i was getting new phones mostly because my devices were getting bogged down by android updates and capabilities. the os allowed developers to do more and more things, and offered more and more customization, faster than the pace of hardware improvements supported, to the point i'd have to get a new phone if i wanted something both up-to-date and fast. if i kept a phone longer much longer than a year, i'd have to worry about software updates as well, OR replace the OS and deal with instability.
and i'm not talking about bad phones here — htc one s, nexus 4, nexus 5, nexus 5x. admittedly, degradation of shitty NAND is still a factor in higher-end android phones, so it's not all about the android ecosystem being a free-for-all
an iphone xr will still run everything fine, including the latest version of ios. hundreds of dollars saved and a whole set of problems avoided over the life of the phone. i only replace my phones when they're smashed to bits now
anecdote: someone in my family just had to replace their android phone because a software update caused the radio to stop working for calls. so the ecosystem issue is not just a userland thing
I'm on an iPhone 6s+, so yeah, I'm a fan of the not needing a new phone all the time. I am pleasantly surprised with each new iOS that my phone is still not deprecated. At that point, I will have to look at updating.
and i'm not talking about bad phones here — htc one s, nexus 4, nexus 5, nexus 5x. admittedly, degradation of shitty NAND is still a factor in higher-end android phones, so it's not all about the android ecosystem being a free-for-all
an iphone xr will still run everything fine, including the latest version of ios. hundreds of dollars saved and a whole set of problems avoided over the life of the phone. i only replace my phones when they're smashed to bits now
anecdote: someone in my family just had to replace their android phone because a software update caused the radio to stop working for calls. so the ecosystem issue is not just a userland thing