I'm not in the yearly upgrade cycle, but I do tend to replace mine every few years.
In terms of speed, ever since the OnePlus One I bought back in like ~2014, I can't think of a time I have been unhappy with the raw performance of a phone by the time I go to upgrade.
Battery life is also not something I usually use as justification for a replacement, as I am fine going with a third-party place or doing it myself, depending on the complexity—the one exception was when I woke up to such a swollen battery while I was traveling in Russia that the screen fell out; it was such a mess and at such an inconvenient moment that I just bought another phone for the time being.
Rather, there is usually some sort of other nicety that is finally compelling, or circumstances force it upon me.
My example will seem silly given the fact that the solution is one to a bit of a manufactured problem in the first place. But despite the fact that Vivo, Xiaomi, etc., launched the first in-display fingerprint sensors almost five years ago, Apple still insists on Face ID. Normally, this works fairly well and doesn't bother me too much, so I keep my absurdly long and inconvenient iPhone password as I am rarely entering it when I have it on me.
However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and everyone began masking, good lord, it made me stop wanting to use my phone at all outside. It was so ridiculously inconvenient entering 30 characters each and every time I wanted to check anything at all, especially since I have my boomer-esque 45 wpm typing speed when I am using my phone.
Apple, multiple years late, finally released their feature to unlock your phone while wearing a mask. But it requires an iPhone 12 or newer.
This is an example of a scenario where even though I'd probably have been happy with an iPhone X, XS or 11 otherwise, the newer device still becomes very compelling.
(also yes, I know they let you unlock your phone while wearing an Apple Watch, but I don't want to have to have one just to use Google for 30 seconds while outside)
Of course, the true solution there is probably not to buy yet another iPhone but rather a device that respects you, but everything is a tradeoff, and at times, I need an iOS device specifically, etc. It is what it is, but I am locked into this ecosystem for the time being ;-)
In terms of speed, ever since the OnePlus One I bought back in like ~2014, I can't think of a time I have been unhappy with the raw performance of a phone by the time I go to upgrade.
Battery life is also not something I usually use as justification for a replacement, as I am fine going with a third-party place or doing it myself, depending on the complexity—the one exception was when I woke up to such a swollen battery while I was traveling in Russia that the screen fell out; it was such a mess and at such an inconvenient moment that I just bought another phone for the time being.
Rather, there is usually some sort of other nicety that is finally compelling, or circumstances force it upon me.
My example will seem silly given the fact that the solution is one to a bit of a manufactured problem in the first place. But despite the fact that Vivo, Xiaomi, etc., launched the first in-display fingerprint sensors almost five years ago, Apple still insists on Face ID. Normally, this works fairly well and doesn't bother me too much, so I keep my absurdly long and inconvenient iPhone password as I am rarely entering it when I have it on me.
However, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and everyone began masking, good lord, it made me stop wanting to use my phone at all outside. It was so ridiculously inconvenient entering 30 characters each and every time I wanted to check anything at all, especially since I have my boomer-esque 45 wpm typing speed when I am using my phone.
Apple, multiple years late, finally released their feature to unlock your phone while wearing a mask. But it requires an iPhone 12 or newer.
This is an example of a scenario where even though I'd probably have been happy with an iPhone X, XS or 11 otherwise, the newer device still becomes very compelling.
(also yes, I know they let you unlock your phone while wearing an Apple Watch, but I don't want to have to have one just to use Google for 30 seconds while outside)
Of course, the true solution there is probably not to buy yet another iPhone but rather a device that respects you, but everything is a tradeoff, and at times, I need an iOS device specifically, etc. It is what it is, but I am locked into this ecosystem for the time being ;-)