We asked, you told us: Most of you plan to buy a new phone next year

People don’t seem to be in a rush to get the latest and greatest smartphones, with our own survey last month showing that 60% of polled readers have a phone that came out in 2019 or earlier.

But now that we’re winding down the year, we wanted to know how many readers think they’ll upgrade to a new phone in 2022. We posted this survey last week and it got quite the response.

Do you plan to buy a new phone in 2022?

Results

Over 6,500 votes were tallied in this poll, making it one of the more popular surveys this month. It turns out that over 60% of respondents plan to buy a new phone in 2022, making for quite a big figure.

Interestingly, several reader comments point to the Galaxy S22 series as being the phone they’ll buy in 2022. But we also saw one reader saying they’ll buy a 2021 flagship at a lower price in 2022. That’s always a smart strategy, especially if you’re going the Samsung and Google route with their longer update commitments.

Meanwhile, ~23.3% of polled readers said they weren’t planning to buy a new phone next year. Supporting comments suggest that readers are either happy with their current phones, or feel that modern devices are taking a step backward by not supporting features like microSD expansion or 3.5mm ports. We even see a few readers who just bought a phone in 2021 anyway and therefore don’t see a need to upgrade in 2022.

Finally, almost 15% of polled readers say they’ll wait and see how 2022 unfolds before making a decision to upgrade. This is an understandable approach, as we don’t actually know what many companies have up their sleeves for next year.

Comments

• PhoenixWitti: Samsung seems to be going backwards in features, so I’ll probably hang on to my Note 20 Ultra.
• CR45H 0V3RR1D3: Looking towards leaving Android behind next year, after having a nearly decade long romance with it. On a fixed budget, so it will take me til next year’s release to save up, plenty of time to continue to do research. But, from what I have seen so far, the transfer shouldn’t be too jarring, as most of the reasons people like Android devices, no longer appeal to me.
• Julie: Will likely give up my Galaxy S9 for the S22 Ultra.
• DBS: Unless there’s a sub-6″ phone with expandable storage and a headphone jack, worthy of replacing my S10e, no. Neither next year, nor in 2023, 2024 etc.
• CasperTFG: Will be dumping my OnePlus 9 Pro for the Samsung Galaxy S22 Note.
• Shizuma: I’ll wait and see, still waiting for manufactures to drop the stupidity that is the notch/punch hole as I consider a hole in the main features of an electronic device as 100% unacceptable, so I will not buy one that has that design.
• Techngro: Yes, I will probably buy the previous year’s flagship. It will be 50% off or more and still perform like a champ.
• Japes: Have a Note 20 Ultra which I can stick with. Especially if no new Note comes. And of no other advances are made in phones.
• Marco Studenski: I grabbed a Pixel 6 this year and it’s my favorite phone out of all the ones I’ve ever owned. I’m sitting pretty for a little while, so I’ll pass on ’22.
• Leif Shantz: Likely yes, I’m waiting until Google, Samsung, OnePlus or TCL releases their mid-range phones. Then I will upgrade to whichever has long update policy and a bigger battery than my current Pixel 3a. If the iPhone SE 2022 comes out with a redesign, I may go that route.
• James Steevens: I’m interested in the S22 Note Ultra, I’m due for an upgrade anyways.
• MarnixK: I’ll see what the Pixel 6a has to offer. I have been doing a yearly update cycle, but that’s more because I’m just clumsy and break my phones accidentally :s If the pixel 6a is any good I’ll probably get it around the 2022 hollidays.

Thanks for voting in this poll and for leaving a comment. What do you think of these results? You can sound off in the comments below.