I use my phone a fair bit, and really notice the difference between higher spec and lower spec phones these days. The lower spec ones feel sluggish to me now.

I think it's one of those things that's personal. I buy second hand partly because I feel bad about all the e-waste and try not to contribute, but when I was buying new I spent the same amount for a worse phone so I think it has paid off.

I don't get new phones very often, every 5 years or so if possible. I got a new phone recently not because I needed it, but because we wanted spares for the kids to use for minecraft on long car trips and that sort of thing. We don't have tablets, this sort of serves that purpose. It's the first time I can remember buying a phone when my last one wasn't dead or near to it. Although I couldn't take phone calls because everyone said they couldn't hear me or I sounded muffled.

Nevertheless, my old phone was 4 years old (I've had it for 3). I'm hoping it will last a few more with the reduced usage. It was also an excuse to get a Pixel to install GrapheneOS on.