Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Smartphones aging -> functionality decline

Feb 8, 2015 6:08AM PST

Hey guys,

a friend told me that his samsung (s3) that he bought two years ago is so slow now that it's a pain in the butt to use and so is his gfs samsung. Is that something that happens to some degree to all smartphones?

The reason I'm asking is because I'm about to buy my first smarthphone and if that is the case then It would make more sense for me to buy a cheaper one now and buy another one after two years. Any experience with Lumias in this area?

Don't get me wrong - I understand that if I buy a phone now that it will be obsolte in two years (and I am ok with that) but I never imagined that it's fucnctionality could be affected and that it would work differently than when I bought it.

Thanks and sorry if the question is stupid or naiveHappy

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Factory reset usually clears that up
Feb 8, 2015 6:54AM PST

No good reason to buy a lousy cheap smartphone unless it's what fits your budget. Most users are naive to what happens over time with various apps and updates causing issues on various handsets. You can often get around such corruption/sluggishness by simply starting from scratch, especially with the rather fragmented Android OS. FWIW, I have never had the same issues with my last two iPhones as I did with an older HTC & two Sammies, all running Android. YMMV. I may do the same thing with a family members Samsung Note ASAP to see if my theory proves to be reliable.

Just backup your data before doing it.

hth

- Collapse -
Thanks
Feb 8, 2015 5:20PM PST

Alright, I guess I just worry too much Happy thanks