How long did your smartphone last?

[ny biker]

My HTC Incredible is on its last legs. It will no longer charge the battery.(I've tested the battery with a wall charger; it is not the problem.)

So I need to decide which new Verizon phone to get. Before doing much research, my initial list is the Incredible 2, something 4g like the Thunderbolt, or an iPhone.


I'm happy with the Incredible except for its shirt life -- I've only had it for 18 months. The new every two program is no good if the phone dies in less than two years!!

So I'm curious, how long has your smartphone lasted before it malfunctioned and needed to be replaced??

Thanks as always for your input!!

[OakLeaf]

I also have an HTC Incredible that I got soon after they were released, so, about 16 months old. It's fine so far, but the microUSB port does seem fragile. One thing that helps me is that I put a mark on the charger to keep me from trying to plug it in backwards.

Just to be sure, have you tried a different cable? What happens if you gently push the cable around in the port, not that that's an ideal solution?

If you're pretty sure the port is the problem, considering it's a standard microUSB, you ought to be able to get a local electronics shop to repair it pretty inexpensively. It would void the warranty, but if you're having to get a new unsubsidized phone anyway (), might be worth the try.

Or a wireless charging mat ... I think those are pretty inefficient, and obviously bulkier to transport, though.


FTR, DH had his first iPhone for almost two and a half years and it was working fine when he decided to upgrade.

[jessmarimba]

My iphone 3GS is still going strong, had it about two years. The silent switch is broken but that's because I dropped it on the one corner that isn't really covered by a case (due to the location of the headphone jack).

My previous iphone worked great for a year and a half until I dropped it in a puddle and didn't notice it was gone until the next morning.

Their battery life isn't the longest to begin with but I'm rarely separated from a computer, wall plug, or car plug long enough that it's been a problem. If you need the battery to last and don't necessarily need data, turning the 3G network off will make the battery last forever.

I'll have to check with my bf to see what phone he has - not sure if it's the same as yours, but whatever it is you do NOT want it. It's been a cr@pshoot since he got it whether it charges, holds a charge, or even accepts texts or phone calls. Plus with Verizon's call system, it doesn't always go straight to vmail if the phone is off - sometimes it rings first - so you never know if the phone is off, broken, or currently working. Unfortunately I think it completely bit the dust yesterday so it may be a day or two til I find out!

[Becky]

My Blackberry Curve just passed the 3-year mark, and is just now beginning to have battery life issues. DH had a similar experience with his, which needed a new battery ~3 months ago.

That said, I'm not sure I'll buy another Blackberry. RIM simply hasn't kept up with the app market, and there are many fantastic apps for iPhone/Android that aren't available for Blackberry.

[Dannielle]

I've never had an issue with iphone dying. I used my first one (3Gs) for 3 years and it still works (kids use it for games but I don't have a service plan on it anymore). My husband and I have both had out iphone4s for nearly a year...no problems at all. Pretty much our entire extended family has iphones (several family members work for at&t) and I don't think any of us have ever had a phone die of old age.

[Aggie_Ama]

I have a Blackberry Torch for 11 months and am thoroughly unimpressed, enough that as a fairly big Blackberry fan it will be my last. I have similar issues with the charger not working, it is the phone not the charger. It seems the micro-USB has to be sitting just right or it recognizes it is plugged in but won't charge. I am planning to replace my Blackberry with an Iphone or Android because they have a lot better apps available. I hope it will make it another year so I can get a discounted upgrade though.

[laura*]

My first smartphone, a Palm Treo 600, lasted from 2004 through 2009. It still works, but the battery is seriously degraded. What's worse though is that by the time the phone tries to warn of a low battery, there isn't enough charge left to announce the problem!

I looked into getting a new battery, but discovered that the Treo 600 was considered obsolete and thus good new batteries weren't available. I also discovered that Palm was ditching their venerable PalmOS - i.e. the company was commiting seppuku.

I ended up eBaying several of the last PalmOS Treo's - the 750. I'm now on the second one because the audio jack broke on the first one.

The Treo 750 is about the newest smartphone that Verizon will allow on their network without a data plan. Me need is just for a dumb phone and a PDA, hence I haven't gotten anything newer. I also won't put up with the horrid user interface of a "numeric keypad only" phone - writing the Great American Novel via the equivalent of Morse code was a cool thing 20 years ago, but not anymore.

[beccaB]

My son desperately wants the HTC rezound. I think that's the name of it. It's supposed to have amazing sound quality. I have the motorola droid 3 which the technogeek teenagers don't like because it's quirky and isn't meant for high usage. I haven't had any problems with it yet.

[zoom-zoom]

Oh, and I see that one of the phones you're considering is the Thunderbolt...a friend of mine has it and has had similar issues to my Incredible. I'd definitely rule-out HTC.

[Becky]

Oh, and I see that one of the phones you're considering is the Thunderbolt...a friend of mine has it and has had similar issues to my Incredible. I'd definitely rule-out HTC.

Oh no....the Sensation is on my short list after much hemming and hawing! It looked like, after much internet reading, that HTC's sync utility actually plays nice with Outlook, so I was actually leaning towards their phones.

[ny biker]

Oh, and I see that one of the phones you're considering is the Thunderbolt...a friend of mine has it and has had similar issues to my Incredible. I'd definitely rule-out HTC.

Yes, since I wrote my original post I have ruled out HTC as an option.

If I have time this weekend, I'll go to a Verizon store to look at the phones they currently offer to see what I might like. Then I'll hit the 'net and research them. I'll consider Android phones from other manufacturers if they have good reviews and people on the various forums aren't having problems with them.

[luv2climb]

I've had three smartphones so far. The first one was a Samsung Code with metroPCS. It worked fine, but only had Windows Mobile 6.1, so I was limited by the OS more than anything.

A friend who works at Verizon gave me a HTC Touch Pro 2, which he had upgraded from the default Windows Mobile 6.1 to 6.5. It had the Opera browser, so it worked much better for browsing. I also got a heck of a deal on the service, since it was on a family plan. I got unlimited data, texting, unlimited nights and weekends, and 1400 shared peak minutes for $21 a month.

Unfortunately, it too became obsolete and I couldn't even access my email via Hotmail. It kept telling me to enable Java even though it was already enabled. I also suspected it was starting to get flaky when it wouldn't ring sometimes, and the person attempting to call me told me it rang normally on their end instead of going straight to voicemail like it would in a bad signal area or if the phone was off.

Recently the same friend sold me his HTC Thunderbolt. It was (and still is) in mint condition. When I got it I did a hard reset. It had Froyo 2.2.1. Like a fool, I upgraded to Gingerbread 2.3.4 as soon as the update was available. I should have waited until the next update, which fixed the frustrating voicemail notification bug introduced by Gingerbread. The only way I was able to see if I had a voicemail was to tap on the "Voice Mail" icon on the home screen.

Another bug caused by the Gingerbread upgrade is related to ringtones. I made several unique ringtones that I put on the microSD card and assigned to different people in my contacts list. That way I know who's calling without even having to look at the phone.

After Gingerbread, if someone called me, the next person to call me would set off the ringtone assigned to the first person. If the first person who called was not assigned a unique ringtone and the second person was, the second person would set off the default ringtone.

Deleting the call history does not solve the problem. This bug has not been fixed yet and it sucks!

[zoom-zoom]

Oh, great...can't wait to encounter the ring tone bug. One thing I have already discovered with Gingerbread is that I can no longer have a custom ringtone for my alarm clock. I also can't have custom tone for texts. I used to have a bicycle bell sound for texts. The alarm thing I can fix with a different clock app than the stock one.

[luv2climb]

I wanted to use one of my own ringtones for texts too, but even in Froyo I could never figure out how to do that, let alone Gingerbread. It would be nice to do the same for the alarm clock.

[luv2climb]

Another bug caused by the Gingerbread upgrade is related to ringtones. I made several unique ringtones that I put on the microSD card and assigned to different people in my contacts list. That way I know who's calling without even having to look at the phone.

After Gingerbread, if someone called me, the next person to call me would set off the ringtone assigned to the first person. If the first person who called was not assigned a unique ringtone and the second person was, the second person would set off the default ringtone.

Deleting the call history does not solve the problem. This bug has not been fixed yet and it sucks!

My friend who works at Verizon told me about an update last night. It supposedly fixes the ring tone bug. I didn't have enough charge in the battery to do the update when he told me about it, so I figured I would wait until the battery was fully charged.

After the battery had been charging for a while, I heard my phone reboot. I checked it and it appears that Verizon pushed the update automatically once the battery had enough charge.