How often do you get a new phone?

[Silverfly]

I'm thinking of getting a new phone for my birthday, and was just interested to know how often you would generally expect to get a new phone? Old one is working OK but the battery is starting to drain quite quickly.

Every 2 years

I normally have a contract for 24 months and it then depends on the phone. My 8 lasted 3 years and I only replaced it because I got a new one for Christmas. The 5 before had trouble with the microphone and needed replacing after just over 2 years.

Generally every 2 years when my contract is up. A few years ago I kept my iPhone 6S for an extra year on a sim only contract but by the end of the third year, the battery was totally dead. I had to charge it three times a day and when I was texting I’d watch the battery go down by 2% with every other key stroke. It wasn’t worth the stress as I use my phone as my satnav when driving, which was impossible.

@isthismylifenow

Every 22 months when I upgrade my contract.

Hmmmm, and if it's a touchscreen, you are sending a child down into a mine in the DRC to satisfy your incessant need.

I buy outright about ever 4 years, so iPhone 4s 2011, iPhone 6s 2015, iPhone 11 2019 and have a Pay and Go contract with Tesco that costs around £10 a month, I gave my 4s to DS and sold my 6s to Cex

When the battery dies/cant upgrade software/insufficient space

Around 3 years normally

I won't replace mine until its beyond use. If the battery starts to drain quickly or if storage becomes an issue (you know when you delete EVERYTHING and 2 days later its full again) I don't think phones can evolve any further really now. Yes, you can get better cameras etc but I really don't think the features of newer phones warrant the cost.

Just when I need to. I buy outright and have a sim only contract as its more cost effective.

I'm still on an Iphone 6, it works perfectly fine, I had the battery changed a couple of years ago when Apple were doing them cheap for about £25. I'm getting storage issues now though as it's only 16GB, so will probably upgrade to an 12 Pro quite soon. I'll buy it outright and carry on with my £12 pm SIM. I hate replacing things that aren't actually broken.

Every 5 or 6 years.

I treat my tech as I would my child. I favour high end (at the time of purchase) but importantly hate the throw away unethical built in obsolescence disposal culture with a prohibitive right to repair as spare parts and labour is uneconomical for manufacturers to create constant demand to supply more short product life cycle goods. This is the manufactured consumer products equivalent of cheap (to buy) fast disposal fashion. Unless there is a noticeable technological step with hardware and software functionality I normally keep my tech for three years or so especially as none of my mobile phones makes coffee as far as I am aware. Useful but not all empowering. Trying to digitally detox over the weekends for eye and mental health is proving challenging!

Currently using a a newly acquired Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra for play as photography is a cut above www.dxomark.com/category/smartphone-reviews/ and an old Apple XS Max 512 for bring your own corporate supported stuff although due replacement but I normally use it on secure fast WiFi than need the newer ones with current 5G for mobile video conferencing etc. The newer Apples have much of a muchness as seemingly Apple innovation is very subtle and marginal these days.

Ha ha... I still use the one I got in 2014, it doesn't really do anything other than take calls and send texts because it's too old fashioned to take apps. To the disgust of my son who thinks I'm one with the dinosaurs....!

I still have old mint condition Nokia and Motorola foldable “dumb” phones and they probably have better data security and at least the battery lasts. Still love my Nokia 8800 (?) solid pocket sized real metal slide phone. Feels well built and nice to hold and use. I will keep these prehistoric relics as a part of my university growing up heritage collection. Children these days don’t understand pre digital age and are spoiled with too much unnecessary (usually cheap disposable or hand me down) tech as need to get the best balance.

When it dies, normally at least 5 years. I want a fairphone for my next one, for the upgradeable/fixable parts.

I have a Samsung J5 from 2016. It is getting a bit old now but still works well. However, I think the main issue with Android is the lack of security updates after a certain time, whereas Apple have committed to keep maintaining OSs for at least five years. So I may have to upgrade mine, even though I don't really want to.

I have a 5.5 year old iPhone 5SE and it is ok, battery doesn't cause me any problems, I like the smaller size (it used to be dh's) and have no plans to change it.
dh has a 5.5 year old iPhone 7 and it works fine, battery lasts all day when he is out working (used to be ds's). No plans to change it.
ds has a 1.5 year old iPhone 11 and it obviously works fine!

Every one, if you take the case and screen protector off still look like new. dh and I won't replace ours until they stop working, if ds gets a new one (he is 17 now so next one he can buy his own!) one of us will get his old one.

We also save and buy the phones outright, usually for a Christmas present and there are no other presents for that person that year, and then pay just £8 monthly for Giff Gaff.

I have an iPhone 5 which I've had for 9 years. It's had a new battery but that's all.
I have no plans to replace it while it still works.