Why are older phones still expensive on contract?

[welshsteve76]

The battery in my wife's phone has got to the point now where it needs charging everyday.  It is losing around 25% battery when left on overnight in "FLIGHT MODE"!

This is a separate issue, but a gripe I have with mobile phone providers these days is this if the batteries in these modern phones are not built to last 2 years, and let's be honest, they are not, then the networks should not be offering 2 year contracts as standard.  However, I guess this is done to keep the price of the phones per month down.  Phones are, in my opinion overpriced for what they offer.  I mean, most of the decent ones are now twice the price of a decent laptop or tablet.  £600 for a phone that won't last 2 years is ridiculous.

Anyway, moan over, back to my original question.  My wife has therefore decided she wants to invoke O2 refresh and get a new phone.

However, looking at the pay monthly contract prices, even the older phones are still expensive on contract.

For example, the Samsung Galaxy S7, even though it is now 2 years old, and we are now onto the S9 range, is still only available on contracts over £30 per month unless you're willing to pay over £100 upfront for the phone.  This is more expensive than it cost my wife to get her current Samsung Galaxy S6 on a contract over 18 months ago.

Surely the price of older phones drop once new models come out?  Or is this another case of one rule for providers/manufacturers and another for the consumer?  To explain that, if I were to get a new phone from O2.  Then a month later, despite it hardly being used and in perfect condition, if I were to trade this in, O2 would only offer around half the price I paid for it as a trade in value, but they would then sell this back on in the "Like new" range for very little less than a brand new model (a "Like New" Samsung Galaxy S7 is currently offered at only £2 less per month than a brand new one).

Apologies if I seem like I'm ranting, but it really bugs me how consumers are continually ripped off by providers/manufacturers.

[welshsteve76]

Thanks for the replies everyone.  My phone, OnePlus 3T is still going strong 16 months into my contract, and if the battery does hold up, I will stick with it and go SIM only myself when it comes time to renew.

Unfortunately my wife's phone battery means it is not worth it.  We are also not in a position to purchase a new phone outright.

Things were much less complicated in the past when you could just replace the battery.  But these modern phones have the batteries inside the casing that cannot be removed meaning they are pretty much a very expensive paper weight once the battery stops working.

[MI5]

Batteries can be replaced, just not as easily as they used to be.

[Anonymous]

As has been said, it can be down to the charging cycles as has been said or just because the chemistry has deteriorated as you'll probably find a good number of people with the same phone of the same age with no problems at all.

Flagship phones are way too expensive even when you buy them SIM free but they are priced on the basis of what the market will stand as they have gone from being a functional tool to being a fashion accessory for many although manufacturers and retailers are finding that people are holding onto their phones for longer.

It is annoying though that the easily replacable battery is becoming a rarity (I've had to give in over this with the purchase of a Nokia 5) but manufacturers say it gives them more design flexibility but it also makes it harder for the average person to replace with a cheap knock-off without the appropriate monitoring and protection circuitry thus lessening the likelihood of posts on the web along the lines of 'look what my phone did to me'  followed by a civil claim for compensation.

It does look like we maybe hitting the limits of current battery technology as the Samsung Firecracker Note 7 issue demonstrated.

[Anonymous]

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@MI5wrote:
Batteries can be replaced, just not as easily as they used to be.

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Yeah - we're moving from spudgers, plectrums & micro-screw drivers to hot air blowers and regluing kits...

Battery life, memory and processing speeds are also radically effected by background app activity, on Android phones at least. (When the app has been closed and isn't showing as active, but is still beavering away in the background.) Latest versions of android are supposed to manage this dynamically but they don't have the ability to prioritize which apps you are happy to have working and which you aren't. Eg you might be quite happy to let your security package and email app work in the background, but not your banking app or cloud drive app or whatever.

The answer is an app called Greenify which hibernates the background app to your preference. It's the only battery optimization app that actually works, it's free though you can donate for the (slightly) enhanced experimental version, and ad free, and you don't need to root your phone. Available in the play store.

[welshsteve76]

A little more on this.  I've been looking around online this morning, at O2, EE, carphone warehouse, tesco mobile.  And the one thing I am noticing is that all of a sudden mobile phone contract prices are through the roof.  I'm sorry, but £28 a month for a refurbished phone that is 3 years old is an absolute rip-off.  And it's same with loads of other phones on all the networks.  The consumer is being seriously ripped off these days as these phones are nowhere near worth the money they are being sold for.  I can get a top of the range laptop that will last years for cheaper than I can get a 3 year old phone that will only last 18 months before the battery is rubbish.  It's not right.

Maybe it's time to return to a simpler life

[Cleoriff]

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@welshsteve76 wrote:

A little more on this.  I've been looking around online this morning, at O2, EE, carphone warehouse, tesco mobile.  And the one thing I am noticing is that all of a sudden mobile phone contract prices are through the roof.  I'm sorry, but £28 a month for a refurbished phone that is 3 years old is an absolute rip-off.  And it's same with loads of other phones on all the networks.  The consumer is being seriously ripped off these days as these phones are nowhere near worth the money they are being sold for.  I can get a top of the range laptop that will last years for cheaper than I can get a 3 year old phone that will only last 18 months before the battery is rubbish.  It's not right.

Maybe it's time to return to a simpler life

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One of the reasons I always buy sim free @welshsteve76. My last phone (a Note 4) was second hand but bought from someone I knew and could vouch for the quality.

I have had it nearly 2 years and it's still going well.

Though I am setting my sights on a Note 8 at the moment. I don't need it really, but I want it...so I expect it  will soon be mine.

[jonsie]

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@Cleoriff wrote:

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@welshsteve76 wrote:

A little more on this.  I've been looking around online this morning, at O2, EE, carphone warehouse, tesco mobile.  And the one thing I am noticing is that all of a sudden mobile phone contract prices are through the roof.  I'm sorry, but £28 a month for a refurbished phone that is 3 years old is an absolute rip-off.  And it's same with loads of other phones on all the networks.  The consumer is being seriously ripped off these days as these phones are nowhere near worth the money they are being sold for.  I can get a top of the range laptop that will last years for cheaper than I can get a 3 year old phone that will only last 18 months before the battery is rubbish.  It's not right.

Maybe it's time to return to a simpler life

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One of the reasons I always buy sim free @welshsteve76. My last phone (a Note 4) was second hand but bought from someone I knew and could vouch for the quality.

I have had it nearly 2 years and it's still going well.

Though I am setting my sights on a Note 8 at the moment. I don't need it really, but I want it...so I expect it  will soon be mine.

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Now there's a phone I can only dream about at today's prices !! Mind you I could get one on Refresh then sod off back to Thailand......