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I get Pixel phones and keep them until the battery goes. I've owned the original, the 5, and now the 7. None of the in-betweens because I didn't need to upgrade
by metaloha 3y ago
I get Pixel phones and keep them until the battery goes. I've owned the original, the 5, and now the 7. None of the in-betweens because I didn't need to upgrade (the battery in the 5 went a bit earlier than expected, but I still got 3 or so years out of it, which is okay). Technically my original Pixel still works, but the screen is cracked pretty good so it's my backup phone.
Why do you feel you need to change phones every 2 years? The hardware is probably fine unless your carrier of choice completely changes their network. The software will still work, although security fixes might be less frequent (it seems those are done for about 4 years, though 3rd-party distributors like Motorola might not honour that).
Are you sure your perception that you need a new phone every couple years isn't being driven by marketing and contracts?
- dachworker 3y agoI don't change my phone every two years. But it feels every time I get a new phone, I stop getting any regular updates after two years and no security upgrades after four years or less. And right now, my phone is not usable even if the battery was still good because the banking apps now refuse to operate due to the security environment being depreciated.
- beardyw 3y agoI have 4 and 8 year old phones (besides my current). The 8 year old phone needs nursing into a factory reset - immediately switch off auto updates to prevent the normal installed apps loading (they are there as stubs only until then). The 4 year old one is better but still labours with modern apps. To be fair neither was more than utilitarian when I bought them. So I think the actual physical performance of the phone is more of an issue than the OS.
- metaloha 3y agoWell there's your answer. The app developers have decided - rightly or wrongly - that environments of a certain age (or more likely Android version) do not meet their security requirements. My bank app supports Android 9+ which is nearing 5 years old now I think, and it should still work on my Pixel XL :) That said, the phone is definitely usable - as a phone and probably for texts and many other apps. But if the 2-4 year lifespan of your banking app is the issue, maybe just use it on the desktop or through a browser instead of the dedicated app. As long as you can get a recent-ish browser installed on your phone, you might be able to use the web banking interface (not all banks have mobile-friendly versions, admittedly). And yes, I believe the official stance of Google with regards to updates is 2 years of updates followed by 2 more years of security-only updates. Other manufacturers may do less than that, which is one reason I get the Pixel phones.
- pokerface_86 3y ago[dead]
- xandrius 3y agoAt that point, why aren't you changing the battery to get some extra longevity?