I'm not saying I literally want to rent a phone for $250 a year. I still desire all the benefits of owning the phone, like selling it for market value at a time of my choosing, being able to switch carriers without paying off the phone first, etc. I'm saying that $250 doesn't seem like an unreasonable annual spend to have a current generation phone with timely OS/security updates. it definitely sounds better than buying a $400-500 phone whose OS is already out of date at launch every two years and then not bothering to sell it because it has depreciated so much.

the only thing that makes it rent-like is that I would pay a similar price every year.