[skissane]

How many people use 5+ or 7+ year old phones? I’m sure they exist somewhere but I don’t know any of them.

It isn’t hard to get a 2-3 year old phone for free. A lot of people buy a new phone every 2-3 years and many of those people will be happy to give away their old phone if someone they know needs one

[Sayrus]

While I think this is mostly true for western countries, I don't think this applies to everywhere in the world.

According to statcounter [1], Android 5.1 and 4.4 account for 8% of the devices in Africa while it accounts for 3% in Europe

[1] https://gs.statcounter.com/android-version-market-share/mobi...

[jlokier]

Mine is about 4 years old.

It's still a great phone, runs everything I've run on it really well, and as far as I can tell it's working as well the day I bought it. Still receives firmware updates too.

Its data connection is still faster than any other 4G device I've used, and faster than my home internet connection. The battery still lasts all day, and the ludicrously high resolution OLED screen is still in perfect condition.

It's hard to see why I'd want to replace it before it breaks.

If it lasts, I'll probably keep it a few more years, and because of the good experience, if it breaks I might get the same 4-year old model again second hand.

Even if you gave me a new phone for free, I'd put it in a drawer because there's no obvious benefit and considerable hassle to moving over.

[Izkata]

My previous phone was 8 years old by the time I upgraded, went straight from Android 2.1 to 7. My current one is 3 years old and I don't see any reason to upgrade anytime soon.

[awiesenhofer]

Phones sure, but dont forget tablets. There are loads of old outdated but still perfectly functional ones out there.

[petschge]

I do. Because I live in an area where I need to use CDMA. Sure, there is a couple of spots in town that have other cell phone networks as well, but in a lot of spots and basically all buildings you need to use Verizon (or one of the resellers) or be without a cell signal. And sure they have LTE as well, but AFAIK the initial connection to the network is always over CDMA. And except for google maps (that freezes my phone for minutes, but is easily replaced by Osmand) and the banking app for one of my banks (I'd probably use that once a year to deposit a check because THAT technology is also not dead yet), there is nothing that doesn't work well on my Android 6 Samsung J1 Luna.

[ipaddr]

Mine is 7+. I'd love a phone for free but then I lose my unlimited calling and data as I would have to switch to a more expensive plan.

Buying a phone outright costs more than a computer. $1200 for the latest samsung. A two or three year old phone could cost $500.00.

I do need a new phone as the buttons barely are able turn on the screen but I see no viable upgrade path.

[earthboundkid]

Cintex Wireless is giving away free Kyocera Hydro phones to subsidized users in the US. It's so old it can't connect to any HTTPS website. :-(