For the majority of people, they will probably update their handset every year in-line with the new releases of smartphones and their contracts (so the issue of upgrading old smartphones to new software updates will not matter). However, for some people, they will maintain their phones for longer than a year. This means when the new software update comes out, they have the decision whether they should upgrade their year old phone to it or not. Here are the main points to upgrading all smartphones with new software updates.

Updates Bring Features

The main reason people upgrade their phone’s software is because it brings new and exciting features that they did not have before. For example, the user interface might change and the functionality of the phone improves because of the updates. In general, updates are a good thing.

However, updates on old smartphones will suffer.

Poor Performance

The underlying problem with updates to old smartphones are the performance issues after updates. I have owned iPhones and many Android devices and when I try to update my old device to current software, it always makes it noticeably slower. Now, this may be a way of getting users to buy new smartphones or it might be because the processor power inside is not up to scratch any more. Either way, I hate upgrading my devices because 90% of the time I regret it afterwards (and cannot revert back without doing some sort of hardcore factory reset).

Bugs

A big problem with updates too are the bugs that come with them. This is because any update that is made is new and it takes the response from those with the devices to tell the manufacturer what the bugs are so they can correct them. For this reason, do not be surprised if your phone malfunctions every now and then with a new upgrade.

I remember when the Google Nexus 5 came out, I bought one straight away. When Android KitKat was updated, I started to find around 40% of the texts sent to me were never received by my phone (I found out by ringing my friends who had text me up). The update had ruined my Nexus 5 so I had no option but to replace it which was awful.

So I replaced it to a LG G2 which has been a great phone until I updated the software to Android Lollipop. Now, the battery will, at best, last half a day, it overheats even in the fridge and stutters and freezes every (and I mean every) time I use it.

Therefore, what can we conclude from this article? The chances are that if you keep a phone for more than a year, you like it: you are use to it. For this reason, if a new update comes along, wait a few months until you decide whether to update it or not because in that time, you will have seen the responses to people with your phone about the potential problems it may have.

…Or you could just buy a new phone every time your current phone gets slow?