I used to love new phones, but the past couple I've had haven't REALLY been any better than the one I had 5 years ago. A bit quicker, sure, but generally speaking I wonder if diminishing returns are now in full effect.
I still have a mid-range phone from 2018. A Samsung A7 (2018), with Android 8 (i still refuse to upgrade to 9).
I paid 220 euros for it 5 years ago. It has an amazing looking Super Amoled screen, a miniSD slot and a fucking 3.5 jack for headphones. It's also fast enough to run everything i want without lag. It helps that i'm one of those people who know how to de-bloat and maintain any operating system they use.
So basically i don't need a new phone, even though the battery is not performing well after all this time. But i managed to damage the screen to the point where it wouldn't turn ON anymore (but the phone would still work since i could hear the sounds). I thought, hey, maybe it's time to buy a new phone then right?
WRONG. In order to get a phone from the same company and with similar features today, i have to pay at least 240 euros for the A30 something, i don't remember the model exactly. Which isn't even mid-range. That's also the cheapest Samsung phone that has a Super Amoled screen and a miniSD slot but it lacks the fucking 3.5 jack. And like i said, it's not even considered a mid-range phone, more like a mid/low tier. So the build quality is more likely worse.
My current A7 was an upgrade from my previous Galaxy S3... a
flagship, more expensive phone. 5 years later i got a mid-range phone that felt like a huge upgrade. The S3 couldn't even run Google Maps anymore at a sane frame rate. The A7 has 4x the RAM, 4x the storage, was much bigger in size with similar or better screen quality, etc, at a lower price. A huge upgrade, despite going lower tier. And now, another 5 years later, i have to pay way more to see a similar upgrade gap. And the flagships are like what, 3x times more expensive or what? One solution is to leave Samsung and look to Xiaomi or other Chinese companies. So another regression really, there's no way i'm going to trust any Chinese tech company, sorry.
So after 5 years, the same amount of money buys me a lower tier phone with very anemic improvements and missing features (let alone paying less, like i did with my previous upgrade). Sure it has slightly more RAM (mine has 4, this one 6) but i never actually needed that much RAM... It has 128GB internal storage (mine has 64GB) but it's not like i need more space since i use an extra 128GB miniSD that covers all my needs anyway. Is the newer model faster? Dunno, probably, but it's not like i need any extra speed right now either. Does it have better cameras? I don't know or care. Lastly, i really hate the newer Android/Samsung OS versions. All changes/removals/additions make the usage worse. I tried a Xiaomi as well and it's even more annoying to use. It's like going from something perfect like Windows 7, to the original Windows 8 or something. Shit becomes worse and more cluttered after every update.
So i decided to buy a new screen and install it myself. It cost me 48 euros. I'm planning on changing the battery as well at some point. It's the best choice and i fear that i'm stuck with my current phone forever so now i'm really careful with it, got a new fat wallet/folder case for it to be safe.
/Rant