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Right? My Pixel 4a still works like new but Google's dropping support so I have to get a new one or run a custom ROM. And the new phones don't have headphones jacks!
All that said, I mostly use Bluetooth headphones anyway now, and it's rumored that Google will switch to a 7 year support cycle, so I might just grab a Pixel 8 on Black Friday.
Google Play system updates are a thing since the first Pixel, and still continues to be updated to this day. So there still is some form of system updates.
Samsung S7 (same year as the first Pixel) when it reached end-of-service had to have a few security updates due to some pretty big android exploits. Pixel however did not need a security update because Play system took care of it. So even though your Pixel reached EoS, it actually didn't really.
Guilty as charged. I get a new phone about every two years. Do I need a new phone every two years? Absolutely not. All essential features work just fine on older devices. Why do I still do it? Probably because I'm too enthusiastic about new hardware.
I hand down my old devices to family members, and when I hand a device down, the receiver hands their device down to another family member. So the phones I purchase are actively in use for at least six years. 6 years is around the point where Apple drops support for major new iOS updates, and eventually also security updates. Batteries get old and replacement costs tend to get very close to the remaining value of the device itself.
I'm not trying to justify buying a new smartphone for myself every other year, but there's only so much you can do as a consumer. Sure, there are aftermarket ROMs for many Android devices that extend software support, but that's hardly something everyone can install and maintain. You can get replacement batteries from trustworthy brands for fairly little money, but then you either have to replace them yourself (which isn't trivial for many people), or pay someone more money to replace it for you.
In my opinion, only a small (or at least lesser) portion of the blame is on the consumer. The EU and other governing bodies need to step in and require manufacturers to:
If all this is in place we can start blaming the average consumer.
Still, people like me aren't completely innocent, I'll admit that. I know that I'm just fine using older devices. I used a first generation iPad Pro 12,9" for a long time. I think it had a dual core A9X SoC. I eventually upgraded to an M1 iPad Pro and sure, the old device was way slower (or rather the new device was a lot faster), but I'm not doing anything with the new iPad that the old one couldn't handle somehow.
You could maybe even put a small portion of the blame on developers (or rather, people in charge at software companies). Many apps use frameworks like React Native to port their apps to mobile, and while it's better than Electron, it's still nowhere near as efficient as a true native Swift UI or Android (don't know how their current UI framework is called) app. Huge companies that clearly have the budget to make individual, native apps for each platform rarely do this anymore (Discord, Instagram, ...). Building efficient apps would likely make customers less annoyed that their old phone is "getting slower".
Bold of you to assume I don't lose or break my phone every year or two
Yep. When you can’t easily replace a battery it’s a strong (intentional?) disincentive by the manufacturer that pushes people towards buying a new phone. If you need to surrender your phone for a day or three to get the replacement done, people would rather sign a new contract for a phone than be without.
5 year old Oneplus 6.
Does everything I want it to. Everything still works. Rooted. No ads. Still runs fast. Never used up 80% of storage.
Only notable issue is my battery. If i'm away from WiFi and I'm using it a lot (listening to YouTube ad free on fire fox) then I'll run outta battery by the end of the day.
Near as I can see cell phones hit a plateau 4 years ago. And unless you have a phone with built in obsoletence - there's no reason to upgrade anymore for the average user.
