Have your say: How long do you keep your phone for before upgrading?

As some of you might have read, I'm starting to think that smartphones have gotten rather boring and lacking in any major step changes from generation to generation, even from two generations ago to current-gen models.

And in a recent conversation with Senior Staff Writer Hamish Hector, the topic of when people upgrade came up. While, as technology journalists, we get to see and assess the incremental changes from one generation to the next, the impact of new phones might be better felt by people who've held their phones for two to three years.

I've been operating under the general belief that outside of diehard tech enthusiasts, most people will be on a two- or three-year upgrade cycle, especially given the prevalence of 24-month carrier contracts. But equally, phones are so good these days and the improvements so incremental, that I'd argue that the likes of an iPhone 15 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra aren't much worse in real-world use than the current crop of best phones, including their latest successors.

So I want to know from you how long you keep your smartphones to get a better idea of what a realistic upgrade cycle is for most people, now that we're no longer at a time when phones go through big changes.

Vote in the poll below and then head to the comments to let me know more details, including what prompts you to upgrade your phone.

For what it's worth, were I not a tech journalist, I'd probably only look to upgrade my phone every three or four years. Other than declining battery life, I tend to find that many of the recent generations of phones offer the performance and camera quality I need.

While I do appreciate the thrill of something new, I do rather hate seeing phones get discarded for newer models, given the use of rare-earth materials in them and their contribution to e-waste.

This is why I rather salute the position Nothing is taking in not releasing a new flagship phone every year until it feels it can bring something special to the table.

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