stogie1020

Generally speaking how long do your cell phones last?

I know some of them fall and shatter/crack, etc. but other than that, how long do they generally last you before they grind to a death of slowness and freezing?

jupitersolo

Most here buy a new cellphone faster than they masturbate.



I had my Razr for seven years, iphone over two years.

Ken1997TL

Mine last years, but I usually keep mine for a year and then give my used cell phones to relatives and friends on the same carrier.

doopstr

You should consider replacing your phone whenever your contract is over, especially if you can score an upgrade for free or very cheap. The reason for this is part of your monthly fee is to subsidize the price of the phone. Your monthly fee stays the same even when your phone has been fully paid for. At that point the money that is usually earmarked to pay for the phone is now pure profit for your telco.

Will Y.

I'm still using my Razr V3 from 2005 or 2006.

stogie1020

reason I ask is my droidX has slowed to a crawl after about 18 months... non-rooted, nothing special...

Yumcha

They usually last around 3 years for me.

rossv1

I try to take car of my phones so they last a long time. I have a couple of old SIM cards and sometimes I'll put one in my old phone just to switch it up a little bit.

crazyasiantl

iTrader: (7)

I try to take care of my phones, but my last phone ( original Galaxy S) slowed to a crawl about three months before I was able to upgrade.

So far my S2 has been good in the year I've had it

Whiskers

Its close, Ill need to time it.

Take better care of your shit. I can't remember the last time I replaced a phone because it broke. Always because contract was up and something better is out.

speedemon90

I meant to click 18-24
Not 12-18
Anyway my nexus s started slowing down 22months in. It was still usable, but there was a limit. For example Pandora and maps at the same time would cause havoc.

That's with me being stock for roughly 4 months. I was rooted and had a custom ROM the rest. Probably had my phone OC'd half the time I had it for.

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

I get new ones when I'm eligible for free upgrades which is usually on a 3 year cycle. I'm like a year and a half in on my 4S. I still have my old 3, and original iPhone which both work, but are annoyingly slow now. This 4s should take me to the iPhone 6 launch.

cmschmie

It always seemed to work out that about the time my battery wouldn't hold a charge, I would be eligible for an upgrade.

Currently have a 4S, plan is eligible for upgrade in August, but will probably wait for the next great thing to come out.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

I've never had a cellphone die on me. When I get a new one the old was has always been fine...

fsttyms1

I havent had one that i had to replace because it just didnt work anymore other than it going swimming or crushed. I get a new one every year-year and a half (when im eligible) and usually hand mine down to family.

Scottman111

Average about 3 years. Just retired my old Blackberry after nearly 4 years.

Still works fine, will be my new boat mp3 player (32gb micro sdhc card).


My friend loses about 5 cellphones (and numerous wallets, credit cards, etc) a year. Will never understand that...I've never lost anything like that.

stogie1020

this droidx is just slowing to a crawl. Opening a text message, checking email, swiping from page to page just take forever... Memory is not full, don't have tons and tons of apps, just two gmail accounts some other stuff and it is slow as molasses sometimes...

Upgrade is available but I was wondering how long all your modern phones last prior to slowing down.

AmberB

I have been accelerating the rate at which I upgrade. Used to wait for the upgrade and hate every last second of the final three months. Now I buy unlocked/nexus and upgrade every 6-12 months. I'm thinking the nexus 4 may last a little longer though... until some new killer feature comes and is unsupported by the current hardware.

dnd2984

iTrader: (6)

My Iphone 4 lasted over 2 years, only reason I upgraded was the deterioration of battery life.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

I was using a Treo 680 for the longest time until my wife (girlfriend at the time) bought me an iPhone 4 for my birthday in 2010. That phone lasted me until my bachelor party in July of 2011 when I accidentally took it swimming. The whole rice trick did NOT work...it's still sitting in my closet. If I had a way of wiping it, I'd sell it for parts...but I'm paranoid about any potential PII on it.

Since I needed a replacement phone, I bought another 4 (the white version this time ) and have been using it since. It's a bit clunky performance wise from time to time but it meets my needs.

Mizouse

did you try restoring the OS?

anyways, my phones last for ages, if i wanted i could go back to my Razr, or my 1st gen iPhone, or my iPhone 3GS or my iPhone 4...

speedemon90

Only one of my phones lasted. this fat nokia i had after the razr lol.
The razr's battery life was crap.
Iphone 3G was getting incredibly slow.
Nexus S started to get slow and has a few problems here and there including a cracked screen
Galaxy S3, perfect so far

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

Lost mine last night.

Rapture

My first phone was some Nokia flip phone. It's been going strong for over 4 years. I actually haven't used it in awhile since I upgraded to a complete pos Samsung Intensity II. It died on me after 3 months, so they sent me a refurbished replacement (thanks Verizon) and a year later it's acting funny, too.

So either over 4 years or 1 year, depending on the phone.

d1sturb3d119

iTrader: (1)

Dell venue pro for over 2 years now...

speedemon90

Jinxed yourself bro

Doom878

Why do phones slow down? Had this happen to my 3GS and 4?

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

^Format, install, voila!

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

Had an old Nokia. Then had a Razr for at least 5 years. Now have had my iPhone 4 for 2 years...

I honestly don't know why people need to buy new phones every few months or whenever something newer comes out. Huge waste of money.

maharajamd

iTrader: (1)

^Ahh. You're completely overestimating the average American shopper!

Hell sometimes I even question why I need to get a new one every 2 years. More often then not the answer is because I can! Not because I need to. Which is horrible.

Mizouse

Because we can

MWalsh9152

my Blackberry Bold 9700s screen just crapped out on my the other day, after about a year and half of falling out of my shirt pocket and crashing onto the concrete floor at least 2 times a week for its entire life.

I bought an otterbox for it, but unlike the one that my old curve lived in, this one was just annoyingly bulky, and I couldnt really type on the outer keys.

annoying that I paid 1 cent for this one, but the new one is $200. Suffering with a 5 year old curve for now trying to figure what I want....I HATE touchscreens

black label

Same here, Razr from 2006. I'm on my 4th cellphone since about 1997.

zguy95135

If I could upgrade phones every 2 months I would, but alas I can't so I have to wait two years. I take good care of my stuff though so they still have plenty of life left when I get rid of them.

97BlackAckCL

iTrader: (6)

Mine last forever, as long as I don't drop them in the crapper.

jnc2000

I can upgrade whenever I want (company concession line)... but more often than not what I find is that it's not worth the hassle. Decreasing battery performance is my primary deciding factor of when to upgrade... that and of course insight into the new technology which has not hit the market yet.

Myxomatosis

I want to reactivate my old star tac, just for the hell of it. oh yeah and it's black

Professor

I got that one and most of the bricks you see in "cool" '80's movies. Just to screw with ATT, I tried to activate one of those bricks and was told it 1) would not work with their system and 2) analog phones were against the law. WTF????