New iPhone X

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Schlich
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Re: New iPhone X

Post by Schlich »

cardinalkarp wrote:
Schlich wrote:Does anyone actually keep their iphones for 5 years? 2 years is plenty of lifespan for me
I’m still on the 6+...how long has that been?
three

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Schlich
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Re: New iPhone X

Post by Schlich »

FWIW my dad's still using his nexus 4 ($200) he bought in 2012 and it still works like butter.

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TheoSqua
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Re: New iPhone X

Post by TheoSqua »

I get a new phone every year. I'm on AT&T's installment plan and I pay $32 a month for a phone and then upgrade every year.

I used to buy a nexus phone for $300ish and use it for 2-3 years. I had the Nexus One, Nexus 4, and then after it died in a horrific drop I bought a Nexus 5.

I know getting a new phone yearly is a giant waste of money, but I think of it as a luxury that I provide myself. I spend a ridiculous amount of time on my phone for various reasons, so having a nice one is worth it to me.

The argument against high-end phones is basically like saying "Why would anyone ever buy an Audi or Mercedes when a Ford Fusion will do the same thing for a tenth of the price?" Entry level cars are even better made and more feature loaded than they were in the past. And yet the luxury car market is still pretty successful. Brands matter, "quality" sells, and people will pay more for something that makes them look better.

Financially, it does cost me more than when I had nexus devices for a few years by a considerable margin. But it's not like i'm forking out $800 every year or two. Like I mentioned, in my installment plan I pay $32 a month. So $384 a year and i'm eligible to upgrade after 12 months while trading in the phone I have.

I rarely have a phone last more than 2 years because I use it a lot and something always happens. I've had the usb port break, the screen stop working, the memory corrupt, the battery die repeatedly, etc. So I know i'm probably not going to get more than 2 years out of a phone. So with the installment plans I'm basically leasing a phone for a year for half the price. So I end up paying less than the $800 going rate for phones currently while getting a new phone yearly.

For my personal use case and finances the additional cost is a luxury I afford myself and I feel it's money well spent.

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Schlich
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Re: New iPhone X

Post by Schlich »

TheoSqua wrote:I get a new phone every year. I'm on AT&T's installment plan and I pay $32 a month for a phone and then upgrade every year.

I used to buy a nexus phone for $300ish and use it for 2-3 years. I had the Nexus One, Nexus 4, and then after it died in a horrific drop I bought a Nexus 5.

I know getting a new phone yearly is a giant waste of money, but I think of it as a luxury that I provide myself. I spend a ridiculous amount of time on my phone for various reasons, so having a nice one is worth it to me.

The argument against high-end phones is basically like saying "Why would anyone ever buy an Audi or Mercedes when a Ford Fusion will do the same thing for a tenth of the price?" Entry level cars are even better made and more feature loaded than they were in the past. And yet the luxury car market is still pretty successful. Brands matter, "quality" sells, and people will pay more for something that makes them look better.

Financially, it does cost me more than when I had nexus devices for a few years by a considerable margin. But it's not like i'm forking out $800 every year or two. Like I mentioned, in my installment plan I pay $32 a month. So $384 a year and i'm eligible to upgrade after 12 months while trading in the phone I have.

I rarely have a phone last more than 2 years because I use it a lot and something always happens. I've had the usb port break, the screen stop working, the memory corrupt, the battery die repeatedly, etc. So I know i'm probably not going to get more than 2 years out of a phone. So with the installment plans I'm basically leasing a phone for a year for half the price. So I end up paying less than the $800 going rate for phones currently while getting a new phone yearly.

For my personal use case and finances the additional cost is a luxury I afford myself and I feel it's money well spent.
That $32/mo doesnt include replacement coverage right? That's the kicker for me. With the cost of leasing a phone and the insurance on top of it I'd easily cover the cost of a GREAT entry level phone in two months. And IDK about the insurance plans nowadays but they didn't cover loss/theft when i was shelling it out. Maybe this is just a personal failing but even for people who keep better care/track of their phones it still feels like a big risk. I guess the high-end phones are getting more durable and secure, too.

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Re: New iPhone X

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Schlich wrote:Does anyone actually keep their iphones for 5 years? 2 years is plenty of lifespan for me
I used my iphone4 till Apple wouldn’t update the iOS on it anymore so all my apps became useless. Year ago we upgraded to the iphone7. They had a buy one get one promo going on so my wife and I were able to get into 7’s cheaper then both of us getting older iPhones. I intend to keep using it till Apple quits letting them update to the most current iOS.

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Re: New iPhone X

Post by Socnorb11 »

Diddy wrote:
Socnorb11 wrote:I can get a laptop for $300 and a cell phone for $150. I just don't see the need to spend more.

If I'm not in my office or at my house (both places have computers), then I don't need computer access. Not having access in between those places is a good excuse to get away from it for a bit. It drives me crazy to see people in public constantly staring at their phones. Interact, people!!
It’s damn handy to be able to look up part diagrams and part numbers while your in the middle of a field working on a combine. The amount of time and money I’ve saved just by being able to pull up John Deere parts from anywhere would easily pay for an iPhone X.

For quick-reference stuff like this, I understand. As Schlich said though, you don't have to have a $1000 i-phone to do that stuff.

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Re: New iPhone X

Post by Diddy »

Socnorb11 wrote:
Diddy wrote:
Socnorb11 wrote:I can get a laptop for $300 and a cell phone for $150. I just don't see the need to spend more.

If I'm not in my office or at my house (both places have computers), then I don't need computer access. Not having access in between those places is a good excuse to get away from it for a bit. It drives me crazy to see people in public constantly staring at their phones. Interact, people!!
It’s damn handy to be able to look up part diagrams and part numbers while your in the middle of a field working on a combine. The amount of time and money I’ve saved just by being able to pull up John Deere parts from anywhere would easily pay for an iPhone X.

For quick-reference stuff like this, I understand. As Schlich said though, you don't have to have a $1000 i-phone to do that stuff.
My iPhone 4 was a $100 refurbished one. A big part for me is my music has been set up in iTunes from a decade ago when I got an iPod Nano and I don’t want to mess with it.

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Re: New iPhone X

Post by Michael »

Mid-range android phone user here. I also have an iPhone for work.

Years ago a high end phone was way better, but for me the laws of diminishing returns have taken over. Today mid-range phones run the same programs at basically the same speed. I can't imagine there's a really desirable program launched in the next few years that my phone won't be able to handle so I'm not worried about future proofing. I do basic tasks like web browsing, youtube, podcasts, music, etc. The high end phones have better screens, but with such a small screen once you get to 1080p the differences are fairly minor even with OLED.

I think the real important factor when selecting an Android phone is the custom OS modifications. Some of them are truly horrendous. I'll only buy a phone with something close to vanilla Android. IMO standardization the best aspect to iOS.

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Re: New iPhone X

Post by tlombard »

I agree on the skins that everybody wants to put over Android. They rarely improve anything and normally just eat up resources, slow the system down and make it unlikely that you'll ever get an update when a new version comes out. The Pixel was a bunch more than I wanted to spend on a phone but I've been happy with it. My next phone will probably be another mid-range device that is as close to stock Android as I can find.

My biggest customization complaint is with the Moto G and E that I used before getting the 5X awhile back. Motorola put their own tool on there to migrate information from one phone to another and it was pretty worthless and hid a much more useful tool that I'm assuming is stock Android and had been for awhile. When I got the 5X and now Pixel, I just had to pull up a QR code on the old phone, scan it with the new phone (pretty sure that's how I did it) and it automatically pulled over all of my settings, account information (including passwords), installed all of my apps and even set up the home screens exactly how I had them on the old phone. Why would manufacturers hide that???

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Re: New iPhone X

Post by heyzeus »

I still have an original iphone that I've been using for 6 years as a whitenoise machine in my son's room. It no longer connects to the internet, so the apps are frozen in amber. It's interesting to open it up and see how the look and feel of apps, the operating system, etc have changed. Maybe it'll be in a museum some day - oldest living iphone.

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