Often for me not the hardware was the bottleneck but the software - I had some old phones which became unusable because half of the essential software would not work anymore on the outdated android versions - same with iPhone, it gets updates for some years but if I can’t use e.g my banking app the phone is useless - these ungodly apps are half the reason I am forced to use this machine in the first place…

Then you definitely want a Fairphone 5. It currently comes with Android 14 (originally 13) and will be updated until at least 2031.

Hm given that the Fairphone is about 4 times as expensive as any phone I ever owned I am not sure if I want to make that commitment.

Also 2031 is just 7 years away - my current refurbished iPhone that I got for 100 bucks is supported until 2028.

This is great, but not guaranteed. I consider it a best effort to do the right thing.

It's literally guaranteed. What do you mean?

There is no guarantee the company will be around to do it. It is usually a better chance with larger companies, but there is no guarantee anywhere.

They don't need to be around. It's a completely unlocked phone. Install anything you want on it.

My Google Pixel has nothing replaceable... At least not by end user.

After checking service manual I am sure I won't be doing anything on it myself.

Sure, if battery dies, I service it with a 3rd party.

I wish I got Fairphone.

Wow, sorry for the misinformation. I misremembered. Yes, I'd definitely choose a Fairphone over an Xcover. (I did this time). The Xcover is very repairable compared to most phones but still a pain in the ass (plus locked bootloader) compared to a Fairphone.

The problem is the same as with "compact" phones - there are only few models so the choice is very limited and they are usually "so-so" (or have other issues).

The problem is, as always, with marketing - it's easier to sell "this is newer/better because <x> parameter is higher" [1] so we have gigantic phones with more megapixel cameras and higher waterproof rating though I'd argue that more people would be affected by dying battery than by lack of waterproofing… (no data to back it though). Anecdotally I were changing all my previous phones because the batter was dying and never in 20 years had issue with phone being sumberged...

Those are just dumb trends :/ I would love for a phone that has lumia design - it was polycarbon/rubbery, had easy access to battery and yet was super sturdy and I didn't feel the need to buy yet another cover because, to bump the margins, whole effin world is going "premium".

Same with cars so you have less and less choice for a normal sized city-car and everything has to be "crossover" or "SUV"... ffs...