It seems a bit ridiculous when you think about it that way, but here we are plunking down that thousand dollars for our smartphones. But maybe not. Perhaps this is causing you to hold on to your smartphone a little longer as long as it’s working well. Has the increase in smartphone price led you to keep yours longer?
Our Opinion
Phil readily admits that he holds on to his computers and phones “as long as they are useful” because “to be in a constant cycle of upgrades is wasteful and only serves vendors of devices.” While he likes new stuff, like anyone else, he doesn’t believe it’s very eco-friendly. He also believes “it takes a few years for programmers to really start squeezing the most out of the platform.” He finds the upgrade/boredom cycle of eighteen months or less to be a shame. Alex reports that he’s only keeping his longer as the price “makes it difficult to afford two.” If he had the resources, he’d have a phone of every model, but as of now, “price makes that impractical.”
Sayak has two smartphones and suggests he may even have three or four, and he’s “always game for something new” but feels smartphones are “past their hype days.” He is, however, price conscious and doesn’t see much of a difference between a mid-range model and flagship model phone despite a vast price difference. He doesn’t feel you’re really gaining anything by upgrading, other than the elegance of flagship models. Simon knows the rising price of phones affects his desire to upgrade. If they were a little cheaper, he might feel the need to upgrade to something with more RAM or a larger screen. But the high price makes him question if he needs a new phone, “and I won’t bother with one if I find I can do everything I want just fine with my current model.” Andrew has the Moto G5 Plus and says it only cost him $175, and aside from a slightly faster processor and more RAM, he couldn’t ask for much more, other than possibly NFC. He feels there are many great, cheap phones that are nearly as good as the expensive flagship models and notes the new versions usually only have marginal upgrades. He reports that overall, “I’m pretty much unaffected by price and probably will be unless budget phone prices double at some point.” I’ve had my iPhone 7 since its debut. It’s still working really well, and I don’t use my phone nearly as much as my iPad. That’s why I recently plunked down the $1000 for a new iPad Pro. It seems much more worthy of that money than a new iPhone. If my phone isn’t working as well as it could in the fall, I’ll be buying the newest iPhone, as I won’t buy an older model that may not be supported in a few years, but if it’s still working well? I might just skip out on upgrading once again.
Your Opinion
Are you skipping out on upgrades because they’re just too expensive? Or do you buy a new one every time a flashy improvement is introduced? Has the increase in smartphone price led you to keep yours longer? Join our conversation in the comments below.
