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[PrivatePilot]

I would never pay $2000 for a phone.A cell phone is just a necessary evil to me.
$200 sounds just fine.

Fair enough, just understand that there are tradeoffs with that. A $200 android phone, especially if it's by one of the lesser known brands may put you in this exact same situation again in as little as a few years as many get maybe 1 software update at best before they are often abandoned. Many get absolutely none, which if they're already a version behind, leave you in a rough spot in short order.

I left the iPhone at one point a number of years ago after I got ****** about something at the time (I don't even remember what it was about anymore) and bought an LG V20 and switched to Android for a year or so. I thought LG would have been a good choice as I love all my other LG stuff.

It shipped with Android 7 and got one single update to Android 8. Basically 1.5 years of support, and that was LG, much less some other off brand name. I was not impressed.

In the end, spend the little bit extra and get something like a Samsung Galaxy A16 at least - Samsung is actually decent at providing major software updates for more than a few years - you should be good for at least 4 years of updates and a year or so of critical security patches with the Galaxy. Keep in mind security patches matter - your current handset for example received it's last update in 2022, and because of such, it has these security vulnerabilities now:

Because Samsung stopped issuing OS and security‑patch updates for the Galaxy A8 (2018) after January 2022, any vulnerabilities discovered and fixed by Samsung or Google since then remain unpatched on that model. Some of the most significant ones include:

Samsung Billing Improper‑Authorization (CVE‑2022‑39890)

In November 2022, Samsung patched a High‑severity flaw in its Billing component (versions < 5.0.56.0) that allowed attackers to access sensitive information without proper authorization. Galaxy A8 owners never received this fix, leaving the device exposed to data leaks from the billing service.

Galaxy App Store Access & Code‑Execution Bugs (CVE‑2023‑21433 & CVE‑2023‑21434)
In early 2023, two High‑severity vulnerabilities were disclosed in the Galaxy Store app:

• CVE‑2023‑21433: Improper access control letting local attackers install arbitrary apps.
• CVE‑2023‑21434: Improper input validation enabling local JavaScript execution.
  Both were patched in Galaxy Store v4.5.49.8 (Feb 2023), but the A8’s last update predates these fixes.

1. ASLR‑Bypass in Samsung Kernel Logs (CVE‑2023‑21492)
   In May 2023, Samsung closed a medium‑severity local ASLR‑bypass flaw (kernel pointers leaked in logs) that was actively exploited by spyware vendors. Devices patched in SMR May 2023 are safe; unpatched A8s remain vulnerable to this attack vector
2. Internet‑to‑Baseband RCE in Exynos Modems
   Google’s Project Zero revealed in March 2023 that 18 zero‑day flaws in Samsung’s Exynos modem firmware (including critical CVEs like CVE‑2023‑24033) allow remote, no‑interaction baseband compromise—meaning your phone could be taken over just by knowing its number. These were patched in Samsung’s chipset advisories (Mar 2023), but the A8’s Exynos 7885 modem never received those updates

 

[GreyGhost]

Fair enough, just understand that there are tradeoffs with that. A $200 android phone, especially if it's by one of the lesser known brands may put you in this exact same situation again in as little as a few years as many get maybe 1 software update at best before they are often abandoned. Many get absolutely none, which if they're already a version behind, leave you in a rough spot in short order.

I left the iPhone at one point a number of years ago after I got ****** about something at the time (I don't even remember what it was about anymore) and bought an LG V20 and switched to Android for a year or so. I thought LG would have been a good choice as I love all my other LG stuff.

It shipped with Android 7 and got one single update to Android 8. Basically 1.5 years of support, and that was LG, much less some other off brand name. I was not impressed.

In the end, spend the little bit extra and get something like a Samsung Galaxy A16 at least - Samsung is actually decent at providing major software updates for more than a few years - you should be good for at least 4 years of updates and a year or so of critical security patches with the Galaxy. Keep in mind security patches matter - your current handset for example received it's last update in 2022, and because of such, it has these security vulnerabilities now:

The $200 phone linked is guaranteed one android version update. You can never win the argument that the extra longevity of an iPhone makes economic sense no matter how loud you bang the drum. If you like it, great but it costs more per year. The $200 phone every three years keeps you up to date and the phone you get on the second or third cycle will blow the ultra-premium three to six year old phone out of the water.

 

[PrivatePilot]

My wife has an original iPad

The Gen1 iPad was indeed really crappy for updates - only 2 years. The shortest support period for any Apple device ever.

The Gen1 is also 15 years old however, so the fact that it's still even working says something.

I have a Gen2 that also still boots and runs, but at 12 years of age also won't run new apps or connect to a lot of the services it has apps for. It got 4 years of support.

Most modern Apple devices receive 7-8 years of updates.

But I think it's disingenuous to say that the fact either of these devices should somehow still operate perfectly. Find any computer device that is 15 years old and I think you'll find the same thing. In 2010 PC's were still running Windows XP, and you'd have the exact same problems expecting a Windows XP machine to operate anything remotely close to normal today, much less be compatible with most software.

They one Steve linked is pretty damned good. Not the best camera in the world but it's a decent brand new phone for $200

No a fan of Motorola. On their budget series phones (which a $200 phone would definitely be in) they only provide 1 base version Android update, and 2 years of security patches before they consider it end of life. That means after about 2.5 years you're ass to the wind with security, see my reply above about the very real risks of such, especially for someone like Wingboy who keeps his phones for 10+ years.

I know a lot of people don't seem to care or worry much at all about the implications of severe unpatched security vulnerabilities, but some of us do care about those sorts of things. We carry our lives on our phones nowadays, and walking around with a severely out of date phone connected to the internet is like leaving your car unlocked in the Bronx, eventually someone is going to take advantage of it.