Forget the seven year itch, more like four months

• It takes just four months on average for the novelty of a new mobile phone to wear off
• New tech continues to turn heads as the nation currently spends £17billion to keep up with the latest, must-have mobile devices
• A third of Brits (33%) admit to always wanting the latest, newest gadgets and handsets
• O2 announces Speed to O2 Refresh to make it even faster and more cost-effective to get the latest kit

Phone lovers admit to getting bored by their new smartphones just four months into owning them, new research commissioned today by O2 reveals as they launch their new Speed to O2 Refresh offer for existing customers.

The findings suggest that technology has now overtaken the fashion world when it comes to the ‘must haves’ of the season with Brits looking to new tech trends on average three times a year – compared to the two classic spring/summer, autumn/winter style seasons.

Tech lust is sweeping the nation

The research by O2 reveals the euphoria of a new phone wears off for Brits in just four months on average, with a quarter of people (25%) becoming bored within just one month. Revealing that tech lust is sweeping the nation, a third of Brits (33%) admit to always wanting the latest, newest gadgets and handsets. A further two-thirds of Brits (60%) admit they would change phones even if their current handset worked perfectly well – with this elevation of trend-led technology resulting in new season, new phone.

Brits currently change phones on average every two years, meaning they hold on to handsets more than five times longer than they want to. The news comes as O2 launches Speed to O2 Refresh, a new way of letting existing customers upgrade to a new phone whenever they want. Phone lovers in the middle of a traditional mobile contract can now get 25% off their remaining line rental so they can upgrade to O2’s revolutionary O2 Refresh tariff fuss-free.

The nation’s appetite for tech is bigger than ever with one in five Brits (20%) admitting to being influenced by the media and a similar 19% driven by envy of friends or colleagues and their latest gadgets. But proving there is a price to pay, Brits currently spend £270 each upgrading to the latest phones which equates to the nation spending £17billion in total in order to get their hands on the latest, must-have devices.

Pace of change

The pace of change and innovation in tech is driving us to distraction. New mobile functionality, camera quality, fingerprint recognition, choice in colours and smart personalisation tools are turning the nation’s heads faster than ever.

A quarter of Brits (24%) claim the early termination charge for getting out of a current contract is the biggest reason they don’t upgrade to a new phone when they would most want to, with 45% claiming that they would upgrade more frequently to the latest mobile device if they didn’t have to buy out their whole contract. And while O2’s new O2 Refresh tariff allows people to upgrade early without paying off an airtime contract, those on old-style contracts have had to wait for their contract to end.

Now, with Speed to O2 Refresh from O2, they don’t have to wait until the end of their current mobile contract – they can upgrade to a new mobile device and O2’s new O2 Refresh contract and get 25% off their remaining line rental. And with O2 Recycle ensuring customers get the value from their old phone, changing phones becomes even easier with the cash they get back off-setting some or all of the buy-out fee, or the up-front payment on a new deal.

The research revealed that men were found to be slightly more pragmatic than their female counterparts with 44% admitting that if their device worked perfectly well they would not switch smartphones, compared to 37% of women – suggesting men are driven more by technology and women by trends.

London ‘most up to date’

When it comes to keeping up with the Joneses, Londoners were revealed as the worst culprits with 39% always having the most up-to-date gadgets – joined on top by the Scots (with 39% also agreeing), followed by those in Northern Ireland (36%) and Wales (35%).

David Johnson, General Manager Devices for O2 in the UK, commented: “With technology advancing by the day it is perhaps little surprise that the initial euphoria of owning a new device wears off faster than ever. However, it is interesting to see that technology is now giving the fashion world a run for its money – with the nation waiting on the new season must-haves. That’s why we’ve created Speed to O2 Refresh – it’s now even easier and more affordable for phone lovers to have the latest kit. especially with O2 Recycle for their old phone.”

For more information go to http://www.o2.co.uk/refresh/speed-to-refresh.