and have no plans to replace it.

Every 2 years as we're on contracts. DH always gets good deals so we end up cheaper with the contract than buying outright, especially with the amount of data we use. Old phones get passed down to the DC who are on Sim-only contracts and often by the time they get a "new" one from us the older one is past it. We've made a little bit of money back taking the old ones we don't need to a local phone-refurb place as it's usually just a new battery they need but we also hang onto one of the better ones each time in case one of the DC break theirs.

We ordered new phones yesterday, as it happens (buy outright, SIM-only contract).

We'd had the previous ones for four years: though I haven't yet noticed a problem H has had a couple of update issues - notably with the bus ticket app - and apparently the banking app is going to stop being compatible with our OS.

Can anyone tell me where (if) I can find the purchase date on my iPhone (6s)??

I don't change them until they're beyond help! This is my first iPhone & my first 'smart phone' (if they still call them that?!)

My previous one was a tiny Nokia that I loved, but it couldn't handle the messages people were sending from smart phones, so I had to retire it & buy this huge thing (6s).

Wouldn't be without it now though 🤣. I'll only replace it when I can no longer update the software AND that impacts me significantly enough.

It'll definitely be another iPhone, but no idea which yet. I buy outright & use giffgaff.

Yep. I'm a dinosaur 🦖 & happy to admit it 🤣

My battery is fucked but I probably caused that by charging it before it was fully run down.

So now I have a charger by 'my' chair, one at my desk, one by the bed & one in the car plus a couple of battery packs for when I'm out, so it's pretty much permanently on charge now.

I'll modify my behaviour when I get a new phone

@merryhouse what models did you choose?

I have a Z3, I have had it for two years, it is perfectly fine and serviceable.

How do you guys keep your phones going for so long? I find the battery starts dying at about 18months.
Mines 2.5yrs old and if I go on a day out I have to take a power bank. I also have to charge it up each lunchtime as it would be dead before I left work. It's so annoying. I really don't want to buy a new phone but I can't see it lasting another 3 years like some of you get. Maybe I'll just buy a cheap £10 phone and use an ipad at home. I spend way to much time on the phone anyway 😉

@MJMG2015

My battery is fucked but I probably caused that by charging it before it was fully run down.

So now I have a charger by 'my' chair, one at my desk, one by the bed & one in the car plus a couple of battery packs for when I'm out, so it's pretty much permanently on charge now.

I'll modify my behaviour when I get a new phone

@merryhouse what models did you choose?

Phone batteries are actually best kept topped up to around 80-90%.

I love Motorola's, and seem to replace every them every 2-3 years (buy outright). I'm unusual in my local circle of friends, they are all iPhone users.

All my Motos from the last 10 years still work, the oldest doesn't have a SIM though.

My newest was bought this year (£200) and I hope to get around 3 years, but might pass to DD2 when she starts secondary.

I use it all the time for apps, internet and calls. £7.50/mth all calls, texts and 6gb data with a BT family deal (so DD1 has the same).

My DC get my phone hand me downs, so when they break /lose their phone, I get the new one, last one I had for just over 2 years. Learnt my lesson the hard way giving them new phones ......