Enthusiast doesn't equate to throwing money away, either. Every other enthusiast you mentioned does spend a lot on their hobby. But not constantly. It's a poor analogy.
Your elitist attitude and implicit assumption that I must not be an enthusiast because I don't constantly buy phones is stupid.
And simply throwing money at phones doesn't make you an enthusiast, either. Unless you're trying to say that I'm a gasoline enthusiast because I buy it every week. And yes, it's the good stuff.
Hobbyists put time and money into their hobby. It doesn't make sense to a lot of people because for those other people, they don't have the same level of interest in it. Your idea of throwing money away is not the same as another's idea of throwing money away. I personally think buying $300 shoes is silly because I'm not interested in them. But $300 towards a videocard, that's awesome. To me, buying a new device every year isn't a waste of money as I'm getting a better camera to take better pictures and a better antennas for better/strong reception (the addition of B12 to TMo's network). Getting these added features has value in my eyes, and I'm willing to pay to be one of the first to gain these abilities.
Thankfully, phones are a much cheaper hobby than something like being interested in sports cars or car modification or designer fashion.
You're right in that buying something doesn't make you an enthusiast if you have more money to throw around than you do interest. But it could hold that if you don't, you don't have enough enthusiasm or interest in it to put your money into it to make it a priority. I'd say you're a very astute shopper and place a high emphasis on value. So you might be a real value enthusiast. Which is really awesome, too. Hard to pass up good deals.
In a market like the smartphone arena, the phones themselves haven't reached true maturity yet. So in each generation, you're still seeing substantial improvements with every generation (it's beginning to plateau). But it's not like the PC market where upgrades see substantial improvements only every 3-4 generations (since about the Core 2 Duo generation starting in 2006). Buying habits WILL change once to a more PC-like market once these improvements become more minimal.
Enthusiast suggests that you do something normal people wouldn't do and showing interest at a level that most people don't.
Interestingly enough about gasoline, there are gas enthusiasts out there who seek out gas that contains no ethanol in it. Ethanol mixtures tend to have some odd reactions with certain engines which have high pressure fuel pumps (usually direct injection systems) that cause some odd noises. Generally, ethanol-free gasoline tends to be more expensive and rare. I guess then there might those who are only interested in the highest rated of the Top Tier gasoline with the most detergents to reduce carbon buildup?
I can't afford to buy a phone multiple times a year. I still consider myself an enthusiast because I am interested in these devices and actively seek out information about them and participate in discussions like these.
I'm on more of an annual upgrade cycle. My first smartphone was the Galaxy S2, followed by the Nexus 4 and then the Nexus 5. My next phone will be the Moto X Play.
And once a year is more typical than the normal user. Which makes it different than the other user who suggested not changing devices for 3+ years, which is changing a device out less often than the typical user who changes it around the 2 year mark (I think this % is higher among iPhone users; something like 57% of iPhone users switch every 2 years?).
Facebook
Twitter