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It used to be true that it made sense to replace your phone every few years because new ones were so much better. But like... I have a Pixel 8 and there's not r
by cozzyd 6mo ago
It used to be true that it made sense to replace your phone every few years because new ones were so much better. But like... I have a Pixel 8 and there's not really anything in a newer phone that's compelling enough to spend any money on...
- sharkweek 6mo agoI honestly know I could “optimize” my phone replacement schedule based on resale values of phones etc, but for the last ~15ish years I just replace my iPhone when the battery starts shitting itself (3-5 years each in my experience)
- IshKebab 6mo agoI agree, but also battery life has significantly improved over the last decade. Every phone I or my friends have replaced recently has been because the screen has broken. I would put good money on this being true for most people. I think if the EU really wanted to reduce phone waste they'd make it easier or cheaper to fix screens. Still, this doesn't seem like a terrible move. I bet you can make it relatively easy to replace batteries without compromising much. Look at the Macbook Neo for example.
- leptons 6mo agoI'm really unsure how broken screens happen. Don't you have a protective case on your phone? I've had smartphones for over 20 years, and have never broken a screen. Am I just lucky? More careful? I drop my phones too, but have never broken the screen. The only thing that ever failed on any phone I've owned has been the battery.
- riversflow 6mo agoI’m not crazy like some people, but I’ve broken screens many times and every time it has been in a case, one time it was in a case I specifically bought for extra protection. Half of my screen breaks have been from getting out of my car with my phone in my lap and gravel on the ground. Another way I’ve broken screens is from my phone falling out of my pocket and onto rocks/concrete. That has happened twice. And the final way has been from getting smashed in my pocket. I slipped while scrambling some rocks and my phone(in a case I bought for this long backpacking trip) got smashed on my hip, another time I was running around at my friend’s house at night and ran into a wheel barrow, smashing it on my thigh. Never had a battery fail. A note: My current iPhone 16 pro is built like a tank, and the glass is truly extraordinary.
- wafflemaker 6mo agoI knew there exist people for whom paying for phone insurance is a good idea! Thanks! In Norway you can get an insurance just for the screen, which is like half of the full one IIRC.
- TheScaryOne 6mo agoMy phones all fail from internal hardware faults. Also never broken a screen. I had a S3 that the battery would only last 12 hours or so, but the EMMC failed before the battery did.
- HWR_14 6mo agoBatteries die slowly. If your phone only lasts 12 hours under modest usage, it's approaching where some people would say the battery was failing
- cucumber3732842 6mo agoAttempted to take picture. Dropped phone from chest height. Center of screen hit corner of I-beam sitting on ground that I was standing at the end of. Bought a screen protector after that. Dropped it off the top of some pallet racking, ping ponged down, broke the button and cracked the screen at the bottom near the button. Bought a case (and kept the screen protector on under it, lol) Left it sitting on top of trailer tongue tool box to run timer to check/flip lunch that was being grilled in the vicinity. Trailer was involved in a minor industrial accident. Phone got tossed and crunched. Lunch was fine. Exposed the 3rd one to, IDK, something, that etched it without hurting the case. IDK what that would be though since I can't think of anything that I have around or use that would do that. Current phone has survived since 2022. Last month the case finally wore out to the point where corners were coming apart and it would sometimes get caught on its way in/out of pockets and got replaced.
- kbelder 6mo agoI think it's just some people. I break my phone every couple years; I've never willingly upgraded or replaced a phone. The same thing happens with watches. It's a wonder I still have limbs. On the other hand, my wife has never broken a phone, and has basically only upgraded when it becomes too old to be usable any more (due to battery issues or OS version causing problems). She's careful and sensible.
- IshKebab 6mo agoPeople drop their phones. It's not complicated. You might just be lucky. Tempering glass is a tricky business and it can be very very strong if impacted in some places but extremely weak in others.
- l3x4ur1n 6mo agoYeah protective case helps A LOT. I've broken two phones basically two weeks from buying them by dropping them on the floor before I put them in protective case. Costly mistakes, I don't do them anymore. Nowadays I buy the case together with the phone. I don't know if it's just my luck, I never drop my phone, but when I buy new, I'm guaranteed to drop it several times a day for the first two weeks of owning it. The protective case is a phone saver
- cozzyd 6mo agosome phones are slippery without the case!
- skeletal88 6mo agoFor me i had a case and a screen protection film bit the phone dropped on stone pavement exactly so that a higher part of the stone hit the screen edge between the case and the panzer glass.
- Scarblac 6mo agoI had to replace my previous phone because my banking app dropped support for that Android version, and was going to stop working. The hardware was fine. (I always buy phones in the cheapest tier, so that happens sooner)
- Jeremy1026 6mo agoWould it be cheaper in the long run to buy a newer phone less often? Get a "this year flagship" and use it for 5 years rather than a couple year old model and use it for 2-3?
- TheScaryOne 6mo agoNo. You get a 2 year old flagship phone for $200-300 outright, instead of $1500+ Samsung also makes the A-series Galaxies which are a pretty solid mid-tier phones that are supported for years, too.
- dtech 6mo agoThat's just plain bullshit? I just checked my local second hand marketplace, and 2 year old flagship models seem to go for about 35-50% of the current equivalent newest model price.
- vanviegen 6mo agoA flagship is ~1000, a good enough phone is ~200. So, no.
- wao0uuno 6mo agoThose cheap phones are made out of garbage and are chock-full of bloatware and spyware. This also applies to Samsung flagships so I guess more expensive doesn't always mean better.
- vanviegen 6mo agoNot necessarily. I bought a 150 EUR Xiaomi for my son 1,5 years ago. The software is pretty okay, the thing is plenty fast, the screen looks good and battery life is great! The camera is not so great, but hey..
- Natsu 6mo ago[dead]
- javier2 6mo agosame, my iphone 13 mini was great except for the fact i had to charge it twice a day in the end.
- stoneman24 6mo agoI still have my iPhone mini 12, in the desperate hope that it can last until Apple have another outbreak of common sense and decide that a mini iPhone has a place in the market. Battery is starting to fade during the day, despite minimal use. I think replaceable batteries should be mandatory and 10 years of security updates. In these times, phones are really expensive (however you pay for them) and we shouldn’t stand for planned obsolescence in any form.
- macNchz 6mo agoI recently broke my 12 Mini beyond reasonable repair during a battery replacement recently (mostly just bad luck, I've been doing my own mobile repair for a long time). I bought a 17 to replace it, and promptly returned it in favor of a used 13 Mini. It's wild to me how large the smallest mainstream phone you can buy these days has become.
- javier2 6mo agoUsed 13 Minis were exorbitantly priced here. 450USD for a '85%'+ battery and a new iphone 16 was 1000
- Shish2k 6mo agoFunnily enough I'm looking at getting a new phone because my pixel 6 battery no longer lasts 9am until 6pm without a mid-day charge -- I looked at the latest pixels (10) and they looked neat, but expensive; so took a look at the 9's, and saw they're basically exactly the same at 60% the price; then looked at the 8's and they're basically the same except 40% the price...
- ragall 6mo agoI expect the smartphone market to switch to a sales model where devices are somewhat more expensive, but more durable and to some extent more serviceable than in the past, so many will buy refurbished phones instead of new ones. I can see some similarities with the used car market, or hi-fi audio receivers, for example.