Probably the most wog thread of 2017 so far.
But for the record:
I bought my first phone when I finished uni and started working ful time in the real world, so early 1999.
It was a Nokia 5110, with the interchangeable faces.
Then a Nokia 3210. Lost one, as they were tiny and slippery little bastards.
When living overseas in 2004 I had a shitty Nokia. Phone calls were so expensive in the Virgin Islands that few people owned then and selection at the shop was very limited.
TBH, I can't even recall what I had from 2005 to about 2010I think they were mostly Nokias that slid) when i got my first smartphone, a Sony Xperia something or other.
Then a s2, then an s4 and now an s7.
I rarely get to the end of 2 year contracts, as I run my business through my phone and am pretty hard on them.
But Virgin will let you upgrade after 18 months as long as you go into a new 2 year deal with them.
The cheapest phone I ever owned was when I was on a driving holiday in the states in 2011. I went to Best Buy and said: "what's the cheapest nastiest phone you have?" Lucky for me they were selling an old samsung flip phone for $5 (yes, $5). Topped it up with $20 credit and it did me for a month.
