Why there’s no need to rush out and buy the latest smartphones

Nine in 10 Australians own a smartphone but before you rush to upgrade to the newest device think twice. You could save yourself some serious money.

MANY of us have a case of mobile phone FOMO, a “fear of missing out”.

We like to have the newest and fanciest device.

Smartphones are a hefty investment, so when you spend up you want it to go the country mile.

But I’m choosing to resist phone FOMO and I’m sticking with my old school iPhone 6S.

I’m a couple of years out of contract and to be honest I’m too stingy to spend more than $1000 to upgrade to the latest device.

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My iPhone 6S is starting to pack it in, the battery barely lasts a few hours without needing a serious recharge.

While most people would be quick to get an upgrade it’s here where you can save yourself some serious cash.

I’m looking into getting a replacement battery instead, costing me about $50 instead of spending more than $1000 to buy the handset around or go onto an overpriced contract.

It’s far better result given my phone works perfectly fine apart from dying a rapid death each time I play some tunes or do some online scrolling.

Mobile phone users do not always need to upgrade their smartphones.

Deloitte’s Mobile Consumer Survey 2018 found nine in 10 Australians now own a smartphone. And a majority of us (58 per cent) have a device that is less than 18 months old.

We all know new phones are getting more expensive than ever so if you can make do, you’re going to save yourself a bucketload of cash.

My trusty iPhone is about 3.5 years old and there’s no need to get rid of it just yet.

Being a personal finance writer people often like to tell me their financial situation, warts and all, whether I like it or not. While I find it interesting I do sometimes wonder why people choose to throw their hard-earned cash down the drain.

We don’t need everything to be brand spanking new.

Too many people wander down to their latest Apple store or telco provider and sign up to a new device that they’re often stuck paying off for the next two years.

I’d rather be a free agent.

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I don’t want to be tied to an overpriced contract, especially as telcos continue to roll out more competitive deals frequently, and nor do I want to be stuck with paying off a handset.

Deloitte also found this — we are increasingly holding onto our old smartphones.

About 36 per cent of us keep those trusty old handsets, most likely in a spare drawer collecting dust.

There's some serious cash to be made from these, and I’ve sold a couple of my old iPhones.

All I had to do was wipe everything from them — it took just a few minutes and someone else was happy to give me cash for them.

Before you rush to upgrade to the next device, work out if it has some more legs yet, because you’re certain to save yourself some serious money.

@sophieelsworth

Originally published as Why there’s no need to rush out and buy the latest smartphones