[t4nkd]

"Supported" -- I'm not sure if you've ever tried to use a last-gen iPhone device with the latest iOS release, but, every device I've ever owned was sketchy at best after the 1st hardware release, and completely unusable as of the 2nd. In my experience, it didn't matter if I upgraded to the S or full version model, this problem happened from 3->4, 4->5, and 5->6. I expect my wife, who is still an Apple user, to be asking me for the iPhone 7 before the year end because her phone is "a slow piece of shit".

[apetrovic]

That's simply not true. My daughter currently uses my old iPhone 5, with the latest iOS 10, and the phone works just fine (with changed battery).

As a comparison, my younger daughter inherited my old Nexus 4 (bought couple of months before I got company-issued iPhone 5), the phone introduced more or less in the same time as iPhone 5, and not only the hardware is failing (the top of the screen doesn't respond anymore), Google stopped supporting the phone after a year and some.

[pazra]

Complete hyperbole. I'm using an iPhone 5S with iOS 10 and it seems just as fast as the day I bought it.

[wanda]

I have the same to say even for the iPhone 5, which I'd been using for several years and was recently a delight to use with iOS10.

I actually just bought myself an iPhone 5s to replace it because the iPhone 5's battery life finally became unusably short after many years, but I didn't want a big phone to replace it. My 5s is also performing very well with iOS10.

My 5s is a second-hand refurb, markedly cheaper than the SE, which I was reluctant to buy after several of my acquaintances complained of the device expiring days after purchase.

My comparably old Android phone won't even allow a software update and is still on Android 4. My partner prefers Android and has a Moto G (and has a tendency to drop phones hence why I suggested something cheap to replace) and it also won't update to the latest Android version.

So while the Pixel might be the shiniest, I would be reluctant to invest in something which will not have the effective lifespan of an iPhone.

I really wish Google would make a great Android phone so I could have better integration with my Chromebook and G-Suite. Android phones can be used to unlock Chromebooks in lieu of password entry, which would be a cool feature. I use G-Suite for my business so it would be better for that too. I've never owned a Mac computer and I've little loyalty to any company. The iPhone 5s was simply the apex in terms of phone-to-pocket-size/toughness/tactility/features (for me personally).

[oarsinsync]

> the SE, which I was reluctant to buy after several of my acquaintances complained of the device expiring days after purchase

As a counter point, myself and 2 friends all have the SE, and we all love it. iPhone 5 form factor, better battery life and equal performance to the iPhone 6s made it the winning choice for all 3 of us.

2 of us have had it since launch day, no regrets.

[wanda]

Of course it works well for many buyers. In my mind, it was still £300 more than I paid for my 5s and I had no further demands of the iPhone 5 besides a longer passcode.

[ShinyCyril]

I also own a 5S. While I can't say it's as fast as the day I bought it (I got it second-hand with iOS 9 loaded), it's certainly faster than the 3GS it replaced! The 3GS in turn, was a replacement for my Motorola Milestone (Droid in the US) which, despite being released the same year, received a grand total of one major OS updates and then was dropped.

[gutnor]

iPhone 5 for my wife here. Working alright too. Older hardware used to be really crippled by each new iOS release. (we had iPhone 1 and iPhone4 before), no such problem nowadays.

[karmelapple]

Highly disagree. My 4S and 5S were both fantastic for at least two major OS cycles.

[problems]

Yeah, you get about the same with the Nexus devices, at least I've got friends still running the N5 who've went from 4->5->6 without issue. I've done about the same on my OnePlus One (5 was out when I got it but it shipped with 4) so it's not unheard of on the Android side at least.

[throwanem]

Same here. It took four major versions (5 -> 9) for my 4S to become too slow to use.

[pivo]

My iPhone 6 is still perfectly useable, I don't notice any slowness with iOS 10, certainly nothing that makes me want to upgrade.

[HCIdivision17]

I've been really surprised how well my iPhone 4S held up. It's a losing battle against software that expects ever more resources, but it still does the things.

[JustSomeNobody]

I'm rockin' both a 6(work phone) and a 6S(personal phone) on the latest and they're doing great.

Have you considered that it may be user error?