[BlackZeppelin]

I am very happy currently with my Galaxy S5. I can afford to upgrade but choose not to. For a lot of people, money would be the main reason that they hold on after 2 yrs. I'm a bit conventional and unorthodox at the same time.

Firstly, for me it is a bit of a waste to get rid of a phone that is working perfectly. It's not worth much so selling is not an option. That is a conventional reason. Here are 2 unconventional reasons I don't upgrade yet.

Going from S5 to S7, ( I can't consider the Note 7 due to all its issues) is for me only a marginal upgrade. Yes I know it's better but it's not leaps and bounds over what I already have. When I do upgrade, I look forward to having significantly upgraded features. Things like a 10nm processor, dual cameras, possibly 3D touch, second iteration of iris scanner etc. I really want to be wowed when I get my next phone, and going to an S7 to me is not enough of an upgrade. If the Note 7 didn't have all its issues, for me it would be almost worth upgrading. But as dual cameras are coming out, I want my next phone to have that.

My other unconventional reason is that I swear, the Galaxy S7 is no faster than my S5. Every time I go into a carrier store and play with the S7 on display, it does not load up apps, camera etc any faster than my S5. Not only do I want my next phone to have significantly upgraded features and extras, but I want it to be faster. Benchmarks don't tell the real story in real life use.

Anyone else who is not upgrading for reasons other than money?

[PRGDR]

In my case it is not an S5, but the good old Note 1 (GT-N7000). With custom CM 12.1 or CM 13 roms it performs pretty well, no particularly annoying lags, the S-pen works well, and it is just a good machine. As you (maybe my case is a bit more extreme, though) I have not seen real impressive technology changes that make me feel that my old phone might be obsolete. On the contrary, I just love it.
No money reasons whatsoever.

[ironass]

IMHO, my international, G900F, model of the Galaxy S5 has been outstanding. Now on its 19th official Samsung update since release, it is still going strong.

Just a couple of points about the U.S. models of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge....

Because of S7's modem that is built into the chipset, the U.S. models cannot use the the octa core, Exynos, chipset, (dubbed the Beast from the East), because of Verizon, Sprint and U.S. Cellular's old CDMA networks, as it only supports GSM. Therefore, Samsung have had to give U.S. and Chinese devices, (who also have CDMA), the overclocked and slower, Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, quad core, chipset which supports CDMA, (Qualcomm are a large stakeholder in CDMA by the way), and there is no doubt that the U.S. and Chinese models are sub par in performance when compared to the Global, Exynos, models used in the other 194 countries. See video.



The other thing worth remembering is that the shop display models are usually the ones that Samsung manufacture for the purpose and usually end in an X, (i.e. G930X/G935X). These are wi-fi only models that are unable to make calls and are on an, "adapted", firmware for display and therefore do not accurately reflect, "all", aspects of the actual model. They are also not worth stealing. Also, they are designed to run a bright display mode 24/7 in a loop and this is why we sometimes hear posters complain that they have seen screen burn on models in the shops.

Personally, I fancied a change and decided to give the, fairly, new start up company, OnePlus, a go and have the new OnePlus 3 model which has the same Snapdragon 820, quad core, chipset as the U.S. S7/Edge. In the U.K. this retails at £329 and in the U.S. $399 as compared to the S7 at £569/US$740 or the Edge at £639/US$830. Whilst it may lack some of the bells and whistles of the S7/Edge, (it is not water resistant and does not have a curved Edge screen), it comes without Samsung and carrier bloatware and is rootable and actively supported with updates, 5 regular OS updates in 14 weeks and 3 Community Builds for rooted users. Above all, it is, with 6GB of RAM, fast. See An Tu Tu screenshots...

[BlackZeppelin]

Hey ironass, that was really informative. I didn't know that display models were dumbed down devices. Makes sense I suppose. Thanks.

[thefriz151]

I just upgraded to the s5 from the s3. Sold my s3 for 100 bucks. Paid 130 for the s5. Plan to do the same in a couple years for the s7. Buying a couple generations back can sure save some dough.

[thefriz151]

BTW, love the phone. S5 rocks!

[BlackZeppelin]

I just upgraded to the s5 from the s3. Sold my s3 for 100 bucks. Paid 130 for the s5. Plan to do the same in a couple years for the s7. Buying a couple generations back can sure save some dough.

I'm impressed! You must be rich with all the money you save. 💰💲

[thefriz151]

I'm impressed! You must be rich with all the money you save. 💰💲

Nope. A phone is just the last thing I want to spend money on. Too many hobbies.