Is your smartphone more than what you need?

[Joshua Luther2]

Things also change a lot over the years. I think if you never update an app or any piece of software, there's never a need to upgrade your phone. Until the hardware fails.

100+ years ago, people were content to getting around on horses and buggies. And occasionally trains.

15 years ago, we were all content just having cell phones that could make phone calls and send text messages.

I'm not saying we go back to those days. Even though some still use basic flip phones.

My father in law still uses one. He even tried using my mother in law's iPhone when she upgraded to a newer one. He ended up going back cause he didn't need a smartphone.

But going back to my original point, apps get bigger and require more processing power to run them. App developers add more features into apps that require more power and resources on your phone to run them.

Ever hear the rumor that phones run the os or firmware version that it originally shipped with better? Or people that state that their phone has slowed down or running worse after updating it? There probably is a lot of truth and credibility to this.

So, the moral of all this is, don't ever update any piece of software on your device.

Just kidding.

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

Things also change a lot over the years. I think if you never update an app or any piece of software, there's never a need to upgrade your phone. Until the hardware fails.

100+ years ago, people were content to getting around on horses and buggies. And occasionally trains.

15 years ago, we were all content just having cell phones that could make phone calls and send text messages.

I'm not saying we go back to those days. Even though some still use basic flip phones.

My father in law still uses one. He even tried using my mother in law's iPhone when she upgraded to a newer one. He ended up going back cause he didn't need a smartphone.

But going back to my original point, apps get bigger and require more processing power to run them. App developers add more features into apps that require more power and resources on your phone to run them.

Ever hear the rumor that phones run the os or firmware version that it originally shipped with better? Or people that state that their phone has slowed down or running worse after updating it? There probably is a lot of truth and credibility to this.

So, the moral of all this is, don't ever update any piece of software on your device.

Just kidding.

But it doesn't need to go that far. I'm sure the Moto G4 Play can run the same apps that the Samsung Galaxy S7 can run. The difference is one device costs $150 unlocked and the other $700. And I'm almost certain that those same apps will run on the $150 the next year. So instead of paying $700 every year to have the latest and greatest that also aren't exempt from software bugs or failures, why not get the budget phone that can run virtually the same apps and keep just a year longer and get more bang for the buck?

 

[libra89]

There is a part of me that still wants the latest and greatest but then there is a part of me that sees it as being excessive. I sometimes have an issue when I think that for the price if the Note 7 I could buy a Moto G4, Chromebook, and tablet with money to spare. And I think about that not too long ago I had the 2014 Nexus 6 and it more than met my needs. So why am I upgrading every year? It's not just the theory behind knowing what you need, it's the cost of chasing after these flagships that do more than what I plan to do with them.

To be fair, I think it's different with phones. Out of the things we use regularly, I would say that it is easier to upgrade that. Changing your car puts you into the thousands. I don't even need to discuss living spaces. I can understand why you are conflicted. Laptops and PCs can get costly quick to change every year, in fact, I don't know anyone that changes their computers every year. I mean the whole computer, not just the graphics card or hard drive.

For a while, I have always changed my phone every year. My dad didn't change his phone for years until it literally fell apart, and I can see him doing the same thing again. He has had his phone for a year now, and isn't even interested in changing it. As for me, I'll like to stick with this Honor for the rest of this year, but going into next year, I don't know what I'll do. My sister has had her galaxy s4 for a lot of years now and is forced to replace it since the hardware has failed.

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

To be fair, I think it's different with phones. Out of the things we use regularly, I would say that it is easier to upgrade that. Changing your car puts you into the thousands. I don't even need to discuss living spaces. I can understand why you are conflicted. Laptops and PCs can get costly quick to change every year, in fact, I don't know anyone that changes their computers every year. I mean the whole computer, not just the graphics card or hard drive.

For a while, I have always changed my phone every year. My dad didn't change his phone for years until it literally fell apart, and I can see him doing the same thing again. He has had his phone for a year now, and isn't even interested in changing it. As for me, I'll like to stick with this Honor for the rest of this year, but going into next year, I don't know what I'll do. My sister has had her galaxy s4 for a lot of years now and is forced to replace it since the hardware has failed.

But what if you didn't replace it next year? Would it be a problem? What if you only changed smartphones when yours started to really fail instead of because you got an itch to switch? How long would your smartphone last you? And would that make better use of your money? Like I said, I'm used to the latest and greatest. But since returning my Note 7 to Verizon due to the recall on Friday I have been using a device that costs about a third of what the Note costs and I have noticed no difference in my productivity, entertainment, or communication in 6 days. So what does that tell me? I didn't need to spend the extra $500. I had the Note 7 purely because I wanted it. But I didn't need it.

 

[libra89]

But what if you didn't replace it next year? Would it be a problem? What if you only changed smartphones when yours started to really fail instead of because you got an itch to switch? How long would your smartphone last you? And would that make better use of your money? Like I said, I'm used to the latest and greatest. But since returning my Note 7 to Verizon due to the recall on Friday I have been using a device that costs about a third of what the Note costs and I have noticed no difference in my productivity, entertainment, or communication in 6 days. So what does that tell me? I didn't need to spend the extra $500. I had the Note 7 purely because I wanted it. But I didn't need it.

Once again, you do raise a good point (points actually). I don't think it will be an issue, that might be interesting actually. You are right about not having much difference in what you do day to day on the Note 7 and the Moto G4 Play. Considering your statements, I think I might be okay actually.

My excuse was that every phone I had up until last year has been lacking something, and that was why I changed on a yearly basis. My first smartphone was the Nokia Lumia 521. I really liked it, but the lack of flash on the back camera and having no front facing camera, along with the 512MB RAM meant that it was time for a change.
Then I changed to the Lumia 640, which I still have. App support was failing, so it was time to consider changing platforms, which I did do. Now that I'm not lacking anything, there might not be a reason to change. I do get phone bored sometimes though, but I also have an iPhone SE with AppleCare+ so maybe I'll play between the two and see how this goes.

Thanks for making me think out of the box, with this thread and your commentary.

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

Once again, you do raise a good point (points actually). I don't think it will be an issue, that might be interesting actually. You are right about not having much difference in what you do day to day on the Note 7 and the Moto G4 Play. Considering your statements, I think I might be okay actually.

My excuse was that every phone I had up until last year has been lacking something, and that was why I changed on a yearly basis. My first smartphone was the Nokia Lumia 521. I really liked it, but the lack of flash on the back camera and having no front facing camera, along with the 512MB RAM meant that it was time for a change.
Then I changed to the Lumia 640, which I still have. App support was failing, so it was time to consider changing platforms, which I did do. Now that I'm not lacking anything, there might not be a reason to change. I do get phone bored sometimes though, but I also have an iPhone SE with AppleCare+ so maybe I'll play between the two and see how this goes.

I can understand getting bored with smartphones. I think it has become such a habit to change that it only seems natural to continue to switch. A few years ago I did want to challenge myself to go old school for a year and just use a regular flip phone and see what happens. Haven't had the balls to do it though. I think that if I can prove to myself that these things aren't as important as I think they are that I wouldn't invest so much time and money into them.

 

[libra89]

I can understand getting bored with smartphones. I think it has become such a habit to change that it only seems natural to continue to switch. A few years ago I did want to challenge myself to go old school for a year and just use a regular flip phone and see what happens. Haven't had the balls to do it though. I think that if I can prove to myself that these things aren't as important as I think they are that I wouldn't invest so much time and money into them.

True, but I think a flip phone would be very hard. I couldn't do it. This video confirmed how I would probably feel.

It's almost 5 minutes long, you don't have to watch, but the short version is that it didn't work out for both of them (Erica + MrMobile, that is). It worked out differently for the two of them...but the point is that it still didn't work out. LOL.

 

[jlarkins08]

I'm still hanging on to my HTC M8 and it's 2 years old.. It does everything I need it too, no lag, no battery issues, no problem with marshmallow.. I have to say I am very impressed with this phone and my next phone will have some big shoes to fill.. I don't need much as far as specs goes..
32GB of higher
2GB of RAM or higher especially for marshmallow
Decent resolution
Decent sound for music, ringtones and alarms
Decent battery life must last all day
Camera 12MP or higher.. I don't take many pics so I don't really care for camera quality.. As long as it looks good enough for social media purposes..
Not price over $400 is my ideal phone

 

[libra89]

I'm still hanging on to my HTC M8 and it's 2 years old.. It does everything I need it too, no lag, no battery issues, no problem with marshmallow.. I have to say I am very impressed with this phone and my next phone will have some big shoes to fill.. I don't need much as far as specs goes..
32GB of higher
2GB of RAM or higher especially for marshmallow
Decent resolution
Decent sound for music, ringtones and alarms
Decent battery life must last all day
Camera 12MP or higher.. I don't take many pics so I don't really care for camera quality.. As long as it looks good enough for social media purposes..
Not price over $400 is my ideal phone

I noticed you didn't mention size. Are you indifferent about that?

 

[jlarkins08]

I noticed you didn't mention size. Are you indifferent about that?

Um, I guess.. I like the size of the M8 which is 5" I believe.. so that size is fine! I don't want to go bigger, but I will if I have too!

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

Um, I guess.. I like the size of the M8 which is 5" I believe.. so that size is fine! I don't want to go bigger, but I will if I have too!

I go back and forth regarding size. I like a smartphone on the smaller size for some things like using it one handed. Sometimes I get into a mood of wanting to gesture type with one hand ask the time. At other times I want the bigger screen for multimedia. I adjust to both.

 

[MDMcAtee]

There is a part of me that still wants the latest and greatest but then there is a part of me that sees it as being excessive. I sometimes have an issue when I think that for the price if the Note 7 I could buy a Moto G4, Chromebook, and tablet with money to spare. And I think about that not too long ago I had the 2014 Nexus 6 and it more than met my needs. So why am I upgrading every year? It's not just the theory behind knowing what you need, it's the cost of chasing after these flagships that do more than what I plan to do with them.

I don't need the latest and greatest anymore and am enjoying my brand new Nexus 6p.

It's all a mind game the manufacturers play to get you to spend more money every year.. And entice you to replace your phones.

I'm pretty confident that my 6p will suffice me for sometime as long as I take care of it and I didn't pay half of the cost for the Next Greatest Thing out.

Bye what makes you happy and be happy using it

 

[jlarkins08]

Yea, I don't use my phone for multimedia really unless it's a occasional YouTube video.. For movies and games I use my iPad mini 4 for that..

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

I don't need the latest and greatest anymore and am enjoying my brand new Nexus 6p.

It's all a mind game the manufacturers play to get you to spend more money every year.. And entice you to replace your phones.

I'm pretty confident that my 6p will suffice me for sometime as long as I take care of it and I didn't pay half of the cost for the Next Greatest Thing out.

Bye what makes you happy and be happy using it

The marketing from manufacturers can be powerful. They are good at convincing you that what you currently have is insufficient.

 

[libra89]

Um, I guess.. I like the size of the M8 which is 5" I believe.. so that size is fine! I don't want to go bigger, but I will if I have too!

Ohh okay, I see. I was curious because the size thing seems to vary for so many. Some people are like no way will I ever go small, others are like, everything is too big (this is me lol), and then you have indifferent people who are just about what phone can give them the best experience at a price point that is okay with them.

 

[Armand2REP]

Not price over $400 is my ideal phone

With you on that. $400 is the max I spend on smartphones. I could get by just fine on $200 Androids but thinking about how much I use it, it is justified in my mind to spend 100-$200 more because I know I will enjoy it enough to justify the cost. At $600+ there is no way I can justify that cost. I imported the Zuk Z2 Pro a couple weeks before the OP3 went on sale and get true flahship performance and AMOLED at half the price, even getting fabulous battery.

 

[WeAreAllUnique]

With you on that. $400 is the max I spend on smartphones. I could get by just fine on $200 Androids but thinking about how much I use it, it is justified in my mind to spend 100-$200 more because I know I will enjoy it enough to justify the cost. At $600+ there is no way I can justify that cost. I imported the Zuk Z2 Pro a couple weeks before the OP3 went on sale and get true flahship performance and AMOLED at half the price, even getting fabulous battery.

If more people had your mindset I think that they would be happier and save a lot more money. You get what you need at a cost that isn't excessive.

 

[Gbsa]

Since I've been using smartphones I've haven't paid over $200 for one. My current phone is the note 4. Bought off eBay for $160, my backup is an lg g3 $140 off eBay. My husband's phone is my old note 3 $175, eBay. He dropped and shattered his beloved note 2 $125 years ago from eBay. These phones do everything we need them to do. I refuse to go over$200 for a phone. $1000 for a one is just insane! 2 years down the line that very same $1000 phone will be less then $300 in decent shape. Less then 2 in fair shape. It's just a phone.

 

[Morty2264]

Sometimes we can assume the attitude that we need the best and the most. That's what the Note 7 is for me. And it is interesting that I take that position with my smartphone choice because I don't in any other aspect of my life. I don't have the best car or the newest model of my car even. And I never think about getting a new or better one. I don't have the latest and greatest golf clubs. I've been playing with the same set for years and don't want to change even though there have been major improvements in the technology of golf equipment. Even with my laptop I don't concern myself with the most powerful computer. But with my smartphone, I just have always had the attitude that I need the newest and the best. Which usually translates to the most expensive.

In regards to s-pen, it's an acquired taste. I love using it. But it's not as efficient, accurate, or fast as thumb or gesture typing. It can be cumbersome a lot of the time. And Samsung Notes has potential that it hasn't reached. I used it. And didn't have too many problems with it. But it's not as good as Google Keep.

Very well put! I usually grab last year's flagships, but sometimes I'll splurge. It really depends on what's out there. But yeah - laptops, TV's, anything and everything else is irrelevant to me on how "new" it is.

 

[pbike908]

Moto has a GREAT line of up of mid tier phones. And a pretty good track record for quality, although not so good for updates,

I don't think I will ever spend more than $600 for a phone again. And I would like to think less than $500. But that's what I keep telling myself anyways....