How old is your phone?

[WilliamBell]

Mine is three years old (I always buy outright and then have a SIM only contact) and it's getting quite slow, but it's still functional, so it seems really wasteful to get another one.

Just curious as to how old everyone else's phones are and how often they replace them.

Three years old but I've had it less than a year. Bought second hand at Christmas because my 8-year-old one lacked storage and battery life, and lots of apps couldn't be updated. Also replaced my 2016 iPad with a reconditioned 2022 one this year. Prices are crazy for new stuff!

3 years - IPhone 14 . Getting a new one this week - I’m self employed and use phone in many ways for work and the battery is just not lasting . I resent it in a way as really the iPhones don’t change that much these days in terms of functionality but the constant updates drain the battery. Even the nice man in the apple shop advised don’t bother buying new phone or watch unless they are broken as really since iPhone 10 the technology has not significantly changed !

5 years old and still working fine. I’ll upgrade when it breaks, doesn’t hold its battery for a full day or it’s no longer supported by Apple.

Yes, a few things on it are getting annoying.

I don't really want a new phone though. Mine is dinky and fits in my pocket, but new ones are bigger, plus I don't want to spend the money - probably £500 upwards for a SIM free phone, which is a hell of a lot to pay. And my current one still does nearly all of what I want.

It really pisses me off having to get new things just because the tech is out of date and they don't support it anymore. If you buy a book or a sofa, it's yours forever, or until it literally falls to pieces.

It’s 2yrs old now, the iPhone 15 and I’m due for contract renewal. I was thinking of doing sim only but think I might just get the new iPhone. Can get it for £30 a month. It’s £159 upfront but I’ll get over £400 for my old one.
The worst thing for me is when the battery needs charged twice a day and the memory is at max capacity. The newer one has double the memory.

Almost 8 years. It was brand new. Operating system no longer receives updates apart from important security ones. The apps I use still work and receive updates. Phone still works perfectly fine. It does everything I need it to do. Battery is shit. Has been for a few years. I carry a power bank portable charger with me. I’d probably be looking at about $2k to get an equivalent new phone. This one works fine.

2 , it wasn’t particularly costly at around £300 and it has an excellent camera , I have a sim only monthly contract .

nearly 5 years. Have had to replace battery but still works fine and will keep a few more years until it’s unsupported / doesn’t work.

5 year old Samsung. On a sim-only deal. I keep denying the system updates and that seems to keep me working fine.

It’s an iPhone XR. I don’t know how old it is as it was a cast off from someone else.

My current phone is a year old, before that I had my previous phone for 5 years. I LOVED it (Samsung galaxy note 10+) .
Finally the battery wouldnt last very long and I had to replace it.

My husband just got a new phone today- his previous phone was my old phone before the note 10+ and I'd had it two years, so it was 8 years old!
He only replaced it reluctantly because the charging port was temperamental!

3 months old. Last one I had for 6 years.

I'm surprised at the age of a lot of people's phones, I was assuming most people replaced every year or two nowadays.

Mine was also about £150 so definitely not top of the range, and will also be replaced by a cheapo one. Perhaps buying more expensive and keeping it for longer is more economical though, but I resent spending too much money on tech.

Sounds like I should put up with the speed and keep it a while longer. I think it's still getting updates, not really sure how to tell.

If you Google your phone’s make and model and operating system updates it will tell you how to find out how to check it on your phone. It will be in Settings somewhere. I think Android generally does 3 years from release and Apple does 5 years.

3 years, out of contract so cheap as chips. Battery isn't perfect but lasts all day.

I'll probably replace it next year if I go abroad for holiday.

@WilliamBell IME it's only younger milennials and Gen Z who swap their phone every couple of years. Most people will have one for around 5-6 years these days I think. And they have iphones or similar that are like, £1200 to £1700. I had the one before the last one for 10 years. (2009 to 2019.) It was a basic one that had no internet, a £10 one from Argos.

I upgraded to a smartphone in 2019 as it seemed you needed it for lots of things even then! You need it for even more now!!! My last phone that I had (from 2019 to 2025) cost £90. I just got a basic smartphone with a small amount of storage (32GB) as I didn't think I would use it much.

I got addicted to it quite quickly, and had to get an extra memory card in to hold extra photos and the like. It got to the point where the phone was filling up so fast, and I could hardly download any apps, so I got one with 256GB of data, and a much better camera. (3 months ago.) Cost a few hundred, but I really do get a lot of use out of it and I love it.

The battery lasts much longer on a better quailty phone too. I charge my phone every 3-4 days. I was charging the other one (the £90 one) every day, sometimes twice. And I use this one more too.

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18 months. Upgrade every 3 years...buy outright and sell the older one.

I like to upgrade mine every 2 years. I don’t smoke or drink etc so it’s my one little luxury for me. The rest of my money ends up on the kids and bills etc. currently have an iPhone 16 pro max which is around a year old.

Two year old iPhone 15PM, I don't use it much, I use my iPad and iMac in the house, I will probably keep it another couple of years then pass it on to adult DS who always has hand me downs. he will probably get another couple of years out of it

I've had it for about a year now, but it's a 2021 model that I bought used. The one I had before, I bought new in 2016 - I kept it till the battery went last year. I have mixed feelings about the current one as I'm not madly thrilled with the camera, which is the main thing I use on it other than occasional calls and texts (I'm not really a mobile phone person) but I do like the feel of it in my hand and the user interface is pleasing.

I do prefer to keep them until something actually stops working on them, but I might replace it if I happen to see something I really like at a good price. DH's phone is about 6 years old and he has expressed an interest in my current one should I replace it, so it wouldn't be wasted.

Xiaomi mi t 10 lite purchased in April 2021 for £250. It's a brilliant phone and I don't want to change it!

I have an I Phone 16e & will probably keep it for a long time.

Had it about 4 years. Going to get a new one for Christmas. It's only a basic Samsung and I'll be replacing it with another basic Samsung. Probably A16 or A17.

What's the camera like on the 16e, if you don't mind my asking?

Mine’s an iPhone 13. They’re recently released the iPhone 17 I think, so guessing mine is about 4 years old. I buy outright and then get a SIM only contract. Tend to buy when they’re newly released and keep until they die.