Should I upgrade my mobile?

My OH keeps telling me to change my mobile phone to an Iphone as she says that my old phone will not support some of the apps any more.
I’m happy with my old phone although the hands free & navigation options have ceased to work since Joe retired!
Has technology moved on that much or is an upgrade a waste of money - I am reluctant to change for the sake of being trendy & I only use it in the car.
The short video shows my current model & as you can see it works well enough!

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I had a Samsung smartphone something or other that broke. I went back to my Samsung flipphone, until a friend gave me an iphone. Frankly, I wouldn’t pay for an iphone under any circs…plus I don’t like it as much as the Samsung

My old samsung (ca. 2008) did not support google maps/sat nav. so I ‘upgraded’ to a used Samsung S6 at our local pawnshop before we moved to France. Cost about £100.
Bought another for my husband as his phone was even older. Same Samsung S6 which was a little more as has more memory.
Brilliant phones, Samsung is good in updating and the Satnav/Google maps/internet works well.
If you are brave - try UK ebay shops for used phones from a reseller/repair shop.

Apple are bringing out an updated version of the SE next month which should be around £400.

I bought a Huaway lite in 2017 and it’s getting rather slow, but it is a very impressive device except for the camera which is distinctly poor.

So I’ve just bought a new Huawei (on a two year contract at 7€ pm) which has a bigger screen and a fair number of enhanced features.

I quite like watching films (currently watching A Handmaid’s Tale series 1) and the phone is ideal for that, using a cute little Bluetooth speaker that is as lovely, tactile, and as exquisitely finished as a Faberge egg. The new phone is a just-in-case replacement.

These devices are worth every cent paid for them IMO.

The first question is What do you use your phone for.

The second is What would you like to use it for? If there are apps you’d like to use that won’t run on your old one, which you might find from asking around (I use my phone for maps; radio; taking notes; Sonos and Tidal (like Spotify); watching tv (F24, BFMTV) and videos on YouTube; banking, online shopping; a few music-making apps) and deciding for yourself if you actually want to do any of that

The third question is What’s wrong with what you’ve got? If it’s slow - and you may find that difficult to judge if you’ve got used to it - then you might benefit from a new one.

If you decide to buy a new one, do you want one with a bigger screen or would the new iPhone SE (mentioned above) suit you? You shouldn’t have any difficulty learning a new operating system, if you take it slowly, though you may equally find an Android is cheaper and better.

I am lining up one of those for my wife who has hung on with her old malfunctioning iPhone.

Is this the updated one?

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Sell your current mobile as shown in the video, it’ll be worth a fortune.

Then you can buy whatever you want.

For me an IPhone is the way to go, more expensive but more reliable and much longer lasting than Android imo

Hmmm - having owned both I wouldn’t agree with this part - especially the battery life of iPhone is appalling. 2 day battery life is common now with android - to the point now some offer to piggy back wireless charging direct from the phone to help out others. You comment may have been true 3-4 years ago but iphones simply have not progressed and have therefore fallen behind.

Does it make better sense to compare a good flagship android phone to a new iPhone? - the costs would be similar but it would be a fair comparison.

The cluttering element I think comes down to individual manufacturers - I tend to go for Google Nexus/Pixel phoned and that way you are getting Android as intended.

I am fortunate in that I have bought many of the items that I own including my car, my motorcycle, my house and my mobile phone because they are the preferred item for me. I have thought carefully before committing myself and in all the above cases do not regret my decision. What I don’t understand is the need to insist that ones choices are vastly superior to another person’s. What’s that all about? Life is som much easier when you are content with the choices you have made. Are the people who insist on pointing out that others are wrong actually questioning their own decisions? I’m more than happy with my mobile phone and motorcycle and car… but I wouldn’t try to impose that choice on anyone else.

I changed mine last year, got rid of an old iPhone and bought an inexpensive but up to date android “rugged” phone, battery lasts nearly a week, great camera and it’s waterproof.

One thing I have noticed (it’s a Google thing I think), it keeps asking for reviews for places I’ve been - supermarket, local bar and even home ffs.

Some apps are often dropped or no longer supported by older phones.
You can imagine how many teenagers were dissappointed when the earlier version of Spotify was superceded although it worked well enough!

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I generally use contract phones. I change phones ( old for new) once every 4 years, on 2 year contracts, then for the 2nd half of the 4 yrs pay for sim only ( much cheaper monthly rate).
Will never go iPhone, think they are really over priced, and over rated.

If anyone has a phone that has become slow… how about taking a responsibility for it. Like removing some apps that you don’t use, or restore to factory settings, and only re-install the apps you actually use.
Of course a newer phone will as anyone says cope…that is because they usually have more capacity/storage etc, for the individual to store and install yet more cr@p…so the cycle continues.
But if people have the money to throw away, then just use this method…i’m sure someone will gratefully buy your old phone for a fiver, then restore it to factory settings and have perfectly good phone. :grinning:

Do you have an answerfone on yours Mark?

PH3420A

Agreed. I have had my phone for four years now, still quite happy. However obsolescence is purposely built into technology. After a certain point the system will no longer support updates and then you need to choose between security updates and programmes functioning properly. I am thinking of Photoshop etc regularly crashing on my Mac after a recent update. :rage:

Now you are being silly, John. That looks far too big to have at home!
Mine is a much more compact unit - a miracle of modern technology and british made to boot.

Good to the assembly team all inhaling the solder. The shrinakge of eltracal equipment has been extraordinary. This was my “router” bolted on to a mainframe in 1981, it was the European hub for I can’t remember how many other European subsidiaries. Maximum 9200 BPS maximum per line.

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I kept the control panel from a scrapped one but sadly dumped it in one move or other. It’s look great in the garage now.

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That picture takes me back ! When i worked for BT in the 90’s we had twenty of those in line. We would run a test programme on all 20 so that the tapes were fast forwarding, rewinding and seeking etc whenever students or BT big wigs turned up - otherwise there was really nothing to see :slight_smile: