I have a 2013 Moto G XT1032 8GB running Resurrection Remix Android 7.1.2. Even after 5 years it still lasts 2-3 days of light use and I can count on one hand the number of times the battery came close to dying. 8GB total storage without microSD is agony, but I can rotate my music collection through it with syncthing and my debian server. I wish I bought the 16GB version, but other than that it still kinda has modern android support, and isn’t terribly slow for basic use.
If I bought a new midrange (<$320 USD) phone, what would it do that my Moto G doesn’t? Obviously it would be more responsive, fit all my music, and not have a potato camera, however I don’t take pictures and my car accepts USB sticks to play music for long trips. I don’t travel much without my car or commute to work right now. Movies in VR sounds great for long trips, but again, I don’t do those right now. I don’t play 3D games. Youtube videos play fine, and it chromecasts like a dream.
I still get fantastic battery life compared to a brand-new flagship phone. I also like the freedom of using a custom ROM because it’s the only way to get Android 6+ on an XT1032. What novel features or use cases have come up in the last 5 years that I wouldn’t consider using an old phone?
The only thing that made me replace my old Nexus 5X was the battery degradation. It had become so bad that if I attempted to do anything demanding the phone would lock and restart. If the phone had a replaceable battery I would still be using it.
I would, however, have replaced it once it stopped receiving monthly security updates.
That’s my particular bugbear I will not run an unsupported OS on any of my computers. That includes my smartphone. I know I’m a little unusual in this, we all have our little hang-ups. As a result, I found a Manufacturer where all of the new phones in their range are AndroidOne. That means they get monthly security patches and runs stock Android. I chose one from their range that was within my budget and met my requirement, features wise. I now have a Nokia 7 plus and couldn’t be happier. This will remain, my daily driver, until it fails or they stop supporting it.
So to answer the OP’s original question, if you are happy with your phone then stick with it. If it does whatever you need then fine. Once it stops doing what you need then think about a replacement. Just so long as you do your research and make an informed decision you can’t go wrong, the pragmatic solution is normally the best.
One thing that newer phones (generally speaking) have that i feel is important improved biometric authentication (e.g., touchID, faceID or android equivalent technology).
Biometrics, or better biometrics mean using a complex passphrase is less of a pain in the butt.
Newer phones are also more likely to have faster, or more complete full device encryption.
This are things that you may or may not care about, but personally, i do.
only thing that changes is the quality and variety in some devices hardware. Newer phones have wireless and fast charging, Dac/Amps in some LGs, PC Web browser integration for android messenger in newer phones (I think, might work for older phones), Higher resolution screens and bigger capacity batteries, and of course Faster processors/Ram.
If your phone still works well and you have no need for a newer feature mentioned above, then keep that phone you got.
Besides a new battery and maybe a better screen the only major change you will see is fast charging/quick charging. Being able to bring a dead phone back to 80% in a short time is is nice. Most of the performance gains are offset by the better screen. Not bad for text legibility and video. But that is a cost versus use thing.