Not buying latest model smartphone

[J.P. MoreGains]

I'm still on my second smartphone. My first I bought in January of 2015. My second I bought in January of 2020. I think my first one was an iphone 5c or something and now I have an iphone SE.

My first phone had really low storage and eventually some of the apps stopped working on it because they wouldn't support the old model. So the upgrade in 2020 was worth it.

Now I still have more storage than I need. But I just downloaded uber again and it said that my phone won't support the latest version of uber. So eventually it will get outdated but I think I have some time.

I really don't think I get all that much benefit out of a new phone. For a lot of people having the newest and latest phone is a big deal. I think just keeping an old phone is a great way to save money.

I think I overpay on my phone plan though... I pay $50 a month on my sister's plan but I get a ton of hotspot data which I use for my second job to work remote for it. If it weren't for that I think a switch to a lower plan would save me some.

Anyone else on an old phone or got some phone tricks to save money?

[uniwelder]

I had the original 2016 SE version (my first smartphone, purchased in 2019) until a month ago and upgraded to the 2023 SE version for the same reasons as OP--- not enough memory and couldn't use newer apps.  A big plus is how much better the camera is.  I can actually take a photo in dim light and not have a fuzzy picture.

I use Tracfone (now owned by Verizon) and bought my phone through them for $190.  Reception in my spotty area is quite good.  The plan was $135 for the year, so $11/month.  I mostly rely on wifi, so it only has 4 GB data, but that's more than enough for me.  You can buy extra data for $10/GB.

[spartana]

I had the original 2016 SE version (my first smartphone, purchased in 2019) until a month ago and upgraded to the 2023 SE version for the same reasons as OP--- not enough memory and couldn't use newer apps.  A big plus is how much better the camera is.  I can actually take a photo in dim light and not have a fuzzy picture.

I use Tracfone (now owned by Verizon) and bought my phone through them for $190.  Reception in my spotty area is quite good.  The plan was $135 for the year, so $11/month.  I mostly rely on wifi, so it only has 4 GB data, but that's more than enough for me.  You can buy extra data for $10/GB.

I also have a Tracfone - old 4 G LG that needs to be replaced asap. I bought it on the HSN for about $50 and it came with a year of service and 1500 text, talk and data each. I've had it for years now and since everything rolls over I just add data and text ($10 for 1000 data and $5 for 1000 text) as needed. A year of service is $100 and I get triple minutes for everything (only on older phones).  It is my only online "device" since I don't have a computer, laptop or tablet or home internet. Cheap Luddites of the world unite!!

[GuitarStv]

I don't have a smartphone.  Or a cellphone.  :P

[uniwelder]

...I've had it for years now and since everything rolls over I just add data and text ($10 for 1000 data and $5 for 1000 text) as needed...

Whoa.. can you elaborate on that?  Adding on data/text/etc gives you additional time on the plan?  I assumed adding on those just included whatever amount of time the original plan was for, such as 30 days, 90 days, 1 year, etc.

I think your edit answered my question.  It sounds like you buy a $100 plan each year, then add as needed if you run low during that year.

[GilesMM]

This is a weakness for me. I am addicted to the great camera on the iPhone and use it constantly. I’m just amazed at how good they are and how fast they continue to improve.

[spartana]

...I've had it for years now and since everything rolls over I just add data and text ($10 for 1000 data and $5 for 1000 text) as needed...

Whoa.. can you elaborate on that?  Adding on data/text/etc gives you additional time on the plan?  I assumed adding on those just included whatever amount of time the original plan was for, such as 30 days, 90 days, 1 year, etc.

I think your edit answered my question.  It sounds like you buy a $100 plan each year, then add as needed if you run low during that year.

I realized I forgot to add that important part so editted it. It's actually cheaper to just buy a new tracfone phone from HSN every year for the $50 and get the year of service plus the 1500 minutes of text, data and talk. Plus a newer upgraded phone every year.  Last I saw they were offering 2 5G phones each with a year of service and 1500 minutes for $75 for both. I think the phones were Samsung Galaxy but not sure.

[Zikoris]

I'm firmly in team "don't buy a smartphone at all" and have been very happy with my various flip phones over the years. It's not even a cost thing, phone addiction straight-out creeps me out, and it seems absolutely endemic among smartphone users. Even my 70 year old dad gets twitchy when we camp somewhere with no phone service, and he never even had a smartphone for the majority of his life. I don't want to touch one of those things with a ten foot pole.

[spartana]

I'm firmly in team "don't buy a smartphone at all" and have been very happy with my various flip phones over the years. It's not even a cost thing, phone addiction straight-out creeps me out, and it seems absolutely endemic among smartphone users. Even my 70 year old dad gets twitchy when we camp somewhere with no phone service, and he never even had a smartphone for the majority of his life. I don't want to touch one of those things with a ten foot pole.

I think that's user specific. I rarely go online with my tiny phone so just use it minimally. Where as when I had a home computer and hone internet I was much more addicted to sitting on my ass in front of a screen. Now I go months sometimes without going online at all or just for a quick check of what all the cool kids at MMM are up too. And I can do it while sitting on my ass on a beach after I surfed all morning ;-).

[JupiterGreen]

There are some apps I need so I do have a smartphone, but I don't have any social media apps installed. Also I would get lost without nav. so I think I'd need a smartphone for that. But I also have an old iphone (7?), my favorite iphone was the 5 but mine eventually died and then become unsupported. I have no problem having old tech. My laptop is 10 years old.

[J.P. MoreGains]

I'm firmly in team "don't buy a smartphone at all" and have been very happy with my various flip phones over the years. It's not even a cost thing, phone addiction straight-out creeps me out, and it seems absolutely endemic among smartphone users. Even my 70 year old dad gets twitchy when we camp somewhere with no phone service, and he never even had a smartphone for the majority of his life. I don't want to touch one of those things with a ten foot pole.

Last year I tried two different flip phones. One by Sunbeam Wireless and one through Best Buy. Problem was the low quality. Maybe I got unlucky with my choices but I wasn't impressed by either. The whole experiment ended up costing me some money so I took a loss on it. But I wanted to try it for exactly that reason... I get distracted by smart phones. So it's best if I just leave it off... or just leave it at home.

Smartphone is good for when I'm in Mexico though and need ubers. With not being able to support the most recent app version I think I probably have a year more on this one before I have to buy a new one maybe.

Pretty happy with how long they last. 2 phones in a decade is pretty good.

[J.P. MoreGains]

I don't have a smartphone.  Or a cellphone.  :P

That's the way to go! Pretty cool to me.

[spartana]

I don't have a smartphone.  Or a cellphone.  :P

That's the way to go! Pretty cool to me.

Until he crashes his bike in the wilds of Canada and the bears and wolves are circling and he wants to call for help ;-). I guess that's better then his DW trying to reach him while he's out on his bike 100 miles from home because his kid got hurt and the bears and wolves are circling!

I'd actually like to get a phone that just texted. Or calls and texts with no online access. As a mostly deaf person I usually text but haven't found one yet. My phone is generally off anyways.

[bacchi]

My current smartphone is a 2017 model. It has maps and IM/text and Libby. The only thing I miss, which I use on SO's phone, is mobile check deposit.

[Just Joe]

This is a weakness for me. I am addicted to the great camera on the iPhone and use it constantly. I’m just amazed at how good they are and how fast they continue to improve.

Same here. The camera is really an important part for me too. I take pictures of everything - fun stuff and stuff for work like data plates and wiring that I need to adjust for example.

I want the apps because of our EV charger apps. Also OBDII scanners for cars I work on. And when I travel the hotel apps are useful.

I find that as long as I stay away from social media on a phone, I'm fine. I try to only use it as a tool.   

[spartana]

^^^ making overnight reservations - especially for campgrounds here in Calif - is very difficult without doing it online. And if you lime to keep a lot of flexibility about where and when you go somewhere it's very helpful to have a smartphone. While most hotels, motels vacation rentals and campground probably do have phone numbers, it can be a huge PITA to call each place individually once in an area to see what's available. I hate making plans for long trips and prefer to do things on the fly and smart phones help with that. Since I have no social media accounts (I think MMM is the only one) I also just use it as a tool.

ETA: I'm also looking at rentals now outside my immediate area and it's nice to look at places online when pass in thru that cute little dream town!

Eta again: I don't like using public WiFi so load up on data before I travel. Does anyone know if using data is safer than public WiFi? I'd assume so but may be wrong.

[GilesMM]

This is a weakness for me. I am addicted to the great camera on the iPhone and use it constantly. I’m just amazed at how good they are and how fast they continue to improve.

Same here. The camera is really an important part for me too. I take pictures of everything - fun stuff and stuff for work like data plates and wiring that I need to adjust for example.

I want the apps because of our EV charger apps. Also OBDII scanners for cars I work on. And when I travel the hotel apps are useful.

I find that as long as I stay away from social media on a phone, I'm fine. I try to only use it as a tool.

Agreed, in addition to a camera that excels in low light, has depth of field control, and can do astrophotography, I love apps to control access (gates, garage doors), lighting, pool/spa equipment, video monitoring, blinds, hvac, alarm, solar, music, waze, travel, shopping/coupons,  banking, birding, etc. etc.

[aloevera1]

I had 2 stupid phone purchases. Pixel I used only for half a year (yes, that's as bad as it sounds) but the fancy Iphone X I used for about 5 years as a primary phone and am still using today for some social media stuff.

I smartened up now so my current phone was not as fancy. It was not the current flagship at the time and it was bought with a decent discount. I plan to use it forever.

My issue is that I am not very gentle on the electronics. I managed to break 3 phones (two of them drowned and one I crashed on concrete twice). They were all pretty cheap at the time but it still sucked.

So I guess I am definitely not in the "winning the smartphone game" camp as some other posters here... Ya all are an inspiration. :D

[Just Joe]

Consider used phones. We've done that for ourselves and our (not-) kids (-anymore).

Math showed us that buying new phones outright and then buying service from an MVNO is better than a contract. And used phones paired with MVNO are much cheaper yet.

We've repaired a couple of broken screens with a local repair shop rather than replacing the phone.

My formerly "big deal" phone is 5 years old now. I bought it a couple of years old for a ~50% discount as I recall. No problems with it now. Not sluggish.

I'm starting to see a little degradation in the battery but it continues to exceed my needs. It allows me to set the charge threshold to 80-90-100%.

I charge it to 80% slowly overnight. Same with our ebikes. Same with our EV car. Actually the EV gets charged to 60% and driven to 40% and recharged. Unless we need to go out of town with it.

Camera quality was important for DW and myself.

[FireLane]

I respect people who don't have a smartphone, but for me, it's too useful to do without. I like photography, I mostly make plans by texting my friends, GPS is incredibly useful, I have fitness apps to count steps and calories, I use it to play music and podcasts when I'm out for a walk...

However, I try to stay a few versions behind the curve. Much cheaper that way. My phone is a Google Pixel 4 that I got in early 2021. I think it's almost broken in by now.

[BECABECA]

Eta again: I don't like using public WiFi so load up on data before I travel. Does anyone know if using data is safer than public WiFi? I'd assume so but may be wrong.

Yes, cellular data is much safer than public WiFi. When traveling, if I need to log into my bank I only do it over cellular data. But I don’t really care about using public WiFi for any other internet uses. If somebody steals my login info for meetups.com well there’s not much they can do with that (obviously very different passwords for banking vs bullshit sites).

[geekette]

My 89 year old Mom has never had a smartphone.  There are two of her financial accounts we cannot access online at all because they insist on a text to verify.  We just have to wait for snail mail quarterly, and, IIRC, they charge for that.

I get unlimited talk/text/data in the US for $25/month via Visible, which is owned by Verizon.  It doesn't make sense, but it has worked for me for about a year. 

[Villanelle]

I bought an iphone 8 when my previous phone bricked.  About 2 months later, my husband bought a iphone 10, so while mine was new, it was already 2 gens old.  Thus, it was cheap.  I'm happy with it and will likely keep it until it dies, until the lack up updates makes it tough to use how I want to or safely, or until DH feels the need to get a new one and I upgrade to his old one.  (Thankfully, he's not a person who wants the latest and greatest either, but he's slightly more interested in that than I am. 

Prior to my iP8, my last 2 phones were bought used. 

[Villanelle]

My 89 year old Mom has never had a smartphone.  There are two of her financial accounts we cannot access online at all because they insist on a text to verify.  We just have to wait for snail mail quarterly, and, IIRC, they charge for that.

I get unlimited talk/text/data in the US for $25/month via Visible, which is owned by Verizon.  It doesn't make sense, but it has worked for me for about a year.

Can you not just have her give them your number for the text verification? 

[geekette]

My 89 year old Mom has never had a smartphone.  There are two of her financial accounts we cannot access online at all because they insist on a text to verify.  We just have to wait for snail mail quarterly, and, IIRC, they charge for that.

I get unlimited talk/text/data in the US for $25/month via Visible, which is owned by Verizon.  It doesn't make sense, but it has worked for me for about a year.

Can you not just have her give them your number for the text verification?

It has to be the phone number of record on the account.  We can probably do some paperwork and get it changed, but we gave up on that.

My sister is taking over her house, and per her, some of the accounts require a smart phone or at least a text.  It's definitely difficult to avoid a cell phone now.

[Villanelle]

My 89 year old Mom has never had a smartphone.  There are two of her financial accounts we cannot access online at all because they insist on a text to verify.  We just have to wait for snail mail quarterly, and, IIRC, they charge for that.

I get unlimited talk/text/data in the US for $25/month via Visible, which is owned by Verizon.  It doesn't make sense, but it has worked for me for about a year.

Can you not just have her give them your number for the text verification?

It has to be the phone number of record on the account.  We can probably do some paperwork and get it changed, but we gave up on that.

My sister is taking over her house, and per her, some of the accounts require a smart phone or at least a text.  It's definitely difficult to avoid a cell phone now.

I was assuming it needed to be the # officially tied to the account, but it seems like that would be pretty easy to change.  People get new numbers, just like they change addresses.

[Zikoris]

My 89 year old Mom has never had a smartphone.  There are two of her financial accounts we cannot access online at all because they insist on a text to verify.  We just have to wait for snail mail quarterly, and, IIRC, they charge for that.

I get unlimited talk/text/data in the US for $25/month via Visible, which is owned by Verizon.  It doesn't make sense, but it has worked for me for about a year.

Have you tried setting it up with the landline, assuming she has one? A lot of people don't realize you can receive texts on a landline. I'm a receptionist and get them sometimes at work by accident. When you answer a robotic voice says something like "you have received a text message from X number" and then reads it out.

[dang1]

My 89 year old Mom has never had a smartphone.  There are two of her financial accounts we cannot access online at all because they insist on a text to verify.  We just have to wait for snail mail quarterly, and, IIRC, they charge for that.

I get unlimited talk/text/data in the US for $25/month via Visible, which is owned by Verizon.  It doesn't make sense, but it has worked for me for about a year.

Can you not just have her give them your number for the text verification?

It has to be the phone number of record on the account.  We can probably do some paperwork and get it changed, but we gave up on that.

My sister is taking over her house, and per her, some of the accounts require a smart phone or at least a text.  It's definitely difficult to avoid a cell phone now.

lol, i wanted to send some money via Zelle. Logged on via web

Chase wanted me to verify by phone app or call them - got no time for that, lol

Wells Fargo indicated they sent me text to verify, and text never came

BofA verification text came - to my Google Voice website for me to verify, so BofA came through ftw, without me touching my phone

I wouldn't use an app only service. Services that can only be used by phone - without the web option, are not ready for prime time

[roomtempmayo]

Like several of the folks above, I've been using the SE since it came out (2016?).  I sent the first one to the bottom of a river a few years ago, and got a new one.  I like the small size and reasonably good camera.

We've been running our phones on Mint for years and been very happy.

My current SE is starting to have issues, and will probably need to be replaced at some point in the next year or so.  I could see going to a dumb phone except for the loss of a camera.  I may look into what I can do to lock out "features" on the new iPhones.

I was surprised while reading a profile of Tucker Carlson in the WSJ this morning (not an endorsement of either the man or the paper) that he claims to be fully analog: https://www.wsj.com/politics/inside-the-strange-new-world-of-tucker-carlson-09783fc8?mod=hp_lead_pos9

Though Carlson’s new career is dependent on social media, in his own household it is banned, dating back to when his now-adult children were young, because he believes it “traduces and radicalizes” people. The account managed in his name has nearly 13 million followers on X, but he never uses it himself. He says that he has no access to any of his or the company’s social-media accounts, which are run by his staff, and that he doesn’t own a TV or computer or use email.

“While I’m grateful to have an audience, and for the effect of social media on news, I think the net effect of it has been very bad,” he laments, saying that it has made public discourse too extreme and concentrated power in the hands of tech oligarchs, such as his ally, Elon Musk.

[spartana]

Eta again: I don't like using public WiFi so load up on data before I travel. Does anyone know if using data is safer than public WiFi? I'd assume so but may be wrong.

Yes, cellular data is much safer than public WiFi. When traveling, if I need to log into my bank I only do it over cellular data. But I don’t really care about using public WiFi for any other internet uses. If somebody steals my login info for meetups.com well there’s not much they can do with that (obviously very different passwords for banking vs bullshit sites).

I figured it was safer to go online using data instead of public WiFi - at least until I heard about the AT & T hack. But either way as it doesn't effect me much as I really don't have anything like bank etc that I need to do online. Everything is simple and on autopilot and if there's a problem they text me. Not sure how something likely a text hack like AT&T is but not too worried.

[Car Jack]

I started my own first smart phone (work gave me them previously) with a 4S that I had used for work, and owned by work and when I quit, they said I could keep it.  Kept it until my next job "upgraded" their email system which needed a higher level IOS than my phone would do so I bought a used 5S for $80.  Kept that until it needed a battery and tried replacing it myself, bricking the phone.  Bought an SE for $80.  Needed a battery and this time, I went to the Apple store and paid $75 for a battery.  Been fine since.  Starting to run into apps I want that need IOS 16 and my phone will only go to 15.8.  Still have no plans to upgrade so long as it works.

[alsoknownasDean]

I'd stick with something that's still getting security updates. Many of the newer phones have five or even seven years of updates from new, but some cheap phones only had two or three years of patches.

I'm now at the 'buy a high end phone and keep it a long time' stage. I plan to use my Pixel 7 Pro until its software support ends in 2027.

[SpareChange]

Generally I buy a midranger, usually a Pixel "a" series brand new during the Black Friday sales. This time, when my phone died last fall, I opted for a 2 year old flagship model....Pixel 7 Pro. Paid US$356 for an open box one at Best Buy. Was $999 when new I think.

[AuspiciousEight]

I am on my fourth smartphone in my life.

The first one was a samsung galaxy s5, bought used off ebay when it was a couple years old. Kept replacing the batteries in it until the software wouldn't run apps I needed. Then I bought an LG G5 off of ebay, a couple years old. Same story - replaced batteries until phone wouldn't run some apps I needed. Then I bough a pixel 4a used off of ebay. 

Last year I bought my very first new smartphone in my life - a pixel 7a on sale for prime day - which I'm planning on keeping until it can't run an app I need to run or the battery won't hold a charge all day. Hopefully this will be several years from now.

I will probably stick with the pixel a series for the foreseeable future.

[Retireatee1]

I bought a Galaxy S22 in 2023 which was the model from the previous year.  I almost made it five years or so with the old phone, but it was coming unglued.  It may have been repairable, but I didn't go there.

[41_swish]

I am still rocking my Samsung S21 Plus. I will use it until it can't hold a charge or dies on me. I am not a power user, so email and maps work just fine on my phone. Also, I have really tried to ween off my screen time. Right now, on my phone I am averaging about 2.5 hours a day

[LuckyThirteen]

Generally I buy a midranger, usually a Pixel "a" series brand new during the Black Friday sales. This time, when my phone died last fall, I opted for a 2 year old flagship model....Pixel 7 Pro. Paid US$356 for an open box one at Best Buy. Was $999 when new I think.

This is the way

[Fru-Gal]

I always buy used off of Swappa.com.

I wanted the latest smallest one possible so I bought an iPhone 13 mini before my Colorado Trail hike and it was amazing. It’s the smallest phone they make. As much as I would like to say that I live without a smart phone it was pretty incredible to be able to book a hostel or hotel right from the trail. And I did not use my phone as much as other people did; I did not navigate with the phone, instead I had a paper map, but most people use their phone to navigate which I did think was a negative.

[41_swish]

Has anyone had any experience with Backmarket.com?

[Turtle]

This is a weakness for me. I am addicted to the great camera on the iPhone and use it constantly. I’m just amazed at how good they are and how fast they continue to improve.

Same.  But I do try to stretch out my time in between upgrades.

[Psychstache]

Has anyone had any experience with Backmarket.com?

My rankings on these kinds of businesses based on my experience:

1. Swappa
2. Backmarket
3. Gazelle

[41_swish]

@Psychstache Thank you! I will give the other two a shot, too. I see no need to buy a brand-new pro model phone. Last year's midrange seems completely fine for my use case.

[Villanelle]

I wonder how much longer my iPhone 8 will get necessary functional updates. 

[alsoknownasDean]

I wonder how much longer my iPhone 8 will get necessary functional updates.

Wikipedia states that the latest iOS version the iPhone 8 could run was iOS 16 (released in 2022), and the last update was 16.7.10 in August 2024.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_16

Might be about time.

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

[41_swish]

It is crazy to think that back in the day I used to upgrade to the new iPhone every year. Oh, how times have changed. My S21+ is still going strong I want to get about one more year out of it.

[J.P. MoreGains]

Yeah I've had my phone since before the pandemic. It's an SE I bought it for like $700.

Now is when I get the value out of it... just making it last as long as possible.

Sooner or later apps will stop working. That's what happened last time.

I'm looking at switching to mint mobile soon I think. Looking at phone models for when I do have to change.

[Zikoris]

My $95 flip phone I bought a year ago after losing my decade-old one in Paris is still going strong. I'd like to get at least five years out of it, happy if more. Still fighting the good fight against smartphones.

[41_swish]

My $95 flip phone I bought a year ago after losing my decade-old one in Paris is still going strong. I'd like to get at least five years out of it, happy if more. Still fighting the good fight against smartphones.

I wish I could rock a flip phone, but I am too scared to give it a try.

[2Birds1Stone]

For over a decade I would keep a smart phone for ~4 years and then give it to my wife and she would use it for another 2-3 years. This worked for a long time and then we both needed new phones at the same time so in Feb 2023 we purchased two Pixel 6a's brand new (they were released almost a year earlier) on sale for like $239 through Amazon during some kind of clearance sale. We plan on keeping them till July 2027 when they will stop getting Android/Security updates.

By then I'm hoping to find a really nice used Iphone or Pixel 9+ PRO for a good camera.......but for the next two years, these suckers are going to be just fine. There's something awesome about having a cheaper phone you don't have to worry about getting stolen/lost/broken.

[J.P. MoreGains]

I tried two flip phones without success. I had problems with them... they seemed to be way lower quality than what I had back in 2007. I definitely think it's a good move if you can get it to work.

Being on the phone is a big problem I have. I get very distracted. I'm really determined to leave my phone off and not take it with me all the time. We'll see how that goes.