Your current smartphone and plans to replace it

[ZLoth]

Kinda curious, but what is your current smartphone and plans to replace it? List it as follows:

• Make, model, and current storage capacity
• How long you have had it
• Is the screen cracked? 
• Replacement plans and reasons

[ZLoth]

Answering my own questions...

Make, model, and current storage capacity: Google 6 Pro with 256GB of storage
How long you have had it: Since December 2021
Is the screen cracked? Nope
Replacement plans and reasons: Google 9 Pro 256GB on order with the expected ship date on September 4th. The current Google 6 Pro is about to hit end-of-life with the release of Android 15 "soon", and because of the work-related authentication software that runs on my phone, I must use a non-EOL phone. In addition, the Tensor G4 SoC, a better internal modem, and redesign of the cooling of the phone should help with some of the heat issues I've experienced when driving with Google Maps and playing an audio app when I'm driving. Also, the promotional credit for trading in my current phone helps.

[Max Rockatansky]

I have an iPhone 11, I believe it has 64GB of storage.  I have no current plans to replace it given I have enough memory capacity to take/offload photos.  When the battery starts to go, I'll consider it.

[NWI_Irish96]

I have a Samsung Galaxy A35 with 128GB storage.
I've had it for just under a year.
Screen is not cracked.
I never plan to replace my phone. It's either because the current one quits working or I see a really good deal.

[DTComposer]

• current phone is iPhone 15 pro, 128 GB (currently using about 53 GB)
• got the phone in November 2023
• screen is uncracked
• I get my phones on the monthly plan through my carriers, so I won't consider a new phone until the current one is paid off (30 month-term). My current phone replaced an iPhone 11 Pro from 2019. I also need a compelling tech reason to upgrade - in this case it was the camera improvements and USB-C. Unless something major comes out, it will likely be late 2026/early 2027 before I upgrade again.

[Molandfreak]

iPhone 14 Pro Max with 256 GB of storage. I've had it since last summer, because my iPhone X was starting to have battery issues. The screen isn't cracked and I would have a hard time cracking it since it's in an otterbox case. No plans to replace it, and I probably won't for another 4-5 years or as long as this battery holds out.

[1995hoo]

256 GB iPhone 15 Pro (139 GB free). Bought last December. My wife gave me a new Apple Watch for Christmas, but it required a newer version of iOS than the iPhone X I had could run, so I got a new one (they gave me $127 for the old one). No plans for anything else anytime soon and I've never cracked a screen. I had the X for five years.

[Bruce]

I've had my Google Pixel 7 Pro (128 GB version) since December 2022, when I got it during a big sale that brought it down to $699. Pretty happy with it, and it should continue to get updates until 2027, but the storage is a bit small for my uses.

The Pixel 9 family looks mighty tempting, especially if I can get a good trade-in offer. I previously kept my phones on a four-year cycle, but that was pushing it too much.

[oscar]

iPhone 8, with 64GB storage. Purchased in spring 2018, after my fifth eye surgery in September 2017 improved my short-range vision enough to read a smartphone screen. The iPhone 8 is my first and only smartphone.

Never broke a screen.

I had battery issues last year, but the battery was painlessly and inexpensively replaced at a local Apple Store.

Likely I'll upgrade to a newer iPhone by next spring, mainly for 5G access.

[Max Rockatansky]

I've found the Apple stores around here to be fully resistant to the idea of swapping out batteries. 

[epzik8]

iPhone 12 64GB bought November 2021, one small screen crack, may replace it next year.

[CoreySamson]

I have a 3rd-gen iPhone SE which I've had for several years. The screen isn't cracked (thanks, Otterbox case!) and I have no real plans of replacing it anytime soon, as it has about 60 GB of storage left.

[SectorZ]

I have an iPhone 11, I believe it has 64GB of storage.  I have no current plans to replace it given I have enough memory capacity to take/offload photos.  When the battery starts to go, I'll consider it.

I had an iPhone 11 Pro for 4 years. That battery was still at 91% life when I got rid of it and I used that hard running Strava or MapMyRide for hundreds of hours of battery draining goodness per year.

[dlsterner]

Kinda curious, but what is your current smartphone and plans to replace it?

Make, model, and current storage capacity	iPhone SE (2nd Generation) 128 GB
How long you have had it	Since September 2021
Is the screen cracked?	No.  Never cracked a screen on any phone I've owned
Replacement plans and reasons	When Apple releases a version of iOS that is beyond my phone's capability.  My phone will at least support the forthcoming iOS 18

I will admit that I'm not a heavy smartphone user for whatever reason, and I've never felt the need to "keep up with the Joneses" every time a newer model comes out.

Plus I like the SE's form factor which allows me to carry it in a shirt pocket.

[ZLoth]

I've had my Google Pixel 7 Pro (128 GB version) since December 2022, when I got it during a big sale that brought it down to $699. Pretty happy with it, and it should continue to get updates until 2027, but the storage is a bit small for my uses.

The Pixel 9 family looks mighty tempting, especially if I can get a good trade-in offer. I previously kept my phones on a four-year cycle, but that was pushing it too much.

It depends on the carrier. Verizon is offering a $800 trade-in credit to upgrade for my phone. On the other hand, you have a Pixel 7 Pro, and if I were in your shoes, I would hold off until next year.

I will admit that I'm not a heavy smartphone user for whatever reason, and I've never felt the need to "keep up with the Joneses" every time a newer model comes out.

From my perspective, you are more likely to see an improvement if you upgrade every three years or so instead of every year. Besides, I think the days of camping out at a store for the latest phone (and the resulting news coverage) is long gone.

[formulanone]

Apple XR (128 GB), 4 1/2 years old, no cracks, might go another year with it.

Battery life isn't great, but hasn't exactly fallen off so I've stuck with it. Touchscreen getting slightly unresponsive at times, which might be the clincher for a new phone.

[Scott5114]

I have a Galaxy A-something-or-other that I got in 2020. It still works perfectly fine other than a dead pixel in the corner.

I'm not very happy with the camera on it (I installed OpenCamera and it opened my eyes as to how much the phone was trying and failing to fix its deficiencies in software). I might do a Google Pixel next. Except I kinda think all phones are overpriced, so I try to not buy them unless I really have to.

[Rothman]

1) Samsung S22 Ultra
2) Two-and-a-half years
3) One very minor scratch on the screen about two millimeters in length
4) I'll replace the phone when a good deal is available.  Probably will change providers as well (most likely earlier than the phone).

[hotdogPi]

I'm on my second smartphone, an iPhone 13, and I've had it for about nine months. I got my first iPhone in 2016, and it was an iPhone SE, the one between 5 and 6. It never got any scratches or things not working; the reason I got a new phone was because the battery was dying, plus 16 GB just wasn't enough.

[riiga]

Asus Zenfone 8, 256 GB
Bought it in April of 2022, so 2½ years roughly
No damage to the screen.
Planning on replacing it with a Pixel 8 when there's a decent discount.

[1995hoo]

I've found the Apple stores around here to be fully resistant to the idea of swapping out batteries. 

It's not necessary to go to an Apple Store. I had the battery in my iPhone X replaced by a third-party vendor (an electronics shop at Springfield Mall). Worked just fine.

[Max Rockatansky]

I've found the Apple stores around here to be fully resistant to the idea of swapping out batteries. 

It's not necessary to go to an Apple Store. I had the battery in my iPhone X replaced by a third-party vendor (an electronics shop at Springfield Mall). Worked just fine.

Yes, trouble is finding the time to go hunt down alternative sources.  When I was last faced this problem the easier solution was to just order a new phone.

[SP Cook]

Apple 13 Pro Max 256
22
no
None.  IMHO the cell phone industry has matured. I make an analogy to cars.   For decades, if you bought a new car, it was actually better.  Had new things that had not been invented last time.  That isn't true today.  If you buy a new car today, it loses the wear and tear you put on your old one, and it comes with a new warranty, but it isn't really BETTER than the car you bought 5 or 6 years ago.  Same is true today for cell phones.  If I bought a new phone today, there is nothing it can do that my current phone does not do.  And I expect that to be true for at least the next decade or decade and a half. 

[Rothman]

Took me less time to buy a car than buy my cell phone last time around.

[Max Rockatansky]

Took me less time to buy a car than buy my cell phone last time around.

I stopped buying them at the store before COVID and began ordering them online.  The sales people at most phone stores tend to be younger in commission sales and try to be way more aggressive pushing more expensive products or unwanted add ons.  When I bought my Corolla two weeks ago I was in and out of the dealer in less than two hours.