jacquelines 🌟how much would you say is a reasonable amount to pay for a phone, and how often do you buy one?
Ortie
Brett Edmond Carlock@jacqueline $250US is about my limit, and I don't want to do it more than every 5 years or so.
Needs to be unlocked, as well.
This is smartphone-era.
Pre-smartphone era? $125, and when it broke or they turned off the radio technology it used.
Robin ╰(ಠ_ಠ✿)╯@jacqueline a grand AUD, and once a decade
@jacqueline or a nice refurb for a few hundy
(there are 12 and 13 refurbs at reasonable prices)
4censord 
:now: at kubecon!@jacqueline I buy a new phone every 5+ years, usually when it gets absolutely unbearable to get security updates.
On average its on it's 2nd or 3rd battery by then.
As it is a device of daily use for me, spending 500+€ is not unresonable imho.
On average its on it's 2nd or 3rd battery by then.
As it is a device of daily use for me, spending 500+€ is not unresonable imho.
I love this, so I@jacqueline $300/year if you’re going for a top-tier phone seems about what I pay?
Joe Cooper 🇺🇦 🍉@jacqueline as with desktop/laptop computers, I always spend a bit more money than is comfortable, but I keep it for a long time. Current phone is approaching five years old, and was a mid-tier phone...$400, I think. I don't have near-term plans to replace it, though its charge port is getting cranky, and it may need replacing at some point. Given inflation and RAMpocalypse, I guess my next phone will cost ~$600 or more, but I'm going to put it off as long as I can. I'm not a heavy phone user.
StarkRG@jacqueline The last time I've actually *wanted* to get a new phone was when I replaced my HTC Dream with a Samsung Moment. The last time I *liked* getting a new phone was getting the HTC Dream (early Android was the shit). These days I only get a new phone when I really have no other choice (like for the 3G shut-off).
I'd say, for a decent phone, AU$600 would be reasonable, maybe as much as AU$800 if it's repairable and doesn't forbid you from installing whatever software you want.
vurpo 🏳️⚧️@jacqueline i bought my phone in 2021 and paid 400€ for it. i wouldn't pay much more than that and i'm trying to stretch my phones to last at least 5 years, although on average i've gotten a new one every 2 to 3 years
Workshopshed@jacqueline Paid around £150 for my current phone in 2022 after dropping and smashing my previous one.
Phone is still working ok so might not swap it for another year or two.
2015 - £128
Bought a Wiley Fox which survived 7 years till I dropped it.
2014 - £157
HTC One - Looks like that one broke about 18 months later
keithzg@jacqueline I would gladly pay $1000 for a phone with an OLED screen, a good camera, some degree of open firmware, a headphone jack, and >128GB of storage. Unfortunately nobody appears to be willing to take my money!
In practice lately I seem to buy phones about once every 6 months, but always something used and under (often well under) $250 and usually with some harebrained scheme about what OS I might put on it that's less awful. Sometimes that succeeds enough that I transfer over to using it. Currently on a OnePlus N20 that I haven't wiped the stock and put LineageOS on it mostly because Signal is annoying about switching to anything not currently running; it cost me $180 IIRC (Canadian dollars). The camera is terrible.
In practice lately I seem to buy phones about once every 6 months, but always something used and under (often well under) $250 and usually with some harebrained scheme about what OS I might put on it that's less awful. Sometimes that succeeds enough that I transfer over to using it. Currently on a OnePlus N20 that I haven't wiped the stock and put LineageOS on it mostly because Signal is annoying about switching to anything not currently running; it cost me $180 IIRC (Canadian dollars). The camera is terrible.
mborus@jacqueline That’s an interesting question. If it’s the most used/important device in your life then it makes sense that it’s the most expensive one. If you only use messaging, navigation, photo and auth, not so much. My last 3 phones were €50, €900, €200 and each used multiple years / as long as possible. I’d still be using the expensive phone, but the battery connector died (due to the battery needing recharging multiple times a day) and fixing it would cost too much.
@jacqueline those three phones cover over a decade, I think you should get at least 5 years out of a phone, but 10 would be better.
Joykill@jacqueline up to 500€ and I'll buy a new one when my current one stops functioning reliably (battery still holds two-three days after 7 years of continuous use, so likely not any time soon).
Lunar 🛸 ♾@jacqueline I try to leave it as long as possible between phones. It has to be falling apart before I'll replace it. My current one (Fairphone 5) cost me about £700 new. Still kind of wish I'd got an FP4 instead
Kayla Eilhart (en)@jacqueline It depends on the use case. I buy a new phone every ~3 years, but I have two, so one lasts about 5-6 years, usually with one battery change. I need a good camera and computing power, so I spend around 600-800€ on one.
Alex Schroeder@jacqueline I have an iPhone 11 from 2019 and I fear I'll have to replace it eventually. I feel like this phone could last at least ten years. For my laptops, I've set myself similar targets. I'm happy to pay CHF 800 for this phone and if we get 10 years out of it I'd say it was a good deal. The way it works with me, my wife and her parents is that the older phones often get handed down, so the oldest phone that's still working is an iPhone 6 from around 2014 that I originally owned. So it looks as if we might be making that 10 year goal with our phones.
(All dates from the Wikipedia page.)
(All dates from the Wikipedia page.)
Kat S@jacqueline €500-€600 for a new Fairphone (repairable, parts available), and whenever it ceases to be viable. I'm hoping to get 3-5 years out of this one.
Stéphane Charette 🇨🇦@jacqueline I think I paid almost $40 for the cordless set I still use for my home landline. Been using it since the late-90s. Only phone I own.
Haven't had to renew it since, though I do buy 2 rechargeable AAA batteries for it every decade or so.
- No screen protector.
- No case.
- I've never forgotten it in a coat or a restaurant.
- Rings loud and clear when I'm in my home office.
- Doesn't bother me or ping me when I go out.
- The phone company only charges me around $10/month for it.
- No distracting games on it.
- No social media on it.
bigblen@jacqueline about NZ$200 - 300 every (when the previous one stops working)
gkrnours@jacqueline I bought a fairphone 3+ ~5 years ago, probably for between 500 and 600€, so far I'm happy with it. Before that I had a moto g6 and before a moto g4, each for ~2 years at cost of ~250€.
emily, blinkenlight witch@jacqueline current phone was bought in march 2023, for $80 (used, on ebay)
I plan to continue using it until it either breaks irreparably (will buy another equally cheap ebay phone probably) or someone makes a usable phone that isn't in one of the two existing terrible ecosystems (would pay several hundred US dollars)
I plan to continue using it until it either breaks irreparably (will buy another equally cheap ebay phone probably) or someone makes a usable phone that isn't in one of the two existing terrible ecosystems (would pay several hundred US dollars)
Jae@jacqueline ~$300 AUD ($211 USD) for an older refurbished iPhone 12
sbszine@jacqueline A$500 maybe? I only have one when work makes me.
Telyn@jacqueline I would estimate the maximum reasonable amount to pay for a phone is probably about £500 but my current phone was about 50% more than that, which I was begrudgingly willing to pay.
My last phone was a desperation purchase 5 years prior to this one (my previous-to-that phone being Very Worn Out and no longer in support), and 5 years is the absolute minimum I accept getting from a phone. I'm aiming for 8, which historically the duration of OS security updates for my phone. But I would much rather it was 10/12 years.
When I was younger, smartphones were much worse and the gap between generations much higher, so I was willing to put up with higher frequency of replacements, but I strongly believe there should be no reason for buying a phone more frequently than 5 years these days. In practice, there *are* reasons (mostly OS support lifetimes being WAYY too short and repairs being difficult to access for many people), so I do not begrudge people having to replace their phones more often, especially those in the budget/midrange phone-buying world.
Mutesplash@jacqueline $400-500 every 5+ years
Nicolai von Neudeck@jacqueline depends on what it can do, software update supply and if it has some special properties that limit choice. I paid anything between 100€ and 650€ in the last decades. I usually replace the battery at least once, sometimes twice. I often pay a little extra to get a small phone (width =<65mm) because the wider ones are uncomfortable to hold for me. I expect my phones to cost me between 50 and 100€ per year in purchase and repairs
Anthony Sorace@jacqueline US carriers used to give you a steep discount on a phone for renewing your contract every 2 years, which I think got that feeling like “normal”. I’d upgrade whenever my phone broke or got too beat up, without really thinking about it; it usually worked out to about every 2 years. I’d buy whatever the physically smallest flagship iPhone was.
Then, between diminishing returns in upgrades & growing dissatisfaction with big tech, i got burnt out. I’m riding this 14 Pro as long as I can.
unable to decrypt message@jacqueline no more than $200 USD every 2-3 years. I got my last phone for $50 about 2.5 years ago and have no reason to replace it anytime soon. I pick a model that is supported by LineageOS that's a few years old then find it on eBay. IMO every smartphone except the very bottom of the barrel stuff that has been made in the last 10 years is just fine at doing smartphone things and there's no advantage of getting a fancy one unless you want a better camera.
Niklaus 'vimja' Hofer@jacqueline CHF 500 (~USD 630). About every 4 to 5 years.
✧✦Catherine✦✧@jacqueline about €300 once every two years at most, but it needs to be a near-flagship model (typically, used with half a decade of updates remaining, at this price)
Colin McMillen@jacqueline is this a curiosity question or are the Tangara team preparing something I might love?
Maximum 250€, and I keep them for as long as I can. It bothers me every time, too, the new features excitement has been replaced by dread long ago.
Maximum 250€, and I keep them for as long as I can. It bothers me every time, too, the new features excitement has been replaced by dread long ago.
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IrishMASMS@jacqueline not much help, but the last 2 were second hand gifts. One early in the pandemic and just recently
I run the phones into the ground, way past not getting updates & even then longer if I can get a different ROM on them. No since making ewaste of I can still get use out of it