So, secretly this is a S21 FE review.

"Smartphones are getting good at getting old" pure poetry right there. Love the video. Couldnt agree more.

"It's impressive for a phone of this age" it came out 2 years ago...

I recently picked up a Motorola G Play 2023 for $99.99 at Best Buy. I had about $40 on a gift card, so about $60 total. It's a phone. It does what I need it to do, which isn't anything special. "Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate to buy shit we don't need." - Tyler Durden

My main reason for refusing to upgrade is the ridiculous weight and non-ergonomic designs of new flagships.

Still rocking a Galaxy Note 9. Does everything I want it to, is fast enough, takes decent photos, has wireless charging, and rocks a 1440p AMOLED. Not much else that I need.

My iPhone 6S still works like a goddamn charm and I don't plan to update it unless it stops doing so. Eight years strong and about to turn 9 this year. If it makes it to 10 I'm gonna honorably retire him.

Samsung Galaxy S10 here. I haven't upgraded my phone in many years. Still works just fine. Decent camera, decent battery. 1TB storage + 1TB microSD. Unless I break it or lose it or it gets stolen, I am not upgrading.

I honestly never understood the reason why people upgrade phones every year even now but still use 5/6 year old laptops

I got you all beat... I went from an S8 to a S24 Ultra. Now that's an upgrade! I do miss how insanely light and thin the S8 was.

Sophie Wilson the inventor of the ARM instruction was asked at the end of a lecture on improvements in ARM processors whether people should change their phones regularly to take advantage of the features that she had been talking about. She answered no. She said that you would never use all of that extra performance and so should not upgrade your phone until you stopped getting security updates.

Pixel 3 here. No complains. Great photos, super light and the right size 5.5"

I use an LG G8 , Snapdragon 855 is still powerful. LG's HDR Cine-Effect video recording is simply AMAZING

Dude I just got myself a S21 FE and I was like 'whaaaat lol' when you mentioned it. This phone still rocks!

Still using a Note10+ that I bought on it's launch yr and has served me well to this day doing what I need it to do, won't be upgrading until it breaks and beyond repair

I remember the days I begged a new phone for every birthday, and my parents would pay for like half of it, and even when it came out of my savings, I would be happy to replace it. It was a joy to set up a new phone for me. Now my phone, Galaxy A72, kind of broke down (doesn't charge with any cable), and I am devastated (I was also on vacation in a small village where I knew no one, so that was strassful). I was so happy with this phone, I even for the first time in my life went to a repair shop, and they couldn't help. I even reset it hoping it was some kind of software bug, losing everything because of my misunderstanding with backups. I still don't want to replace it, even now that it basically a defective new phone with no info or settings I had for so long. Two and a half years, and no joy to replace it at all. I would have been happy to keep it for 2 or 3 more years until my OS becomes outdated enough to run into problems with casual app downloads. I still hope against hope that it will start working and it will only ever stay an unpleasant memory of how I wiped everything for nothing.

Mine is a OnePlus 7 from 2019. About to be 5 years. Works great, used to work even better before the last update OnePlus forcefully upgraded me to when I went to have the battery replaced, which is shitty considering they took my phone for 10 days and returned it to me without replacing the battery because the device was "End of Life", this was about a year ago. Had a third party battery put in and works great. Forced Obsolescence should not be allowed by these companies who use shady tactics to make user experience worse to "extend the life of the device" or "protect the environment".

I plan on keeping my current phone for the longest amount of time I've ever had a phone. The one after that will be even longer.

I seldom comment but your video is a breath of fresh air. Have had a Oneplus 7 pro since launch as my Android device (switched to iPhone 14 from iPhone 7 last year). Got it's battery replaced a year back and it has never been given an issue to me. I briefly switched to a S21 Fe lying at the house last month and even though I loved the experience, letting go of the Oneplus 7 pro was a little too much for me.

There are no real reasons for users to buy new phones & hence the companies are doing their bit to make sure we do. Not just the marketing campaigns, but also the software updates that slow down the phone, use of tech which makes repairs unviable or very difficult if not impossible..

Bought my son one at launch at a very reasonable price. Amazing phone on balance with a beautiful screen. Battery still good despite a mix of all types of charging, playing games and watching videos.

I'm still using a Pixel 3a in 2024 😅 The camera is still quite good compared to most phones but the phone lags and feels quite slow in day-to-day use. I might upgrade to the pixel 8a later this year though if the price is decent

Still using my Galaxy Note 10+ I bought at release in 2019. Aside from my Spen battery being dead, and needing to replace my phones battery for all day performance, it's still holding up pretty well, specially since it has 12GB of ram, more than many phones have even today. I'm thinking of replacing it next year, to get neat features I don't have such as refresh rates over 60hz, folding screens, 5G, and better cameras. But unless it breaks or there's a great deal for a Galaxy Fold, I'm in no rush to replace it.

I have a S21+ and my friend has a S23 FE. Our daily experiences using both phones are virtually identical. Including in power/what it can handle apps wise, as well as camera quality. Photos taken on my phone or her phone are almost identical that I can't even tell the difference.

There are a ton of people still rocking their old LG Devices like the V60.

Proud owner of S10e since May 1, 2019!

I’m still holding onto the iPhone X from 2017 as I’m waiting for Apple to get rid of the notch - which they may not do for another couple of years. After 5 years, I got Apple to change the battery as it was struggling to last all day despite my low level of usage. Changing the battery didn’t make much difference, and now, 7 years later, the poor battery life is the main issue. Can I go another year or is this the year I finally cave? 😬🤳

I'm still using an LG v60. Why change? Headphone jack, expandable storage. All good. Looking at installing a custom rom fire additional privacy.

I've been using my Xiaomi Mi 9T since May 2020, and it still holds up really well. Granted, the battery has degraded over that period, but given my fairly limited daily use, it's still good enough to last me for a day. One of my favourite features is the clean display with no selfie camera hole punch since it's one of those phones that had it motorized, and since there's no phone with a clean screen on the market anymore, I don't plan on upgrading it any time soon. Also, the later I upgrade, the better the phone that's going to accompany me for the next few years. :)

I remember when I used to buy a new iPhone every year, like an obedient consumer drone. Then I got bored and switched to Android. Now I only get a new phone about every 3 years. I thought I was just getting older and didn't care as much, but your explanation really made sense to me.

Still rocking my OnePlus 6t, but as it inches closer to 5 years old I've begun having issues with lag, battery life, and occasional crashes (usually when listening to music for some reason). As someone who is looking to get more into photography/video, but also someone who wants a better work/life/entertainment balance, I'm debating switching to an old small phone and a real camera, or getting the newest biggest and best phone. One achieves my goal with a little less convenience but more expandability, while the other gives me the features I want but also all the temptation that comes with it. If Apple had come out with an Iphone 15 Pro Mini I'd buy it in a heartbeat, but 13 mini might work.

I'm still using an S5 that I purchased second hand a number of years ago. It has fancy features like a headphone jack and back that easily pops off so I can replace the battery and other things with ease. In fact I invested in a new battery a couple of years back for ~ $12USD that can still give me up to 2 days between charges. I also work in the trades and its been dropped many times from heights onto concrete but still works just fine. Dont make 'em like they used too :P

S10e (snapdragon) user here . Still going okay. Feel like can use it for another year.

I have a 3 year old phone with SD865, it flies through everyday tasks with zero performance issues running Android 14, 6GB RAM and 128GB Ufs 3.1 storage. The battery still lasts a day, I don't play games on my phone, so it helps I guess. As mentioned in the video, the amount of innovation has platued over the last few years, while the benchmark scores of flagships are crossing 2M (Antutu), the user experience remains largely the same even on a flagship chip from 2020. Good video!

Ive also been using the S21 FE for almost a year now, the main problem i have with it is the battery life, it barely lasts a day.

I'm rocking a iPhone 11. It's still performing well and receiving updates. Only the wide-view camera is starting to suck. The other to are still good enough for me though ...

Damn man you have come for a long way with your videos. Good job mate

3 yrs on OnePlus 9 pro here. And when considering upgrading to something newer I just can't justify it to myself. This phone is everything I need really

saw the s23 presentation and just had to preorder the s23+, mainly due to the excellent snapdragon chip in europe, only thing missing is dual esim and ltpo display that goes down to 1hz, both not a deal breaker so switching to s24 is not worth it at all (has exynos anyway), i'll happily use this phone as long as it get's updates

S10e haver here, got this phone used last year and it's still going strong

I'm using OnePlus 7 Pro, i'm using this from the last 4.5 years ... 4.5 years ... And this handset is just not giving me excuse to change it. Certainly an amazing device. Everyone wants to hold something more flashy .. expensive as status symbol but one should do ask themselves a question... "Do they really need to spend such huge money especially when their existing device can serve the purpose". #Respect!

What a fantastic video my dude, you are spot on about everything! Old is gold! We should only upgrade when our current phones break and even then, just replace the battery when you need and you’ll be fine for years and years. Also love the chill vibe of this video! 📱

You mentioned the Oneplus 7T at the end, but I've been rocking the 6T since launch and only recently felt the battery and performance getting to a point where an upgrade is needed.

I've been using my s8+ since 2018 and its only just now getting to the point where some apps are no longer usable. You can keep a phone for a long while.

LG V30 user here from 2019, still going smooth and fine.

Great video - rocking the OnePlus 7T Pro (on Android 12) for almost 5 years now. Fantastic phone. You hit the nail on the head when you said that there are no phones that make you wanna buy them instantly when they get announced. 👏

Using a LG V50 from 2019, actually purchased a second refurbished one for $100. No camera bump. Quad DAC Headphone jack SD Card Smaller size $100

I’m still using my iPhone 6. It’s been almost 8.5 years now. Apps like amazon no longer work and browser doesn’t support some present day websites too. The screen’s not working well now for the past few weeks so looking for a replacement. Let’s see.

Still using S7 Edge. During Covid got into photography as a hobby and bought a proper camera. Since then, I always carry my camera everywhere I go. At this point I realized upgrading phones for their camera performance was a complete waste of time and money. Since I never liked mobile gaming, my phone is just that now, a phone, my communication device.

This is why I got a Pixel 8. I was on the 6 and was planning on keeping it for longer, but my carrier was pushing a $10/mo (for 2 years) sale for the 8 on my already cheap as hell plan, so I couldn't resist knowing I'll have full support for it until 2030. I have a perfectly sized phone, that's fairly repairable, that will only cost me $240 to fully own, and I'll be able to enjoy future updates 7 years from now. Phones have gotten so good that the two/three-year upgrade cycle no longer needs to exist.

Me watching this on my stock OnePlus 6 that I've had since 2018. It hasn't let me down yet.

About a year ago i got the S23 256gb version, and i think this will be a keeper. Previously I have been changing phone about every 2 years but this one I will use until it falls apart. It has all the performance I could ever need and in a relatively compact form

Battery health is the number one reason for an upgrade. Mine has degraded a lot since I purchased it (iPhone 12)

Galaxy A71 user here and I don't see a reason why I should "upgrade" to a device with less features like missing SD card slot, no headphone jack and no FM radio. That's ridiculous!

I had my Nokia 7 Plus since release (until the battery started forcing the screen out in 2022 after a swimming pool incident) and I never really faced any issues with its performance. The days of Android phones lagging after a year or so of use are long past as long as you smartly choose and purchase a good phone.

i have an iphone se gen1 back in 2016 if im not mistaken and initially in 2020 i upgraded to a red magic 5g but upon reviving my iphone se (replacing the battery) ive gone to like it again. Theres just something about having a smaller phone that u can type with one hand thats appealing to me. Its just a true definition of pocketable. Phones these days are so heavy on the pockets and can be a drag.

I never comment on any of your take on tech although, I'm compelled to do so. I appreciate your practical attitude towards using an older phone as your daily driver. It's common place that many folks are still using cells 4-5 years after purchase. You don't seem swayed to upgrade to a brand new device simply because of availability. I complete concur.

Rightly said. I used a OnePlus 3 for almost 5 years(adding the Custom Roms to stay till Android 11 from Android 6). Recently changed its battery. Although it cannot keep up today in terms of speed, but I kept it as a camera phone, because the GCam mods+OnePlus 3's main sensor does some real magic there, still impresses me today.

Currently watching on the S10e, still going strong!! Imported the US version for the Snapdragon chip and it's been great, people always compliment me on how good my pictures look even with a device this old. Battery life is a tad worse than new but to be expected and lag/slowdowns are next to non existent. Bonuses are 3.5mm jack and expandable memory which are very rare. Looking to upgrade to a S23+ when prices go down some more.

had my oneplus 7 for 4.5 years already but it's showing signs (lower half of the screen becomes dim, and battery drains super quick when temperatures reach -30c to -40c) since I migrated here at Canada for work. Considering to upgrade once it reaches its 5th year since this phone served well for me.

I held on to my Pixel 4 XL until the Pixel 8 came out. If I wasn't already on the second battery and needing a third for the 4 XL that would have cost 300+ bucks, I would have stuck with it. With the 8 getting many more years of support, I'm planning on hanging on to it for another 7 years.

I've been a fan of Ryan's content from his own channel since a while ago. Nice to see him again in my feed.

Used a Galacy C7 Pro from 2017 to 2021, during medschool, used it for video creation, notes, editing, flashcards..all ways i could possible use it. Upgraded (?) to an iphone 11, got suffocated, still used it for a torturing 1.5 years. Changed to the S22 Ultra with my internship stipend, used it to take patient notes, dex, etc etc, loving it except the battery. Planning to continue using it for a dew more years to come- at the least, till the last security update.

One of my favorite upgrades was the S3. It was a great phone which lasted me 3 solid years. I miss removable batteries! When the original one started to go, I found a 20000mah replacement that lasted me 3 days full charge with about 18+ hours screen use. S6, 3XL, 6pro, and now 8pro. Only reason I upgraded to 8pro was because of the annoying modem issue on the 6. But now I feel like this one will last a long time so I'll definitely (try to) keep it until the security updates expire

Been rocking my S20 FE since 2021 and it's still so incredibly solid. That SD card slot is such a blessing to have! 85% battery limit, power savings mode while at work, dark mode everything and just being a casual user of the generic apps has kept it in good shape

I miss so much my Nokia 3210... That removable/replaceable one week charge battery, a case that can be easily a cheap replaceable if broken, that amazing monophonic ringtones everyone with 40 years old will remember, and that simple snake game for that boring days and situation...

Yeah my about only reason for my recent upgrade was to get a 6.1 inch smartphone since I feel like they won't be a thing for much longer. The S24 is 6.4 and most other smartphones these days are 6.6 and up.

Been rocking the one plus 8T for w years now , and it doesnt feel slow at all. Feels like it can breeze throught 2 more without any noticable decrease in performance

I have a Pixel 8 (the small one) but plan to hold onto it for a while, and a prime motivator for buying it was the 7 years of software updates. I'm not sure it'll last more than 5 years though, but either way it's a really good device that I expect will age well.

I only upgrade when I find the exact specs I'm looking for.

Redmi Note 7 since 2019, battery is getting a bit weak, things are slowing down but still working for all my tasks. And I can resell when I do upgrade if it stays in good condition.

still using my Oneplus 7. Has been using it for 4.5 years and there's no lag other than the battery draining quite quickly

I bought a pixel 5a at launch and will keep it through its last update this August... the perfect phone imo and it's held up well for being 2.5 years old on a midrange chip

onto your last question in the end, the S10 was the last time when I had to buy it immediately. And I did! 5 years later I am still with this yellow S10e diamond! (yes the battery was bad, I changed it with new one and it's rocking now).

I've been using the Sony 5ii for 3 years now. It released in fall of 2020, but I got it on a discount in spring of 2021. It still works perfectly fine and I don't see any reason to upgrade. It stopped getting updates in 2022, and it has a couple random bugs that have popped up sporadically, but otherwise, it's all good. In the past, I couldn't wait for the 2 year contract to be over so I could get a different phone. It's funny you mentioned the Galaxy S3 because it was my first phone and I loathed it more and more as time went on. This Xperia 5ii could be with me for another 3 years, who knows?

I'm rocking a (not that old) pixel 6 pro. Bought it when the pixel 7 line was out for 400 euros. I used to upgrade every year, but I don't see the point anymore. Pixel 7, 8 for examples, are the definition of incremental updates and Google has to resort to software limitations in order for you to update

Up until february this year, i had been using a galaxy S9 since launch. Main reason why i replaced it with an S23 Ultra was the battery barely lasting me 4 hours, and then the camera a couple places below. I tried changing the battery 6 months ago but that didnt work out as well as i thought it would. There is also the fact that new original batteries havent been a thing for like 4 years now. Regardless of poor battery health, the little S9 still does everything i throw at it with relative ease. The S23 Ultra on the other hand feels like i got to run full tilt again after 3 years. Such a good device and i definitely plan on using it for a very long time (unless we get that "i have to get that device no matter what" moment some time on the near future).

Also not upgrading from my iPhone 13 Pro. I was on a 2-year (or even less) upgrade cycle and also switching back and forth between Android and iOS, but now fairly unimpressed with the latest new phones 🤷‍♂️

I'm still using my pixel 4a and honestly I want to keep it going for as long as physically possible and part of the reason is just that they don't really make phones this small anymore.

OnePlus 7 pro here. May upgrade next year, after +5 years of reliable service. S855 is still fast enough though, what would make me upgrade would be new camera and display tech.

what? :D knew this voice was familiar - Ryan-Thomas? :D so freaking great to see you here! you made it - you really made it!

Sammy got it right on the S21 Ultra, the 888 chip is still a beast 3 years later, camera still rocks compared to the s23 Ultra! And the battery life is still amazing, hitting 5 to 6 hrs ost. I've got both Moto RaZr + 2023 & the S23 Ultra, I still favor my S21 Ultra over both the newer devices. The size, the snappy speed & overall experience still works best for me.

HTC one, Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Samsung Galaxy Note 8 (still being used for telly connectivity) & my new daily driver Google Pixel 7a. On my 4th smartphone, since they have been about. Am hoping foldables will be cheaper in a few years' time once I'm done with the Pixel.

Galaxy s10e, expandable storage, headphone jack, fits in my hand, hasn't broken once miraculously throughout all my construction work, battery is weak now but charges back up fast enough.

still using my iphone se 2016. replaced the battery recently. perfect size for me, small, fast enough for daily usage. most of the apps still getting updates and ios 15 is still getting security updates.

Still rocking the OnePlus 7T no issues whatsoever. Haven't changed the battery so that might be a problem in the future for now it's giving me like 4-5 hrs of SOT but still planning to use it for another 1-2 yrs.

I have the 21 FE but replaced it for 2 reasons, battery life and occasionals stutter/slowdowns/hickups, also my regional version had Exynos with some connectivity bugs on cellular. I'd try the regular S22 if I found it cheaper since it alternates with the SD version here, but I ended up picking a Xiaomi which has less bloat and doesn't have the exynos stutter.

I’m rocking an iPhone 7 but it’s getting a bit long in the tooth. Waiting for the 16 later this year. But I still have my working Nokia 6310 as my backup phone.

I LOVED my S21. I was having a hard time upgrading, but I decided to ultimately upgraded to now a P8 (was 150$ out of pocket with S21 trade in) as a backup, and an S24U as my daily. Just like my S21, I'm having a hard time seeing why even upgrade. I just saw the poor battery performance on the S21 and wanted all day battery. I'm taking a better approach for battery health and cycling to hopefully extend these phones for many years to come. The value proposition just isn't there anymore for annual, bi-annual upgrades at the higher costs. The S21 was still just as fast as my new phones, just degraded battery.

LG V60 owner here. While I'm not receiving more OS updates now and the USB-C port is a nightmare, this phone has been amazing. I'll probably upgrade it with the dual display case and I might get one of the newer Motorola or OnePlus phones of this year, while keeping the V60 as a secondary.

iPhone 11 here, still doing everything I need it to do and more. Thought about upgrading the battery, but even at 78% the experience is basically there were all my earlier, way cheaper phones were. So I’ll just keep it till there is sth seriously wrong with it.

still have an s7 edge, would just replace the battery is it weren't for the lack of updates making apps incompatible, thinking about getting an s24 for the 7 years of software upgrades

Got great memories with my friend's S10e. He had loads of songs and would desperately try to get me to listen in. Street rap wasn't my genre but looking back, it did make a solid memory for us.

I have a Galaxy s10e, albeit as a secondary phone. It's still going strong!

Still using a OnePlus 6 I bought used. The problem isn't the hardware, its the software support. It's now running Lineage OS

Been using a Oneplus 5T since 2017 . Held on to it for 7yrs , worked great for me all these years . This year it started to slow down and lots if hiccups so Just urgrqded to OnePlus 12R .

Old phones? I'm rocking a BlackBerry KeyOne (2017) for the keyboard plus it's BlackBerryness. Interesting thoughts on the subject, thanks.

Rocking A14 on OP7T. It's the "YAAP" custom rom that makes me realize there's no need for a new generation phone.

The first flagship phone i’ve ever bought was the iPhone 11 in 2019 and i’ve not replaced it. It does its thing.

I'm still rocking an LG G8s thinq and the only thing that's aged not-so-well is the battery. At 4 years of age it's getting close to ridiculously bad, with only around 76% of it's original capacity. Android 12 still gets regular security patches and the SoC keeps up with modern stuff well enough too. Plus, it has a decent-sounding headphone jack!