Should I replace my smartphone? Does that question arises very often in your mind too. Given how high the frequency of smartphone launches is today. It is easier to feel the urge to replace your smartphone more often. New smartphone launches has gotten too frequent that about 2-3 new smartphones are launching almost every month. There could be more but 2-3 launches are normal.
But. I think it’s worth having a rational look at it. Is it really replacing your smartphone quite that often? I don’t think we need to replace your smartphone every year. And with this blog I will request you whoever is reading this blog to use their smartphones longer.
Why keep your smartphone longer?
Is it really worth it?
By worth I mean, if you replace your smartphone every year, and the performance boost you are getting with it are they really worth the extra money spent on them. If you look closely at the numbers, then you will observe the performance boosts are just marginal. Sometimes they might even look to be significant on the paper, but when you use them, then you will not notice much of a difference in the real-world performance.
Those performance gains can only be experienced when we push our systems to their limits. And for a casual user, there are hardly any moments when we use our smartphones at their limits. But if you do something that pushes your smartphone to its limits so very often like playing very intensive games then you can consider upgrading your smartphone every year or two. But you can easily use your smartphone until their end of the support cycle.
Impact on environment
Even the seemingly inconsequential things have a significant impact on the things that surround us. We are producing a vast amount of waste every year. And with us replacing our smartphones every year. We are further increasing the waste. And the waste produced is not upgradable.
And considering the size of a smartphone, this may really seem like an inconsequential thing to not upgrade your smartphone every year. But if you see 3.8 billion people across the globe own a smartphone. And that number is continuously increasing every year. This is really concerning you can read more about it from this article: smartphone e-waste problem.
Who minds having extra cash in their pockets
Other than it being really worth it not or the environmental factors, these purchases also affect your wallets. Some people even use credit to buy smartphones which are sometimes out of their budgets and end up paying far more than what they are really worth.
Rather than spending your hard-earned money on some depreciating product, it’s much more worth buying some appreciating assets. Well, this is 100 dollar advice and you will thank us later. You can start investing in stocks with just a little amount of money. Which isn’t even enough for being the amount of EMI you would pay for a decent smartphone?. You should check out Investopedia’s beginner’s guide on investing, It will help a lot.
When you should consider upgrading
There isn’t a definite answer to it. You may choose to upgrade your smartphone every two years or you can use your smartphone until it gives up on you😜. I think you should use your smartphone for a minimum of two years. Or better yet, you can use your smartphone for as long as it provides security updates for it.
But it depends on the circumstances you are in or your phone in.
- In a Year: Consider upgrading your phone every year, if you perform intensive tasks on your smartphone because there aren’t only marginal upgrades to the next generation smartphones but also the games are becoming more and more demanding every year. So do upgrade your smartphone if you really need to.
- Around two years: Most of the smartphone manufacturers provide system updates and security patches for two years. And if you have bought a mid-range or high-end smartphone, then you can expect to receive these security updates for at least two years. So you can upgrade your smartphone every two years.
- Every three years: This is the time frame after which many people upgrade their smartphones. As the batteries and hardware deteriorate with the usage. Battery backup decreases. So you can definitely consider upgrading your smartphone.
- Every four or more years: By the time four years or more have passed since you bought your old smartphone, newer smartphones become much more appealing. And by the time 4 generations of smartphones have passed, you can expect a significant boost in performance.
Conclusion:-
I think that smartphone manufacturers play an important role in our purchase decisions. So they play an active role in controlling the frequency of smartphone upgrades. To decrease the frequency of smartphone upgrades they can extend the support period for their devices. Many mid-range smartphones today come with a promise of one major software upgrade and 2 years worth of security updates.
But if you buy a high-end smartphone, you can expect a minimum of 3 years of support, and brands like Apple and Xiaomi are providing software updates to devices as old as 5 years.
I hope this blog had helped you find the answers to your question when should you replace your smartphone.
