Interval for Replacing a Working Smart Phone?

Question

Like many of us, I rely on my phone, in this case a Pixel 4a 5G, for a huge amount of things. It's function is vital to my making a living, and to be suddenly without it would be a genuine hardship.I bought the phone three years ago in 2021, and here we are in 2024. The phone still functions properly. The battery lasts a reasonable amount (although a bit less than when new) and the only flaw I can find is that sometimes a bit of dirt or dust under the power button will cause it to boot-loop. A good hard press on the power button fixes it, and this only happens a few times a year, starting last summer.So the question is this: Should I pre-emptively replace it? What is your interval for replacing a working smart phone, and why?

pavel_lishin · Accepted Answer

I replace my phone when it stops working well enough for me to use.
Honestly, it feels like we've sort of reached close to the peak of usability. Cameras can only get so much better, RAM and CPU can only get so big and so fast before increases aren't really noticeable by the average human user, and while storage can continue to increase, there's only so much garbage I can reasonably pack into my phone before it stops mattering.
So I only upgrade when I must.

JohnFen · Answer

My preference is to only replace my phone when my current one malfunctions and is not feasibly/economically viable to repair.The shortest period of time I've experienced before replacing my phone was 5 years, the longest was 10.

cranberryturkey · Answer

every 5 years is my average.