How Is Your Old (1 YR +) Smartphone Holding Up?

[poofyhairguy]

Seems like in the mobile device market things are so fast-paced that most of the news and discussion is about what is coming out in the future rather than our experiences of the past. I wanted to start a thread to know what people here actually use and how well they feel their made their previous decisions or how well they feel their device has aged.

My current 2 YR+ smartphone is my 3GS. I feel it has aged fairly well considering that I run recent versions of iOS on there and the performance is fine. Its great GPU (better than my Nook Color) has made it so that I have never lacked when it came to games. When I got it I thought I was getting the phone that had every feature I ever thought I would need, and honestly it hasn't disappointed me too much.

What has not held up well was the fact that my vibrate button broke 8 months in, and that function is hard to replace with software. Also the camera sucks, which is a big drawback. Finally after playing with my friend's Thunderbolt and Droid X I now feel about the screen the same I felt about my RAZR's screen when I got my iPhone 1.

Overall I am happy with my 3GS, as I didn't want to switch away from iOS till recently as other options have matured and I really dislike the iPhone 4 (its looks, its same GPU, its small screen).

What about you? How has your old smartphone held up?

 

[runawayprisoner]

Captivate didn't hold up for more than a few months. Then back to the iPhone 4 I went, and haven't looked elsewhere since. That was surprisingly faster than I thought given my experience with the Droid 1. I only switched to Cappy because I wanted to switch back to AT&T for a while.

There was something about Android that I got fed up with. If it wasn't the frustration thought of knowing that regardless of what tweak I did, the phone wouldn't be as responsive as I'd like, then it might have been the fact that flashing ROM after ROM became old and meaningless. It wasn't even the phone. It was just me who couldn't take it anymore.

If there will ever be an iPhone 5, Apple has to have iOS 5.1 or 5.2 or 6.0 with an actual major interface makeover before they can pry the iPhone 4 off my hands. A dual-core chip wouldn't hold me over since there is practically nothing much it can bring to the functionality of the phone rather than making it more like a game device. And even then, what can you possibly play a phone that would require such powerful processors anyway?

So iPhone 4 for me. And it seems it'll be that way for a long while. I actually had a choice between an iPhone 4 and a 3GS, but 3GS felt bulkier and the screen wasn't as sharp.

 

[shortylickens]

Arguably the HD7 is very old since its just a HD2 converted for WP7. But since there arent any new WP7 devices out yet its holding up nicely. When the phones designed specifically for Mango hit the streets its gonna be different.

My Droid on the other hand is holding up quite nicely since I installed CM7. Wish I hadnt quit Verizon now.

 

[Sheep]

Aside from a bright spot on the screen (which is apparently due to the CPU heating up), my year old Evo runs better now than it did when I first got it thanks to the MikG ROM that people here suggested.

I was pondering the Evo 3D but I love the wealth of ROMs available for the Evo 4g so I stuck with that instead.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

My iPhone 4 sleep/wake button was stuck, so I took it in and got a free replacement (refurb) 1 week before the warranty expired. So, got a brand new phone & battery 1 year in ready to see what iPhone 5 comes up with, or keep my "new" phone. Win-win!

 

[alent1234]

since the software is 2 years behind the hardware like in the PC days there really is no reason to get the latest and greatest unless you want to

 

[Puddle Jumper]

My Captivate has held up far better than I would have expected. Physically it is in perfect condition and could easily pass for being brand new. The 1ghz Hummingbird soc is still fairly powerful compared to the latest and greatest and is more than capable of handling everything short of full HD video playback.

On the software side it has also aged very well. I will be installing Cognition 5 this weekend which is Android 2.3.3 so at that point it will only be a single minor update behind the latest smartphone version of Android.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

the software and internals were shit from day1 on my storm 2 but the exterior hardware itself is very durable.

i've had it for almost 2 years now and a friend of mine recently said she thought it was a new phone.

 

[Pliablemoose]

My phones rarely stay in my pocket longer than 6 months.

 

[cheezy321]

My iPhone 4 looks about the same as it did the day I purchased it (1st day it was out). In other words, it is holding up wonderfully.

My iPhone 2G looked pretty weathered when I finally laid it to rest. I am impressed at how well the IP4 has held up.

 

[MrX8503]

My iPhone 4 is holding up really well. I dropped it a few times without a case! And so it has a scuff mark on the band, but overall almost looks brand new.

I don't like cases so I use a clear shield on the front/back and steel band.

 

[Doboji]

My phones rarely stay in my pocket longer than 6 months.

This...

 

[vshah]

Nexus one is holding up pretty well. build is still excellent, not a creak anywhere. screen is still flawless as I've had a protector on it since day one.

the only issue I have is that the internal memory for apps is very limited in this age of 10mb + apps. Apps2Sd takes care of that, but it is a hassle nonetheless.

Speedwise, I have no complaints. I'm going to try and hold out for quad core phones....but the sensation is very tempting.

 

[Oyeve]

My 1yr old Vibrant is holding up rather well. Yes, since playing with my dual-core Transformer I can see the Vibrant as slow now but I have 400+ apps on it and it rarely crshes or stutters too much. I do want to get the HTC sensation tho as I need a slightly larger screen for my aging eyes.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Got an Epic almost a year ago and it's still really great. No complaints. I will certainly keep it through the end of my contract period.

The Samsung Moment I got in early 2010 though... not so much. My sister in law has it now and it's very unreliable. Battery life is bad and it regularly drops data service, a problem I always had when I owned it. At this point I think it'd even be worth it for her to switch to a used Palm Pre, just until she qualifies for a discounted upgrade in December.

 

[poofyhairguy]

My phones rarely stay in my pocket longer than 6 months.

But you also don't sell them. I bet you have some pretty interesting opinions on how the phones in your sig aged...

 

[Deeko]

Hmm....In the past two years, I have used the Samsung Vibrant, Dell Venue Pro, HTC HD7, Samsung Focus, Samsung Epic 4G, HTC HD2, Motorola Droid, HTC Imagio, Blackberry Tour, Blackberry Curve, Palm Pre, HTC G1, Palm Treo 750 wx, and iPhone (original). So....ah....I don't think I fit. Although I do dust off the G1 every now and then when I'm "between" phones, and she still works like a charm, despite pushing 3 years.

edit: I've either returned or sold many of those, I still have in my posession the Venue Pro, Vibrant, iPhone, 750wx, G1, and HD2...the only one with a hardware issue is the HD2, which no longer charges, somethings wrong with the USB port I assume. Of course, this happened right after I got the Venue Pro when I was actually planning to sell the HD2....and its ironic, because based on the look/feel, you'd swear the HD2 had the best build quality of all of them.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

The USB port (also the charger port) is fucked up

 

[Worthington]

My Evo is still trucking along, and I'm still happy with it.

 

[gorcorps]

I've had my iphone 4 for a bit over a year. Still in quite good condition with a couple small scuffs on the screen because I stopped using a screen protector a couple months back. I'm bored of it though and should sell it while it's worth something.

 

[Dice144]

Using Samsung Cap. First one loud speaker on back died 2 months in. This one randomly locks up. Tried third party and stock rom. Same issue. This week I was ready to throw the thing in the lake on my daily walk.

Friend told me to hold out for iphone5. I liked my 3GS. I almost got a Samsung Focus after reading some reviews and seeing how snappy it seems compared to my half broken Cap.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

My Milestone got used today. My Nexus S was in a reboot loop this morning after I showered. What the hell. I had to make calls to pick up relatives to visit my mom in the hospital, and so I had to swap in my Milestone.

Luckily I have all the files I need on my phone so I was able to reflash it. My Milestone works but it's just slow as hell. Good thing I keep on top of the latest ROMs, and I got back on a resurrected CM6.1.2 ROM with CM7.1 ported features. So while it's Froyo, it's faster than GB considerably on this device, and with the latest features too.

 

[trmiv]

My Droid 1 has a few scratches, but for the most part is OK. Performance though feels slower than molasses. Doesn't seem flashing new ROM's make it much better. Have an upgrade available, but nothing out I want to spend money on.

 

[gsaldivar]

My old Droid Incredible is in perfect condition. The cellular radio is turned off, as I no longer have it activated on Verizon. Instead, I use it as a second phone at home with Groove IP (VOIP) on WiFi. Works great, and my purchased apps still work flawlessly on both the old & new phone (both using same Google account).

 

[KLin]

Droid Incredible is working just fine. I've had it since the end of April of last year.