How long do you keep your cell phone

[lizzzi]

I still have my iPhone 4S. I have had it for five years, with no repairs needed and no problems. I use it mainly for a telephone, (have a landline phone in the house, but ringer turned off and don't use it),  but like to check the weather, my emails, take an occasional picture, and use the calculator. I do text a little bit sometimes with two or three people. When traveling, I may use the flashlight app and/or the White Noise app for an alarm clock. Sometimes I look at the Fish Aquarium app. My dog likes to watch the Aquarium, too. That's about it. If and when it becomes totally unusable, I'll take a look at a new iPhone, but probably would be just as happy with one of the flip phones. I'm not really into technology, but of course, this is the new millennium, so I do use it.

[misshathaway]

I had my beloved, perfectly functional, iPhone 5 from 2012 until yesterday, when I accidentally put it through the wash. Replacing it with a refurb unlocked iPhone 6s.

[bownyboy]

I have an iPhone 6 and I'm lucky in that my work has always paid for my phones since I started work in 1998 (nokia 3210 anybody?).

However if I was paying for my own phone, I would get an android phone, as phone's are so good now in terms of battery life, camera etc you don't need to pay more than £150 for an amazing phone.

Saying that, I'm due an upgrade soon...

[Milizard]

I keep mine a year or 2.  I have low minute needs, and use mostly Wifi for data, so I still use Tracfone--currently an LG, prior to that a tiny Samsung, a tinier something I can't remember before that).  QVC and HSN periodically have very good bundles with a year of service, 1300 minutes, and triple minutes for the life of the phone, plus some other little things, for around $100-120.  It's like either a free phone, or free usage for a year.  My DH is going to be downgrading to join me on Tracfone with this (he bought for $120):
https://www.hsn.com/products/samsung-galaxy-sky-5-16gb-tracfone-1350-minutes/8283643

He's not that thrilled with it so far (not officially starting on TF until his month is done with Virgin), but this is after a succession of downgrades for phones and service for him.  (The first Droid on Verizon, then a couple LG's on Virgin, now this.)  We'll see.  Hopefully it goes okay for him.  I still see no reason to upgrade my $7/month deal, plus a random $10 here and there for more texts/data.

I would buy a newer phone with a deal like this every year, but my phone is still working fine and don't want to fill the landfills a lot more than necessary.

[spolicas]

I've had the iPhone 5s for about 2.5 years now. Plan to keep it for another 2 -3 years or until it dies. I absolutely hate researching phones and data plans.

[Edubb20]

Until they break.

I've had 3 phones in ~7.5 years.

[happy]

As long as possible: more than 3 years, often up to 5 years. My last phone was so old that it was 2G and the phone company was switching off the network and I had to forcibly upgrade. I left it till the last 5 days, despite the fact they'd been hassling me to switch over for about a year. Nothing wrong with the phone, so why hurry?

[sleepyguy]

Recently moved over to a Samsung S3 Neo (GF company gave it to her for free, so I put it to good use)

http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_i9300i_galaxy_s3_neo-6289.php

Before using the S3 (about 6mths now), I was, if you can believe it... on a Blackberry Bold 9700, hehe.  I actually really liked the phone.  It was PERFECT for my needs.  Compact, physical keyboard, zero apps to speak of, music playback was/is decent, perfect :)

http://www.gsmarena.com/blackberry_bold_9700-2963.php

[hoping2retire35]

UM.
2002-2004 analog flat phone(cingular)
2004-2005-color flip phone
2005-2009 -'smart' /w camera color flip phone(verizon)
2009-2011 iphone 3(maybe 3s)(att)
2011-2013 iphone 4s
2013-2014 motorola xt (republic wireless)
2014-current moto e

looks like I am averaging two years.

[TightFistedScot]

I got my Samsung S4 in March 2014. So I've had it almost 3 years now. It is definitely not working all that great. But also probably because I use it like a photo album and I have 700 photos on it! I need to move the photos somewhere else.

I've had my macbook pro for 6.5 years now. It also may need to be replaced sometime in the near future.

Really dreading the day I have to replace my phone and macbook. What laptop do others use/recommend? I like my macbook, and I definitely got my moneys worth, but they are expensive!

[YummyRaisins]

I got my Samsung S4 in March 2014. So I've had it almost 3 years now. It is definitely not working all that great. But also probably because I use it like a photo album and I have 700 photos on it! I need to move the photos somewhere else.

I use a free dropbox account and my desktop for backing up photos. If you're on WiFi, you can still view the pics in your Dropbox folder on your phone, assuming you have sync set up!

If your phone is feeling sluggish, try a factory reset. Better yet, you can unlock it and install much lighter versions of Android created specifically for your device. Check out XDA forums for how-to's and downloads (http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4). There are specific threads for variants from the different providers (Sprint, Verizon, etc.).

Either way make sure to back up your contacts, pics, and any other important media. Apps are linked to your google account, so they're easy enough to reinstall.

Source: I also have an old S4.

[Phenix]

I plan on keeping my Motorola Droid Turbo until the battery gives out on me.  I got it in November 2014 shortly after it was released.  The battery would last 2 (and sometimes 3) days between charges for the first year and a half I had it.  It has gone down significantly since then, but I still have 30-40% battery remaining when I plug it in each night.  This is by far the best smart phone I've owned (compared to the original Motorola Droid & the Motorola Droid 4).  I think the biggest reason this phone has held up so well is that I began only downloading time wasting apps to my tablet.  My phone is primarily used for phone calls, email, text messaging, Fitbit syncing, and Facebook when I'm on the go.  And starting in 2017, I'm going to give YNAB a try also.

I've always had good experiences with Motorola's smart phones and I plan on sticking with them as long as they keep coming out with new phones.

[snogirl]

Well I must have jinxed myself. My RAZR Maxx HD died. I decided I would get a moto x play. $200 trade in for a non working phone paid $208. What a difference for my business. no more spin waiting & the battery life amazing. Everyone overlooks it because of Price. Read reviews the phone is killer

Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk

[MakingSenseofCents]

I replaced the phone I had for about 3 years last year, after I smashed it while hiking. I like to keep them until they break.

[mwulff]

This thread just helped me keep my phone a lot longer. We used to do the "one new iphone each year" routine, because the old iphone had a nice resale value and we can tax-deduct our phones.

But Apple recently exchanged my wife's phone for a brand new one (iPhone 6) with a full 2 year warranty, and 3 weeks later they enacted the battery replacement program that covers my iPhone 6S.

So now we are left with two essentially new phones with a 1 and 2 year warranty for $0 cost.

Guess what, we are not swapping any phones this year. And besides we don't like the iPhone 7 that much. With any luck these phones will keep going for another 2-3 years

[GilbertB]

iPhone 4 8gb (not S) for a bargain when the 4s was winding down mid 2012.
The all glass and stainless has proved remarkably resilient in industrial and marine environments.
Might get a new battery to get it to last a few more years - or a cheap 4s 16gb...

[wenchsenior]

I have an old flip phone that I've had about 4 years. I've assume it will work at least a few more years.

I've never had a smart phone of any kind. The only time I ever had a twinge of need for one was once when I spontaneously wandered into a used book store in Kona, Hawaii, and wished I had my 5 page list of 'books to read' along on an electronic device. But then I remembered I would have to cart books in my suitcase back to the mainland, and decided 'never mind'.

[Geffling2]

I had an iPhone 4 since late 2010 to late 2016.  I finally updated and I hope this phone last just as long.

[RobFIRE]

I'm on my fourth smartphone, a first gen Motorola Moto G, which I've had for nearly 2 years now. The previous three smartphones I switched after about 18 months with each, at that time phones were improving fairly rapidly and each new phone was a good upgrade in one or more ways. All bought used, looked after and sold off again. I think they cost £150, £90, £80, £70 or so and sold for £50, £25, £50. As others have commented, smartphones are maturing as happened in the PC industry, so I don't see the need to upgrade my current phone at the moment. I don't use it for games and the battery is still good so there is no compelling reason to upgrade really. I wouldn't mind a better camera, higher resolution screen etc. but the difference doesn't seem worth it. The only issue really is software security updates, as my phone hasn't had a new software update available for a few months now, I suspect it will get at the most one more. On the one hand I don't install unknown apps / click on any old link etc. so maybe don't need all the patches, but on the other hand I would rather have security patches applied as some issues can occur without me doing anything silly. So I suspect I'll upgrade it in about a year for a newer Moto G or similar ~£80 budget Android phone just to get a phone receiving patches.