Why I refuse to upgrade.
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We see new smartphones releasing all the time. But we're starting to hit a plateau in progress. Here's why I won't upgrade my work phone.
    • JackOverlord ( JackOverlord@beehaw.org ) English
      8·
      3 years ago

      and then they break it and decide the cost of a repair isn’t worth it

      Yep, that was me with my previous phone, which I did indeed have for over 5 years.

      But there’s another major factor to it.

      I use Android phones, which get official software updates for only a couple years (3 years for the most part). This includes security updates.

      So when I got my current one it was one of only two I even considered, because only those two manufacturers promised 5 years of (security) updates at the time.

      It has gotten better though, but except for Fairphone they’re still all very hard or impossible to repair.

    • denast ( denast@lemm.ee ) English
      1·
      3 years ago

      I’ve upgraded to Pixel 7 last year to run GrapheneOS. Honestly it was a very underwhelming upgrade. My 2019 Oneplus 7T is still kicking running LineageOS, could go back any second and not notice.

    • TurtleTourParty ( TurtleTourParty@midwest.social ) English
      1·
      3 years ago

      I sadly became one of those people last year. I had every intention of keeping my Pixel 5A for a long time but when faced with a $250 repair bill I bought a used pixel 6 for $240 instead of fixing it. I do regret it because the battery life and antenna on the 6 is awful compared to the 5a.

    • ShepherdPie ( ShepherdPie@midwest.social ) English
      12·
      3 years ago

      I as well. At the very least, we need some fucking differences in the market. Every phone doesn’t have to be the same. Imagine the car market if all we could buy were Chrysler 300s. It looks sleek and nice but will crap out on you in a couple years and doesn’t really fit in well with your career as a general contractor. When it dies, you have to go buy another one and start the cycle over.

    • sudneo ( sudneo@lemm.ee ) English
      4·
      3 years ago

      My Fairphone does, and I have already purchased a batter for 35 euros, which I keep in my drawer. The phone is now just over 3 years old, probably in a year or so I will replace it. I am aiming for at least 6-7 years lifespan.

  • AdmiralShat ( AdmiralShat@programming.dev ) English
    38·
    3 years ago

    It seems like each new version of Android locks down the file system in some new way that breaks a core part of something I do, so I actively don’t want to upgrade.

    I can’t root my phone because I need my banking apps readily avaliable right now.

    • catloaf ( catloaf@lemm.ee ) English
      22·
      3 years ago

      I’m still bitter about USB mass storage being removed for only MTP. MTP sucks, any time I use it for more than a few small files it always ends up dying partway through.

      • BearOfaTime ( BearOfaTime@lemm.ee ) English
        17·
        3 years ago

        Yea, don’t waste time with MTP. It’s a hack to enable some access. It’s always been unstable.

        Use some kind of network sync tool instead. Syncthing, Resilio Sync, Foldersync, etc.

          • Shurimal ( Shurimal@kbin.social ) 
            4·
            3 years ago

            Most entry level and midrange phones are still USB 2.0, even if they use USB-C physical port. USB 2.0 is 480 Mbit/s max, even old Wi-Fi 5 allows 1 Gbit/s speeds or even more. At this point the limit will be the writing speed of eMMC/SD card so even USB 3.0 becomes superfluous. After setting up my NAS, Jellyfin, Navidrome, Syncthing and Tailscale I haven’t ever connected my phone to a PC for file transfer—photos get synced automatically, music/videos get streamed and if I need to move files manually I can just do it from/to the SMB share over the network.

            • ladfrombrad 🇬🇧 ( ladfrombrad@lemdro.id ) English
              1·
              3 years ago

              Wholly agreed, I even do more than the 3,2,1 backup because of it to a family member’s routers which have SMB mounts and a Rasp pi down there with Tailscale on it. So helpful too having my Tailnet down there because it means I can remotely help them out without them even knowing.

              Also, the above “must be via cable fanatics” should go and Praise DuARTe for not even using adb push/pull?

            • ReversalHatchery ( ReversalHatchery@beehaw.org ) English
              1·
              3 years ago

              even old Wi-Fi 5 allows 1 Gbit/s speeds or even more

              Well, probably. I don’t have experience in that. Probably though it requires you to be in the room where the router is, or paper thick walls.

              As my phone’s MTP miserably fails for files from almost 4 GB and upwards, when I do heavy copying I just connect the SD card to my PC with a USB adapter and do it that way.

    • viking ( viking@infosec.pub ) English
      12·
      3 years ago

      That’s why I stick with Android 12, all my banking apps work just fine with magisk’s DenyList. Heard that’s getting tricky on 13 or 14.

      And I absolutely need root to add system-wide adblocking and security features like Ice Box and Storage Isolation.

      • kratoz29 ( kratoz29@lemm.ee ) English
        3·
        3 years ago

        I must be very lucky, but I have never been annoyed at something that Google does since 2020 (the year I got an Android phone and started to root).

        Hail, AdAway and Swift Backup already improve my Android experience completely.

  • rufus ( rufus@discuss.tchncs.de ) English
    38·
    3 years ago

    Yo, write better titles. I thought this was a video about how they didn’t want to upgrade to Android 15 or something. But it’s not. It’s just about not buying a new phone every two years 😆 In my opinion buying a new replacement isn’t ‘upgrading’.

    • hannes3120 ( hannes3120@feddit.de ) English
      9·
      3 years ago

      Buying a new replacement totally is upgrading though.

      That’s why it’s so rare to find phones with easily changeable batteries as most phones are like new if you just replace that.

      • rufus ( rufus@discuss.tchncs.de ) English
        1·
        3 years ago

        Why I refuse to upgrade to a new phone - 8 minutes video explaining why it’s not that interesting to upgrade buy new phones nowadays

        I think that’d fit better.

        But you all made me look it up on Wikipedia: “Upgrading is the process of replacing a product with a newer version of the same product. In computing and consumer electronics an upgrade is generally a replacement of hardware, software or firmware with a newer or better version, in order to bring the system up to date or to improve its characteristics.”

        I’m confused. Maybe because so many people use those terms wrongly. And I suspected them doing that. But I think I’d still like to refuse using the same term for describing upgrading a computer with an additional $35 RAM stick and buying a new $2.500 gaming rig.

  • shortwavesurfer ( shortwavesurfer@monero.town ) English
    18·
    3 years ago

    I upgrade less than I used to, and I only do mid-range devices now, like the Pixel A series or Motorola G series. That kind of bracket. I’m just going to install Lineage OS on it anyway and it works fine so why pay more when I don’t need that.

  • Rentlar ( Rentlar@lemmy.ca ) English
    14·
    3 years ago

    I finally upgraded my phone after 7 years. I had trouble picking out a phone that didn’t remove everything… no headphone jack, no sd card slot and we’re supposed to call that an upgrade? (What I got still has those thankfully)

    • thorfin1984 ( thorfin1984@lemmynsfw.com ) English
      2·
      3 years ago

      I did that but lost my headphones jack with connected built in quad DAC, a reliable fingerprint reader mounted on the back of the phone, and front facing camera that wasn’t crammed under my screen causing an annoying dead spot…

      • SHOW_ME_YOUR_ASSHOLE ( SHOW_ME_YOUR_ASSHOLE@lemm.ee ) English
        1·
        3 years ago

        I am responding to you on an LG V30 that I haven’t been able to part with because of the things you mentioned.

        The battery life sucks and sometimes the fingerprint reader on the back doesn’t work right but I can’t bring myself to buy something new that doesn’t have the features I want. It just feels like I’d be downgrading.

        • thorfin1984 ( thorfin1984@lemmynsfw.com ) English
          1·
          3 years ago

          You’re on the phone that died on me and I felt the exact same way, if you find something you’re happy with let me know, so far I’ve HATED my Pixel 7 Pro experience but 50% of that is probably a combination of more recent updates to Android than I had been running on my LG and the specific PixelOS features or lack there of in comparison.

  • MxM111 ( MxM111@kbin.social ) 
    5·
    3 years ago

    iPhone XS Max, 2018. The only reason I might update is for the better camera. But this is marginal. I tend to buy one of the top line iPhone once in about 5 years, with enough memory. And they last long time. I might consider changing battery instead and get another 2 years… Apple is also super good with software updates on old hardware.

    • considine ( considine@lemmy.ml ) English
      10·
      3 years ago

      Apple is also super good with software updates on old hardware.

      Except for that time they deliberately slowed down older phones with software updates so people would buy new phones.

    • V ‎ ‎  ( vanderbilt@beehaw.org ) English
      1·
      3 years ago

      I’ve been using a 12 Pro and if it wasn’t for the version number in the name I wouldn’t even be aware of its age. They are all so fast these days the battery dies long before it becomes too slow to use. If it wasn’t for CarPlay and iMessage I’d absolutely use a flip phone with Android Go or something.