New Android phones aren't worth buying anymore
Jump Links
Android is in a strange place right now. New phones have never been better, yet it's harder than ever to justify buying the latest one. You're better off keeping your current device until it's no longer up to the job. And when you do need to replace it, buy an older model instead.
New phones have never been less exciting
Manufacturers have run out of hardware innovations
It's been evident for a long time how much smartphone development has plateaued. The first decade of the smartphone era brought exciting new devices on a yearly basis. In the second decade, they settled into incremental updates. And in the last few years, it has become even more exaggerated.
Cameras do continue to improve, but they're usually refined rather than transformed, and are often driven by software rather than hardware.
We've lost the things that once made Android phones distinctive. The funky form factors that manufacturers used to experiment with are long gone, as is expandable storage. And phones with unlockable bootloaders that cater to enthusiasts are rarer than they used to be. Foldable phones are the only new category of product that's emerged in the last few years, and they come with often eye-wateringly high price points.
If you aren't an AI enthusiast, you have to look very hard to find the interesting things in this year's phones and compelling reasons to upgrade.
Some new phones are actually worse than last year's
Manufacturers are charging more for less
What's worse is that newer doesn't always mean better. In plenty of cases, this year's phone will actually be worse than last year's. It started by removing features like headphone jacks, SD card slots, and the accessories you'd get free in the box. Now the downgrades are often more subtle.
You might get slower storage, for example, or smaller camera sensors with the promise that AI will take up the slack. Some of these changes are seen less at the high end, but they're very common in the mid-range. You might also see the base models get hobbled as a way to push you into buying the next level up.
Despite this, we're being charged more. RAM and storage prices in particular are making phones a lot more expensive to build and sell, and prices are rising in other ways, too.
Long software support makes new phones harder to justify
It's easier than ever to keep your phone for longer
The biggest development in smartphones over the last few years happens to be the biggest argument against upgrading. Google and Samsung will now give you as much as seven years of software support for their phones. Motorola is a little less generous, but a lot of their flagships will give you five years. It makes keeping a phone for longer more practical.
New phones lose hundreds in value within months, so buying just one generation behind often saves a substantial amount for very little compromise. If you want a new flagship, last year's or even two years' ago will be barely distinguishable from the current model in terms of performance, and you'll still get five or six years of software support out of it.
Buy older, not newer
Last year's model is just as good
This doesn't only apply to flagships, but to mid-range and cheaper phones as well. So what's the best way to go?
Buying older rather than newer is a good start. At most price points, last year's model will be just as good as this year's, but often a lot cheaper. Refurbished phones are a good choice as well, and are often as good as new. Within a couple of months of a new phone going on sale, you'll find them on sale as open-box products with as much as a 10-20% discount.
None of this is to say that new Android phones are bad. They've never been better. But the latest new phones carry a price premium that isn't matched by either features or performance, and buying older simply makes more sense.
