Does it make sense to upgrade every two years now?

[Westoncreg]

With phones being where they are now with powerful quad cores and fhd screens where even on the 1520 or Sony z ultra you can't see a darn pixel without assistance of a magnifier do you think it really makes sense to keep a phone for only two years now then trade it out? (admittedly this is more aimed at US with two year contract but I'd like some feed back from people who buy off contract phones frequently too )

 

[TenTwelve]

I upgrade every year. :smile: I have "Thenextbestthingitus". :winktongue: My 3 lines were added at intervals that allow me to an upgrade once a year.

 

[Phrozty]

I upgrade every year. :smile: I have "Thenextbestthingitus". :winktongue: My 3 lines were added at intervals that allow me to an upgrade once a year.

Yeah.. almost regretting getting my gf to get a 920 right around the same time I got my 1520.... But if you look at my sig, 2 years has done me fairly well.

 

[Mark Reed2]

Well I do but I must say that these days its a smaller gap in the tech.

Main reason to change would be if you are into games/photos the rest is about the same, apps open a little faster with newer phones, some new options, but on the whole the phone works as all others.

As long as you have a high end phone you can get by for 2 years, you might not run the best future games or take the greatest videos/photos but the difference is far less than it used to be.

 

[ninjaap]

Well NOW it makes more sense, because the normal contract is 2 years here in the US. Before this it made more sense to upgrade every year, because we were only slapped with 1 year contacts.

 

[Blacklac]

Beyond screen resolution, what is really future proof? Just look at the top phones from 2 years ago and see how it would run today's OS, Apps & Games.

In 2 years, WP could be close to running full Windows. Would a Snapdragon 800 and 2GB RAM be enough?

I personally think in 2 years these new phones will feel as old as any 2yr old phone, today.

 

[madyrocksin]

Consider yourself extra controlled if you don't upgrade next year

 

[Reflexx]

If you're a casual user, then there really is no need to upgrade.

Most of us upgrade because we feel the need to have the newest gadget.

 

[rider2040]

If you are in the US under contract with any of the major carriers, then you should definitely upgrade as soon as you can. If you don't, then you are paying an inflated rate each month to pay off the cost of the phone which you paid off in 20-24 months.

If you don't feel the need to upgrade at the end of your two year contract, then you should keep your phone and move to a pay go plan.

 

[Westoncreg]

If you are in the US under contract with any of the major carriers, then you should definitely upgrade as soon as you can. If you don't, then you are paying an inflated rate each month to pay off the cost of the phone which you paid off in 20-24 months.

If you don't feel the need to upgrade at the end of your two year contract, then you should keep your phone and move to a pay go plan.

Yes that is good advice but I was going off the basis that after two years will there really be that much of an advantage from specs now to then (sure I can imagine new sensors of sorts but do you think they'd have major game changer specs or just better screens that really don't need the pixels and a way to powerful to really understandable in a phone processor) I am a tech enthusiast and up until the 1520 I understood the reason to upgrade yearly anymore, I just can't see the specs being a true reason to switch anymore since game and apps already look almost late Xbox/ps2 or early 360\ps3 quality and their still not getting maxed out and cameras are almost interchangeable with a dedicated camera (not dslr)

 

[HeyCori]

Cell phones, like desktop computers, are starting to see diminishing returns. I have a Lumia 920, clearly not the most powerful smartphone on the market. However, every day usage between my 920 and say a 1520 varies little. Browsing the web works fine as does games, the camera is still excellent, OIS is amazing, the screen looks great even at 720p and transitions are still fast and fluid. The same goes for people that jump from an iPhone 5 to a 5s, or a Galaxy S3 to a S4. The power difference may be significant but that doesn't show in every day usage.

Mobile chips are pretty close to outpacing the software they run (if they haven't done so already). Plus app makers want to reach the largest audience possible so rarely will you see a game that works on the 1520 and nothing else. And for the average user, the flagship phone that came out last year, or even two years ago, can still do everything they want and do it quickly. The need to upgrade has diminished because mobile CPUs have gotten so much better.

I think the need to upgrade doesn't apply to the average user. People that need to upgrade are the power users, because they gotta have the latest and greatest, lol. People that originally bought a low-mid range phone that was probably a year+ old when they got it. People that have software problems. Not to pick on Android but not every Android install is equal. Some phones are just terribly glitchy or have a poor skin that makes the phone even worse. And finally when the phone is just too old to handle the next software upgrade.

 

[Blacklac]

Keep phone history in your mind. Having a phone last 3-4 years before it can barely work properly isn't a new thing. Just look at the old iPhone and Blackberry's. Old Android is its own mess... Its not like software is progressing slower. Like already mentioned, we still need to account for the lowest denominator. WP still has 512MB RAM devices to keep in check. If it were all S4 & Snapdragon 800 CPU with 2GB RAM, I'm sure software would be growing much faster. Companies are making a conscious decision to keep lower end phones supported longer.

I just don't think we are at this place where software is being outpaced by hardware, like it sounds like some of you think. This won't happen until mobile devices and desktop's are running the same software. We are a ways off from this.

Beyond that, look at desktop games. Sure, a Quad core and a cheap GPU, or even a onboard graphics unit can run Windows perfectly fine, and seem fast. Yet, newer and newer games require more and more powerful hardware, every year. If phones had swappable hardware, I bet we'd see huge leaps in software.

 

[JaiMento]

In 2 years, WP could be close to running full Windows. Would a Snapdragon 800 and 2GB RAM be enough?

Yes, save for CPU architecture compatibility, considering an Asus T100 runs Windows 8.1 just fine with an Intel Atom (Bay Trail Z3740) and 2GB of RAM.

 

[Aldwin1999]

In Canada or wherever, they have contracts and they expire every 2-3 years which is a good interval to pick a new phone. 3 years ago we were on WP7 now WP8. Same as android and IOS.

 

[cmore675]

so whats coming after the 1520 we can upgrade too...

 

[Blacklac]

Yes, save for CPU architecture compatibility, considering an Asus T100 runs Windows 8.1 just fine with an Intel Atom (Bay Trail Z3740) and 2GB of RAM.

yes, run Windows, but I'm not talking about running RT programs. I'm talking PC programs and games. That is the end goal, is it not? People that really enjoy gaming, do not want to be stuck with mobile games for years, just like with desktops we expect generations leaps in graphics every year or two. Doesn't have to be limited to games. What about running a media server to your TV. How do you think our little CPU's and GPU's can stream and transcode HD video and audio? Sure, there are ALOT of things current hardware is sufficient for, but there's equal tasks its not sufficient for, like I mentioned above. If your just gonna browse the internet and play solitaire, you probably haven't needed to upgrade in 10 years, ya know?

I'd love to have my phone act as a media server to my TV/Roku. Then I wouldn't have to consider adding a dedicated Ubuntu PC running XBMC along side. I don't want my gaming rig doing this 24/7.

There is just a ton of things people use PC's for that some people don't even think of. The technology in mobile devices today isn't even close to being sufficient for all of it. I'll put my "old" core 2 Quad Q6700, nVidia GTX560OC against a SoC 800 any day for pure computing power. Beyond that, the only reason that equipment is still managing today's PC games at 1080p is because both my CPU and GPU are overclocked, massively in the case of the CPU (2.66GHz to 3.7GHz).

 

[Blacklac]

Lets not forget, battery life. People that really use their devices alot aren't happy charging their devices twice a day already and we are talking about making hardware more powerful. Battery technology or hardware power efficiency needs to improve massively as well. How long do those W8.1 laptops last? A few hours.

Edit: Also, hardware manufacturers won't allow technology to halt or slow down. There will always be some new technology people will want or "need".

 

[Blacklac]

One last post about this.

I would much prefer we look at this another way. I actually believe we could move technology faster if we could shorten the life cycle of devices. I really think if we could keep technology closer to the cutting edge, software would move forward faster and we could move closer and closer to making mobile software/hardware and what we know now as desktop hardware/software, one much sooner. Of course, there's a financial speed bump to work around here... If carriers could some how make it work and somehow manage to still be profitable, that would be huge, but that not in todays market or structure.

ATT & Verizons current 1yr device contracts are just not the answer. Its a flat rip off compared to what we are used to paying now.

 

[Citizen X]

If you are in the US under contract with any of the major carriers, then you should definitely upgrade as soon as you can. If you don't, then you are paying an inflated rate each month to pay off the cost of the phone which you paid off in 20-24 months.

If you don't feel the need to upgrade at the end of your two year contract, then you should keep your phone and move to a pay go plan.

Yeah. This is common sense. It's sad in 2013 you have to state the obvious. If you are paying contract prices for service every month and you don't upgrade ASAP you are a fool.

I don't know what the pay-as-you-go plans are like nowadays in the US but even just a couple of years ago there was nothing available that offered "unlimited" at&t quality LTE at bargain prices. Those of us on grandfathered unlimited plans with a discount through our work really had no better alternatives in the pay-as-you-go market.

Honestly if I had a simpler more rugged phone I would get pay-as-you-go. For me with all these smartphones after about 2 years stuff starts to break and I am ready for a new phone. My microUSB port on my Lumia 900 is flaky at the moment so I am pretty eager to upgrade when my contract is up. Even if my phone was fine I would probably just keep it as a backup. Ideally I would like to have two fully functional smartphones around at all times... just in case. I thought the Lumia 900 was going to be my backup but it looks like that microUSB is too suspect at this stage.

Lets not forget, battery life. People that really use their devices alot aren't happy charging their devices twice a day already and we are talking about making hardware more powerful.

If you are using your battery that much it will have degraded significantly in 2 years so you might as well get a new phone.

 

[JaiMento]

yes, run Windows, but I'm not talking about running RT programs. I'm talking PC programs and games. That is the end goal, is it not? People that really enjoy gaming, do not want to be stuck with mobile games for years, just like with desktops we expect generations leaps in graphics every year or two. Doesn't have to be limited to games. What about running a media server to your TV. How do you think our little CPU's and GPU's can stream and transcode HD video and audio? Sure, there are ALOT of things current hardware is sufficient for, but there's equal tasks its not sufficient for, like I mentioned above. If your just gonna browse the internet and play solitaire, you probably haven't needed to upgrade in 10 years, ya know?

I'd love to have my phone act as a media server to my TV/Roku. Then I wouldn't have to consider adding a dedicated Ubuntu PC running XBMC along side. I don't want my gaming rig doing this 24/7.

There is just a ton of things people use PC's for that some people don't even think of. The technology in mobile devices today isn't even close to being sufficient for all of it. I'll put my "old" core 2 Quad Q6700, nVidia GTX560OC against a SoC 800 any day for pure computing power. Beyond that, the only reason that equipment is still managing today's PC games at 1080p is because both my CPU and GPU are overclocked, massively in the case of the CPU (2.66GHz to 3.7GHz).

I wasn't trying to imply that there wouldn't be a need for some to upgrade, just as you acknowledged that there is no need to upgrade for others. I was merely stating I believe that Windows 8.1 would run sufficiently on a Snapdragon 800 and 2GB of RAM. And, the Asus T100 runs Windows 8.1, not Windows RT, so it would be able to run more than just RT apps.