- What do you need to know?
- We asked readers how old their current smartphones are.
- Most indicate that their phones are between one and three years old.
- Of the votes, 34% of readers have a phone older than three years.
Breaking up is difficult for many of us, and when it comes to smartphones, sometimes upgrading them is not as easy as you might think. In our recent survey, we asked our readers how old their current smartphone is, or how long they have owned it. Interestingly, very few of our respondents own a smartphone under one year of age. However, of the more than 6,200 responses, most were for phones older than one to three years, while many indicated that their phones were much larger.
We received over 6,000 responses to our last survey. (Photo credit: Android Central)
Many users have mentioned that they still keep their old phones for various reasons. On Twitter, a reader noted that they prefer their Pixel 3 to the new Pixel 6, although the former has recently lost official support from Google:
Other Pixel users aren't as lucky as one reader whose first generation Pixel stopped working after AT & T's 3G shutdown:
However, many users highlight the main reason why they still keep their old phones; While new phones can be enticing with new chips, cameras, and 5G, they still come with a lot of trade-offs despite the high price associated with many of them.
Many of the best Android phones lack features like expandable storage, headphone jacks, and more. Some even mourn the loss of a removable battery, which could lead to the downfall of any smartphone, no matter how many years it has received support.
However, you don't have to spend an arm and a leg to get many of these features. Many of the best budget Android phones still offer great specs while retaining headphone jacks, expandable storage, and years of software support.