Average Active Use Life of Your Smartphone?

Greetings OzBs, I was wondering what is the OzB user's "active use life of a smartphone", I have added a poll below.

Recently I have been looking at newer phone deals and was kind of disillusioned looking at recent prices of good smartphones because basically I don't think I can afford to buy another long term phone anymore. Any decent recommendations would be welcome.

Some context: Purchased my current phone (Samsung Note 10+ dual sim non-5G variant) in Sep-2019 for $1039. This has been my primary and only device ever since. It still works wonderfully, very responsive and has basically no issues (apart from having to charge it more frequently - a charge still lasts 10+ to 12+ hours with very heavy use). I will probably continue using this phone for the foreseeable future until I can find a decent reasonable replacement or the banking apps stopped working due to no support.

After purchasing this device, I have basically stopped printing paperwork (not a student). Only had to print a paper once where a pathology was not willing to accept a referral soft copy during Covid. I have signed employment, hospitalisation and banking papers using the phone's stylus over PDF. It works well with all smart home devices, lighting, CCTV, etc at home. Works well with a separate Work profile for employment. Basically at this point, my whole digital life revolves around it and my work laptop.

The only concern is that Samsung stopped sending security updates to this phone since Sep-2023 and it bothers me a lot.

Poll Options

  • 29
    1 year
  • 71
    2 years
  • 366
    3 years
  • 132
    4 years
  • 267
    5 years
  • 40
    To infinity and beyond
  • 4
    Trust fund baby - new phone every month
  • 2
    What's a smart phone?
  • 2
    Sensitive force user (others choose my phone for me)

Comments

  • +26

    2-3 years.

    Would be longer but bargains or hardware failure have meant I have upgraded earlier than intended.

    • +1

      Had a quick look at exactly how long I had my last few phones - 2.5 years on average

      • Note 3 - Running a custom rom to squeeze more life out of it. Still have it and last time I turned it on it still had reasonable performance. The custom firmware/workaround for root detection probably wouldn't play nicely with work apps.
      • P20 Pro - Bought due to deals/salary sacrifice. Fingerprint reader died otherwise would have had it much longer.
      • Partner's P20 Pro - About 2Y ownership. A friend of ours has been using it for the past 2.5Y. It is starting to have some issues now (possibly due to being dropped).
      • S20FE 5G - replacement for P20 Pro. 4Y since purchase - A friend bought it for trade in value when I mentioned I was going to trade it in. Plenty of life left in it.
      • S22U - Current. Purchase due to various deals and for eSim support.
      • +18

        No, that's not the answer. Samsung and Google have both improved their update policy since 2019.

        Currently:

        Samsung - 5 years
        Pixels - 7 years

        PS: stop replying to top comments unless on topic.

        • +9

          Samsung offers 7 years now with the S24 series

          • +1

            @User0001: But will thier phone last that long?

            I'd had a sring of bad experiences with android phones. Trying my first iPhone now, and I think it's already outlasted any of its predecessors.
            Ironically, it was the updates that sold me on iPhone.I didn't know Samsung & Pixel had longer update lives.

            I do miss google though. Even though I use google apps on my iPhone, google doesn't even know I just spent 3 weeks in Japan, nor does it keep track of my fitness anymore :(

            • +4

              @SlickMick: Definitely. I have a S10 plus and Note 9 still which are still in use.

              They're from 2019 and 2018.

              Linus from Linus Tech Tips uses a Note 9 as his usual device.

              I have a few family members still using an S7 (2016)

              You need to use the snapdragon variants. The Exynos ones are not very good.

              iPhones can also have a short life too. I hated using my iPhone 12 near the middle to the end of its life. It lagged, overheated, and the battery died quickly. It had 91% battery health after 3 years, so it wasn't user error.

              • @User0001: Good to know. I had a Note 1, and it just bricked itself in less than 2 years. I went through a series of galaxies that were no better (only 1 I destroyed by dropping it; the last one the USB-C port failed (among other things) and I could buy a new equivalent phone cheaper than repairing it, the rest all "just failed".) My last phone was a Sony and didn't last any longer. So finally resorted to an iPhone.

                I would go back to android in a heartbeat* if I could trust they'll last as long.
                *Actually, I'll wait till the iPhone fails.

                • @SlickMick: Apple definitely hold the crown for longevity and customer support. Google don't have great hardware, but I have heard they have decent aftermarket support.

                  Samsung has great hardware, but their customer support has been a bit hit or miss. I've had nothing but good customer support from Samsung though, but rarely had to use it.

                  Apple is definitely the safest bet. If you're short on time and just want something that works, iPhone is the best choice.

              • @User0001: Exynos is the Samsung Australia sepcial.

                • @salin: Unfortunately. I plan to keep my S23U until it dies.

              • @User0001: My experience with iPhone is quite different. I was involved in mobile phone design in my working days. All my smart phones were Android until I switched to iPhone Xs Max about 6 years ago. The battery capacity is still at 81% now and I haven’t noticed any slowness or lag in the phone operations. I dropped it 3 years ago and that cracked the screen in 3 areas yet that hasn’t caused any issues. But now it’s time to upgrade to 16 Pro.

            • @SlickMick: 'Even though I use google apps on my iPhone, google doesn't even know I just spent 3 weeks in Japan'

              you might need to turn on Google Maps Location History -
              https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/4388034

        • +4

          PS: stop replying to top comments unless on topic.

          Wow, it’s a pattern, but that’s not all of it though.

          Hewhoknows in 2019

          …had the same problem recently porting from Optus to Amaysim

          5 years later, commenting out of nowhere on the exact same dead thread

          … Its OP that made the wrong decision.
          Thousands of others havent had any such problems when porting to Boost.

          …This is a classic case of OP playing the blame game.
          Blame anyone but OP.

          I think we should be asking, RU OK HeWhoKnows?

      • +2

        Haha, HeWhoKnows SH!T …

        Google and Samsung are now 7 years vs Apples crappy 6 years …

        ANSWER: switch to Samsung or Google, even their base models!

    • +1

      Yep, I've been a big fan of the Galaxy Note series ever since I got the Note 4, however they fail every 3 years. After my latest Galaxy Note 10+ failed one me, I couldn't justify buying the Galaxy S24 Ultra, the price tag was simply ridiculous. I ended up with the Redmi 13 Pro+ 512GB for 1/3 of the price ($720) and it's faster than my Galaxy Note 10+. I'm glad that they finally made their Redmi phones waterproof so that I can use it outdoors whilst working in the rain. So basically, it seems like you should just get the latest phone as it'll be better and cheaper than the Samsung flagship phone from 3 years ago and it'll be brand new.

  • +46

    if it aint broke

    • True OzBargainer style.

    • -1

      This seems to be becoming more of a common excuse not to upgrade one's smartphone these days.

      I would rather sell my phone before it is either physically broken/faulty or the tech is no longer current, rather than wait until it's worth nothing.

      For example, I could sell my existing phone today for $300-350 via private sale or trade-in and put that towards an upgrade, or I could simply keep it for another 2-3 years and it just gets recycled at the end of it's life.

      You'll have to do the math to work out if you're getting that much more value out of your existing phone.

      • +4

        I run my phones into the ground before buying a new one. Once the phone gets too slow for daily use (I think the memory wears out, greatly slowing performance) it becomes a backup phone.

        I'll never replace my Samsung GT-I5503T because it's perfect as an alarm clock. It has a decent speaker and it's stable (Uptime 421 days).

      • +1

        So trade what's probably equal to your current service life in extra usage for what's probably 30 percent of the initial sale price?

        Doesn't stack up for me. Plus you get to keep the old phone as a spare or backup.

  • +20

    Used to be every 2 years. I've now switched to 3-4 years. The upgrades are incremental, the phones last forever, and everything costs a lot more as well.

    • +8

      Pretty much this. With the iphone, between the 3 to 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 there were some worthwhile differences, but since then, theyve essentially been the same.

    • +2

      with the threat of 3G being turned off I have had to move on from my iphone 3GS…:-(

      • On the upside you don't have to worry about another phone until 2039.

  • Work gives me a new phone every 2 years, but I would probably do 3 if I had to buy myself

  • +5

    Til the battery goes kaput.

    • +7

      Replacing the battery is cheaper than replacing the whole phone.

      • +8

        True, but finding genuine replacement batteries that aren't half dead isn't aways possible.

  • +1

    I use Pixels. I currently have the Pixel 8 Pro. I previously had the Pixel 6 Pro. I will likely upgrade to the Pixel 10 Pro XL. So every 2 years. I know I could easily go 3-4 years with them now but I like the freshness as an enthusiast.

    Most of my iPhone friends hold onto theirs longer, especially the ones with Pro / Pro Max models.

    Galaxy friends go both ways - I know some that upgrade every year and others that are still on 6 year old models.

    • +5

      Galaxy friends go both ways

      That's my experience also

    • +2

      I'm using the Pixel 6 now and it's still going strong.
      I was considering upgrading but I really can't fault this phone, happy with the camera and battery and cost savings with not getting sucked into the upgrade cycle.
      That's coming from someone who used to upgrade yearly, glad I'm over that, as the benefits of upgrading are very minimal now.

      • I had a pixel 6 and the minute the USB-C iPhone 15 came out I was just waiting for a deal to replace it even though it was working fine, actually better than when I first got it. The cellular modem on that thing was garbage, even after getting orders of magnitude better after a couple of years of software updates. Used on both optus and telstra resellers. I suffered through the first year of ownership and got sunk cost fallacy about replacing it lol. It would drop out on 2+ bars without me moving and refuse to reconnect without me manually forcing it to switch between 4g and 5g, or turning the ceullar on and off. Even when it would connect, it was poor, would be sitting next to iPhone 15 owning partner on same network who had 3 bars while I had 0. Worst phone I've ever had, and I had a OnePlus that randomly bricked itself after 1 year prior to it.

  • +6

    Prob 3-4 years now.
    Tech development has really stalled.
    The only thing that kinda makes me want to upgrade is crap battery life now my 14 pro is under 80% battery health.

    • +2

      Maybe I'm delusional, but I find the $169 battery replacement from Apple to be quite a fair price. No idea how they do this in practice though, do they do it on site / send it away / give you refurb?

      I only upgraded from the 13 Pro to the 15 Pro because of some tax benefit through work at the time, no plans to move from the 15 Pro any time soon…

      • Yeah it’s not bad - I mean if you really wanted to take it further you could prob diy with a part from Ali express… depends how much you value your labour and how well it all sits back together and maintains waterproofing. The way I see it, it’s still quite reasonable to use, just need to top up during work or take a batttery bank.

        $169 is basically 1/10 a new unit price the way I see it.. i will just run it out and put the money towards new model when I need

      • -4

        Maybe I'm delusional, but I find the $169 battery replacement from Apple to be quite a fair price

        You're delusional. It's only fair in the sense that it's a non-commodity (fashionable) item and they can charge what they like.

        An actual fair cost would be the cost of designing, manufacturing, transporting and managing the inventory, plus a fair profit margin. Labour should not be factored in, as it's necessary only as a result of consumer-hostile design (fabricated demand).
        For the number of units they sell, i'd ballpark guess a "fair" price (with reasonable profit margin) would be closer to $50, perhaps less.

        • A fair price is the price people are willing to pay.

      • +3

        I'm on an iPhone 11 and there's nothing wrong with it so far.
        If I could eventually extend it's life further for $169 it might last me a decade.

        • How often do you charge it? How many hours does it last on a single charge?

          • @freshofftheplane: I'm sure I way over-charge it. Whenever I'm at my desk at home or at work I have it on the charger if it's less than 98% charged. I also have it charging overnight, which I heard is bad too.

            I don't know exactly how long it lasts. I'd say "all day": I've never needed my battery backup when I have been out all day. (Even though I still carry out out of habit. I'm so used to having phones with bad batteries.)

            • @SlickMick: Ok, so you are basically charging it at all times, of course you think "nothing is wrong with it so far"

              • @freshofftheplane: SlickMick never said that this was anyone's experience but their own. If their usage patterns mean that can get 5 years of life out of a battery for $169, then that would be worth it to them. In a huge shock to no one, it turns out that value is extremely subjective!

  • +2

    I only replaced my iPhone 6 in 2022 because the BS apps we have to use at work stopped working.

  • +5

    Don't worry about the lack of security updates. It's uncommon for critical vulnerabilities be discovered on old versions of Android.

    Your phone will last until apps refuse to be installed on the version of Android running on the phone. Or the apps that you use are so bloated that they feel slow on the phone.

  • +3

    Phones cut short in their prime by progressively switching off 3G. lol

  • +3

    1: 08/2012 - 12/2017, 2: 12/2017 - 12/2022, 3: 12/2022 - . Each one costing at least double the previous one!

  • +2

    https://batteryuniversity.com/img/content/DST-cycles-web2.jp…

    If you can avoid fully charging or fully discharging your battery too much, it should essentially last indefinitely.

    My biggest issue is avoiding smashing the screen at some point 🤦🏻‍♂️

    • +1

      yeah I charge till 85% built in functionality in Samsung. Can't prevent fully discharging but I try given its age.

  • +4

    When it dies, it gets replaced..

    I have a mate who is an iSheep…. soon as anything is released hes at teh front of the queue… has a draw full of phones that work, but wont get rid of any of them.

    • I find that so bizzare now, these are the people that bang on about "resale value" yet hold on to their phones and happy to fork out dollars each year on a new phone that has almost no benefit from the previous years model.
      Oh and standing in a line to get it on day 1, surely people aren't still doing that? Serious question.

      • +2

        Oh and standing in a line to get it on day 1, surely people aren't still doing that? Serious question.

        They do… so they can stick a foto up on Stalkerbook, Twatter n DikTot to the world.

  • +6

    If it wasn't for the manufacturers designing phones where batteries cannot be replaceable it would be 5 years.

    • +4

      But they are replaceable - check out instructions on ifix for many common models.

      • +4

        "User replaceable", then.

        Yes, the "user" could follow said instructions on places like iFixit, but that is not what "user replaceable" means. I remember my Samsung Galaxy Nexus was like the old Nokia dumbphones where you popped off the back cover and there was the battery, just pop it out. No screws, just held in by pressure and the back cover, with the connection just being a spring-type contact. That is user replaceable.

        I seriously looked at replacing the battery for my old phone. Was not viable when you add up the cost of the battery itself (and/or kit from places like iFixit), the value of my time, the risk of damage/mistakes when self-replacing, and then taking that and comparing to the price of the phone itself or a replacement device.

        • +2

          Agreed it's fiddly and it was way better then they were drop-in swappable. But if the phone isn't worth much on the used market then it's worth doing. You don't need an Ifixit kit, I've done three with nothing more than screwdrivers, a suction cup and a hair drier.

          • +1

            @Horacio: Also getting the replacement batt from Aliexpress makes it more viable cost wise..

            • +1

              @Horacio: All valid points. I still worry about spending X and then having to get a new phone anyway because I botched it and broke a connector or something. Likewise with screen replacements.

          • @Horacio: Where do you source your batteries? eBay and Amazon seem to be full of shirty fakes.

            • @Loopholio: Agree.. even after market batteries are rubbish.

            • @Loopholio: Just did my Redmi Note 7 from AliExpress, was claimed to be legit and is working fine - Accubattery reports the correct capacity etc.
              It now continues to live on as a IR blaster/Media Streamer and cashback sim card churner for a less than $20 battery swap.

        • Note that where I said "not viable" I really should have put "not viable (to me)"

  • 17 years

    • +1

      Nokia :P ?

      • +1

        yes, need to move to 4G now apparently… 😔

        • But if you received your COVID vaccinations, your body should already be 5G enabled.

          • @eek: My Nokia isn't 5G

    • wow - should add a poll option "till kingdom come"

  • Just replaced the battery on my iPhone 12 pro, plan to keep it another 3-4 years if possible!

  • +1

    If I hadn't accidentally smashed the screen on my phone (Huawei P30 Pro), until it dies (it's currently 6 years old). As it is, I have to get a new phone soon because the screen replacement costs 50-80% of the cost of getting another P30, and the screen is slowly but steadily cracking even more.

  • Three years, two if the new iPhone is a big change. But the old ones get passed down through family. Family members incept the idea of getting a new phone by asking me if I'm getting the new iPhone, which is code for "can I have your old phone".

    • same, my daughter got my iphone 6 and then my iphone X, which she still uses (replaced the battery). Work updates me every couple of years (now iphone 14)

      But goes to show that if a teen can survive using/living off an iphone X then not much need for the rest of us to upgrade

      • Yeah that's the thing, the person at the bottom of the chain might still be using a 5S with a wonky aftermarket screen and desperately needs an upgrade. The person at the top of the chain is still using their 14 or whatever and doesn't actually need to upgrade. It helps if people lower in the chain kick in some money.

        • -1

          the person at the bottom of the chain

          that's me…

      • -2

        Work updates me every couple of years

        Doesn't that affect your long service entitlements?

  • I got about 4 years of use out of an iPhone 4 before it slowed down too much, been using my iPhone 8 since launch (~6.5 years). Will probably use my next phone for the same amount of time. Depends on one’s use case though, I don’t do much on my phone except standard stuff like texting, browsing, Youtube, social media so there’s no point in upgrading constantly.

  • Yearly here, but only because with salary sacrifice and selling it after getting the next one, it's zero cost (sometimes profitable) to go through a phone each year.

    • You've got a good deal going on there.. 👍

  • I upgrade when the battery stops lasting a day. It's been a long time since I felt a phone couldn't do what I wanted it to do.

    That said, I'd upgrade to a 16 if it had 90 or 120hz screen. Otherwise it feels like going backwards from my current 13 pro and the 16 pro is too expensive to justify.

  • 6 years still going strong. Only got this one bc last one was stolen after about four years.

  • I was an every 2 years person while there were still advancements.
    Now I've had my 13 Mini for about 2.5 years and have no plans to replace it at all. Mostly because I don't like the new standard of massive phone and I'm perfectly happy with it. Battery health is sitting at 87% but still perfectly fine, will replace the battery when its around 80% so currently I could see myself potentially holding onto this for another 2 years.
    Even if it got to 2 years I'd face the dilemma of what could replace it if phones haven't stopped being stupidly sized?

  • Used a Samsung Note3 from 2013 to 2021. Love the SD800 👌

    • That 3GB RAM must've made a huge difference compared to other 800 devices - I'm assuming you kept it going through ROMs?

      • +1

        Yep, tried heaps of them. Lineage was a favourite for a while. Stuck with ROMs by jprimero15 on xda, his roms were reliable. Finished up on HavocOS 3.7 (android 10)

  • +2

    My Samsung S10 is still going strong and does everything I need.
    I don't see anything that a new phone would give me.

    Best thing about it is the 3.5mm audio jack.

  • +1

    Poll only goes up to 5 years, then it's Infinity.

    Purchased my current phone (Samsung Note 10+ dual sim non-5G variant) in Sep-2019

    OP, this is an ageist poll. Not everybody with a phone older than yours witnessed the big bang, okay!?!?

  • My iphone 11 is coming up to five years old and still going strong, still has 75% battery life and I can get through a day without any trouble including calls, listening to podcasts, watching vid from my alarm system etc. I had planned on upgrading to the 16 but I honestly don't need to.

  • Bought my iPhone 13 for $1169 (+ $100 in cases, screen protectors, cheap wireless earphones over the years of owning it) thinking I would keep it for 5 years, then sell it for $100 and buy something else. Still on track to do this, although I could sell it at 2 years and get $600 back and get something else. Have been tempted but the deals haven’t been good enough.

  • +1

    I usually lose a phone whilst on the piss every four years or so.

  • Havent really kept track but would have to be 5 years plus on average and only when it stops working.

    Most expensive phone is my current one I bought 4 years ago a Samsung Galaxy A21s I think I paid $259 for it does everything I need it to do.

  • I have over 10 mobile phones coming from the 2G GSM monochrome lcd flip phones days. I am consider myself pretty average when it comes to updating my mobile.

    Forget about people who have multiple mobile phones, or poorer countries, kids and disabled. So roughly over a lifetime of each person in this world will own 10 mobile phones. That's more than 80 billion units made, 8 billion in use. Hopefully we can recycle them properly because 80,000,000,000 is a huge number.

  • Pixel 4a for $400+ 3 years use. Have to charge a few times during the day. Nothing I can't solve. Constant usage.

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