I'm looking for nice Android type forums I can visit. I've tried Android Central and here but here just sticks more because I've used it longer.
I would have kept the S24 had it not cracked when I was on a trip. I went up the S25 and hope to keep the phone for at least 3 years, maybe longer.
This is one of the best Android forums online. Ironically it is an Apple focused forum site.
So I still have my s24 ultra and so far I still enjoying it as an everyday phone.
I am tempted really only for the Pixel 10 Pro and fold and the new iPhone. Samsung has lost me on new phone sales for now. Besides a faster processor and faster ram there is really not that much new hardware wise on the s25/26 ultra and in my opinion they are taking the ultra in the wrong direction.
I may wait another year and see what the iPhone 17/18 has to offer. I love Android and the back gesture and software support length is no longer an issue. I think the biggest difference in my buying habits now is that I don't feel like I am racing a clock with 3-5 years of updates. Now with 7 years of major Android updates I can take my time and truthfully buy a new phone based on actual performance degradation rather than an arbitrary date.
Now I could use my phone until performance really starts to take a dip. Conceivably I could replace the battery once and probably have good results until around year 6.
So I have about 4 years to decide. That is a huge difference from maybe 3 years of Android upgrades and 5 years of security updates or worse back several years ago.
Using feature set and performance as a metric instead of forced obsolescence is great for us all and it is forcing me to re evaluate how I buy phones. As economic realities has also put pressure on me to wait for a big purchase that at this point is optional and not needed.
I get excited for each new phone release but with more companies releasing incremental upgrades and longer software support it makes me think even if I had the money I should switch from yearly to a 3 year cycle minimum and maybe I will challenge myself to keep using this phone until it dies on it's own. Never, ever used any hardware to it's software support end except for some rare exceptions. Maybe now I can be the guy with really old tech that keeps chugging along past most others?