I'm not sure. Frugal maybe not, but in terms of long term usefulness? I used to think the same way about phones too, but this time it didn't seem as cut and dry as it used to.

I keep a phone for as long as possible. They don't usually get scratched up or broken. Still have a working LG Optimus One in my phone graveyard, for example. Unfortunately, Android 2.3 isn't cutting it any longer.

An iPhone usually has software support for a long time. A budget Android device not so much, and a premium Android device that does costs about as much as an iPhone.

We'll see how it works out. I could end up eating these words in a couple of years.

The iPhone has saved me insane amounts of time over the years by simply being a fast device. It also has been kept up to date in terms of software for years. On Android, I upgraded every second year.