Why did you upgrade your phone? How long do you wait before you usually upgrade?

gray2018

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I bought my Galaxy Note 9 in December of 2019. December of last year, I "upgraded" to the Oneplus 8. My Note battery was terrible and due to a recent app installed by T-Mobile that would constantly drain my battery and I couldn't get rid of called Carrier Hub. Here about two months later, I am quite unhappy with the Oneplus 8. I am actually going out of my way to purchase another Samsung unlocked Note 9 used. I am stuck with the Oneplus though as T-Mobile with my Note 9 trade in originally, the Oneplus was free essentially through monthly bill credits and that runs for like two years. So I will be using it as a back up device if all goes well with the used Note purchase.

It kind of depends on how much I like the device and what kind of issues I have at the time. Seems to be I keep devices like a year to a year and a half. I had my LG V30 before the Note 9 for about a year and a half at at the time, I really liked it. Honestly the main reason I upgraded is the battery life was not good anymore after the Pie update.


I hate the way the cell phone industry is going, even Samsung. I need expandable memory and a headphone jack. Those are like my two biggest things that I need and it's a bummer because they are pretty much going away almost completely. This is one of the reasons why I am going back to the Note 9.
 
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Morty2264

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I'm trying to be more intelligent about upgrading phones and not just jumping on something because it's 1% better. I have the Pixel 4a and it still fits my needs 99%. Probably another year before I think about upgrading.

I agree with you about that one percent. I'm still loving my S10 and as much as I don't want to "miss out" on phones like the OnePlus 8 and Pixel 5, I'm trying to not worry about that wee bit extra that I'm supposedly "missing out on". My phone is suiting my needs well and I too think I'll get longer use out of it before I upgrade.
 

Donglelife872

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I waited summer 2014-now. I could replace the battery and it did most everything I really cared about. It still works, and for those who haven't seen my playlist woes, still works much better as an mp3 player. The phasing out of headphone jacks really put me off getting a new one and no phone really grabbed me until the Note 20 Ultra. I had the Iphone 2010-4 (hated itunes), some kind of flip phone 2006-10, and a Nokia 2002-6.

It was annoying not having some emojis. The barf emoji, etc. would show up as a blank rectangle. However, a few of the 2014 emojis were better than today's counterparts, in my opinion.
 

Morty2264

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I waited summer 2014-now. I could replace the battery and it did most everything I really cared about. It still works, and for those who haven't seen my playlist woes, still works much better as an mp3 player. The phasing out of headphone jacks really put me off getting a new one and no phone really grabbed me until the Note 20 Ultra. I had the Iphone 2010-4 (hated itunes), some kind of flip phone 2006-10, and a Nokia 2002-6.

It was annoying not having some emojis. The barf emoji, etc. would show up as a blank rectangle. However, a few of the 2014 emojis were better than today's counterparts, in my opinion.

I agree with you! I too am a bigger fan of the older emoticons.
 

Evilguppy

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i was on Apple for years,but then I left the city and moved to a rural area with no WiFi. And I hike and travel in places with no WiFi. Having to drive over an hour to a store and hopefully latch onto their WiFi to get anything done, let alone system updates was just lunacy. So i went to Best Buy and got the Samsung Note 20 Ultra. I love it so much I ditched my iPad for the Galaxy S7 5G tablet. I loved it so much that my man followed suit and got an S21 Ultra and a Galaxy S7 Plus. We'll probably keep those for a good 2 years or until the devices die a good death. But it would take a bloody catastrophe to get us back on Apple, Android via Samsung is exactly what we need.
 

Kizzy Catwoman

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i was on Apple for years,but then I left the city and moved to a rural area with no WiFi. And I hike and travel in places with no WiFi. Having to drive over an hour to a store and hopefully latch onto their WiFi to get anything done, let alone system updates was just lunacy. So i went to Best Buy and got the Samsung Note 20 Ultra. I love it so much I ditched my iPad for the Galaxy S7 5G tablet. I loved it so much that my man followed suit and got an S21 Ultra and a Galaxy S7 Plus. We'll probably keep those for a good 2 years or until the devices die a good death. But it would take a bloody catastrophe to get us back on Apple, Android via Samsung is exactly what we need.
I am glad you were able to find products you liked. I like the look of the Samsung S7 tablet but my iPad is less than a year old and I really like it. Can't justify getting the Samsung tablet. But if they work well for you that is great news!
 

dangerousfen

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I refuse to spend more than £300 on a phone and only upgrade about every 2 years, although I could upgrade sooner with that price point.

I don't see what spending any more would achieve. My Nokia 7.2 does everything I need and more. There are far more important things to shell out for these days.
 

mgbosshogg

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Upgrade. Not sure that's the correct description for me. .

Use the SPen , so there can only be one daily driver. Get the latest note on release day. Have done for the best part of a decade. Everything else feels incomplete to use for work every day.

Buy ( and sell ) a few other devices throughout the year to play with. Usually they fall short when compared to the note.

The normal question is - what would I replace it with? And would it be an upgrade.

With the no note in '21 rumours I might get a pixel6XL if there is such a thing to take daily pictures with whilst keeping the N20U .

So, the answer is not long.
 

j_hansen

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Whenever there's a new Note out :)
I don't always preorder though, sometimes I wait a couple of months to get some real life reports and better price, this Note 20 Ultra will easily last me two years.
 

j_hansen

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I've no problems with actual over heating but it does get warmer a bit sometimes when using the camera a lot, but it's not something that has been an issue at all, it even functions as my daily laptop using a NexDock Touch and it never heats up, even after hours of use (OK maybe it will if you were gaming)
 

Kizzy Catwoman

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I've no problems with actual over heating but it does get warmer a bit sometimes when using the camera a lot, but it's not something that has been an issue at all, it even functions as my daily laptop using a NexDock Touch and it never heats up, even after hours of use (OK maybe it will if you were gaming)
I use Dex on my S10+ and it is one of the thing I love about my Samsung.
 

Joshua Luther2

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I wish I could be satisfied with a phone for 1-2 years. But it’s usually when a new phone is released that I start get that itch to upgrade. Usually because Verizon gives me a good trade in amount and there’s a good discount on the new phone.

I had the Pixel 4xl for one year before I decided to switch to the iPhone 12 Pro on launch day. I am now wishing I had stayed on Android, either keeping my 4xl a little longer or waiting for something else to come along. It was kind of a last minute quick decision. The camera was great but the battery life was less than spectacular. I actually enjoyed the S9 that I had before better. The pixel camera is what pulled me in but I quickly learned that it takes more than a good camera to make me happy. Maybe if the pandemic wasn’t going on I would take more advantage of the cameras taking more pictures and videos of my kids in their activities at school and after school stuff.

With iOS, I’m still not taking full advantage of the iOS specific apps like iMessage and FaceTime. Again, in normal times, I’m not sure how much different my usage would be. So I have to wait till half of this phone is paid off in November before I can trade it in. Or I can sell it for what I owe on it or more. But I’d rather wait until the pixel 6 comes out or even possibly the s22. I can’t even imagine what that is going to cost in 2022.

I can’t see myself financing a phone for 30 months. I’m fully aware that iPhones generally last longer and receive updates for longer. But I’m just not the kind of person to keep a phone for 3-4 years.
 

Stanley Kubrick

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I update when I get bored. Makes no difference on how "old" my current phone may actually be. If I like something I see, I then do my research, and buy what I like. I always sell my "old" phones so I usually get a good price because they're not very old technology wise.
 

Morty2264

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I update when I get bored. Makes no difference on how "old" my current phone may actually be. If I like something I see, I then do my research, and buy what I like. I always sell my "old" phones so I usually get a good price because they're not very old technology wise.

That's a good method - then the money for one's current phone could help go towards the new purchase. And selling them sooner means one will get more money back.
 

rimz808

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For those who upgrade frequently. Are you paying for the carrier's JUMP or NEXT program? I am considering doing that since I do like to get the latest phones and try different android brands, so I am wondering if paying for the carrier's early upgrade program is even worth it? Mine you I have yet to be trapped in the carrier's phone payment plans since I like to buy my phone unlocked. But with prices of the phones going over 1K, financially that would not be feasible so going on the payment plan would help.

Any advice would be appreciated.
 

mustang7757

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For those who upgrade frequently. Are you paying for the carrier's JUMP or NEXT program? I am considering doing that since I do like to get the latest phones and try different android brands, so I am wondering if paying for the carrier's early upgrade program is even worth it? Mine you I have yet to be trapped in the carrier's phone payment plans since I like to buy my phone unlocked. But with prices of the phones going over 1K, financially that would not be feasible so going on the payment plan would help.

Any advice would be appreciated.
I use to do those programs , now I just trade in my previous device when I do , knocks between 500 to 700 off the price .
 

Joshua Luther2

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I wish I could be satisfied with a phone for 1-2 years. But it’s usually when a new phone is released that I start get that itch to upgrade. Usually because Verizon gives me a good trade in amount and there’s a good discount on the new phone.

I had the Pixel 4xl for one year before I decided to switch to the iPhone 12 Pro on launch day. I am now wishing I had stayed on Android, either keeping my 4xl a little longer or waiting for something else to come along. It was kind of a last minute quick decision. The camera was great but the battery life was less than spectacular. I actually enjoyed the S9 that I had before better. The pixel camera is what pulled me in but I quickly learned that it takes more than a good camera to make me happy. Maybe if the pandemic wasn’t going on I would take more advantage of the cameras taking more pictures and videos of my kids in their activities at school and after school stuff.

With iOS, I’m still not taking full advantage of the iOS specific apps like iMessage and FaceTime. Again, in normal times, I’m not sure how much different my usage would be. So I have to wait till half of this phone is paid off in November before I can trade it in. Or I can sell it for what I owe on it or more. But I’d rather wait until the pixel 6 comes out or even possibly the s22. I can’t even imagine what that is going to cost in 2022.

I can’t see myself financing a phone for 30 months. I’m fully aware that iPhones generally last longer and receive updates for longer. But I’m just not the kind of person to keep a phone for 3-4 years.
This is ironic. Only a week after this and I sold my 12 Pro and bought the S21 Ultra for 30 months.

I couldn't be more happy with my decision.
 

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