Are phones getting ridiculous now?

[gray2018]

Is it just me or are phones getting ridiculous now? Look at Samsung for example... This past year they've had the Galaxy S10/S10+/S10e, the Note 10/10+. Both of those lines already have budget models essentially... So now we are getting two huge budget models being the S10 Lite/Note 10 Lite? This just really seems both confusing and redundant to me. And every year, devices seem to be getting bigger and bigger and being jacked up in price. Who really pays 1000 dollars for a device anymore? I thought it was bad when I paid 500 for my S5 back in 2015. As someone who also recently got into the Note line, why make the Note 10 two different devices? An excuse to make more money or have more options? It seems they could have just made the Note 10 the only one and made it the premium phone.

I'm sure Samsung is not the only one like this... But I can't think of anything else to compare at the moment besides maybe apple.

 

[belodion]

In my opinion, yes: large sizes, curved displays, notches and holes, all trends in recent years, and seemingly unstoppable, are ridiculous. Of course there have been good developments as well; though hardly anything at all for those who prefer a small phone.

 

[the_boon]

I think phones are getting really boring now due to them looking almost identical to each other.

But I'm glad Samsung made the S10e, it's basically the only truly compact high end phone of last year.

Even smaller than the Pixel 3 and Galaxy A40.

I wish there were more keyboard phones (I'd have paid well over a grand for an S10e with a sliding portrait mechanism like the BB Priv for example)

And just different form factors in general.

I wish that phones that had moving parts had them for a real/practical reason (such as a keyboard) instead of for the sake of having zero bezels/no hole punch/notch.

Foldables seem to be the only exciting thing, but they have to sort out the durability issues.

 

[Elky64]

It is ridiculous but obviously us consumers are the driving force otherwise the likes of Samsung wouldn't keep pumping them out, adding models, if we weren't. We've become infatuated w/the smartphone simple as that. And realistically, these days the gains in terms of features/advancements (old to new) will be minuscule for the majority of people. But it will be shiny and new, latest and greatest, and a renew on the support end where the old started seeing a decline within a year.

 

[Morty2264]

I feel like it's a "yes" and "no" answer. Maybe there are too many options but I love having choices! But yes, the prices have become very exorbitant and ridiculous. I feel like phones are getting bigger and bigger and more and more expensive... A bad combo, in my opinion!

 

[Elky64]

I feel like it's a "yes" and "no" answer. Maybe there are too many options but I love having choices! But yes, the prices have become very exorbitant and ridiculous. I feel like phones are getting bigger and bigger and more and more expensive... A bad combo, in my opinion!

Choice is for sure nice but now we have to weed out paying for gimmicks and/or features, that in the grand scheme of things make little difference in day-to-day use. Does allow manufactures to tack on a few more $$ because of them though.

For me small was in but now my eyesight has informed me bigger is better LOL. There is a limit though as to how much bigger and thankfully moving towards bezel-less has help keep sizes manageable.

One of the big problems is, many people (including me LOL) want the latest and greatest (which usually translates into most expensive) yet most rarely use said device to its fullest... The funny thing is, then 9 months or so down the road we toss in the towel opting for the next model that was just released because its even shinier LOL.

Then there's updates/support which most manufactures still suck at imo. Owned several devices over past 1-3 years that manufactures claim they'll provide "monthly security patches" for 2 years, may start out w/good intentions but never stays on an even keel missing several over the course. So yeah, if they don't get the lead out in this regard then that'll be another reason for keeping a device current... damned if we do damned if we don't.

 

[the_boon]

I don't consider the smartphone market of today to really be consisted of "choices"

You get to choose between:

-A shiny glass slab with vertical cameras

-A shiny glass slab with horizontal cameras

-A shiny glass slab with a square camera bump

You get where I'm going

TCL/BB Mobile is basically extinct because the KEY phones which did somewhat distinguish themselves failed to sell in good enough numbers.

That leaves us with the foldables and Kickstarter style devices with unconventional form factors like the UniHertz Titan and the F(x) Tec Pro 1

Quite boring/monotonous as you can see.

Even mainstream techtubers like Austin Evans admitted that Smartphones are getting very boring now.

I just don't know how people keep getting excited about new devices that have an extra camera lens slapped in the back, a higher refresh rate, more storage (who needs 1TB storage) etc.

The only improvements that I'm genuinely interested about in today's phones are the improvements in battery efficiency, because those are actually useful, for every one, every day.

 

[mustang7757]

I don't consider the smartphone market of today to really be consisted of "choices"

You get to choose between:

-A shiny glass slab with vertical cameras

-A shiny glass slab with horizontal cameras

-A shiny glass slab with a square camera bump

You get where I'm going

TCL/BB Mobile is basically extinct because the KEY phones which did somewhat distinguish themselves failed to sell in good enough numbers.

That leaves us with the foldables and Kickstarter style devices with unconventional form factors like the UniHertz Titan and the F(x) Tec Pro 1

Quite boring/monotonous as you can see.

Even mainstream techtubers like Austin Evans admitted that Smartphones are getting very boring now.

I just don't know how people keep getting excited about new devices that have an extra camera lens slapped in the back, a higher refresh rate, more storage (who needs 1TB storage) etc.

The only improvements that I'm genuinely interested about in today's phones are the improvements in battery efficiency, because those are actually useful, for every one, every day.

I guess because the camera has gotten better with these newer devices and the high refresh rate is something new now to phones and some people need storage for 4k photos video and other things they keep on the device . We not going get major design change like a star wars alien type or 3d projector phone) but the small enhancements like battery more storage ,better ram managment /chip efficiency , AI improvements are a welcome and worth it to me .

 

[anon(50597)]

I guess because the camera has gotten better with these newer devices and the high refresh rate is something new now to phones and some people need storage for 4k photos video and other things they keep on the device . We not going get major design change like a star wars alien type or 3d projector phone) but the small enhancements like battery more storage ,better ram managment /chip efficiency , AI improvements are a welcome and worth it to me .

Welcome but certainly not worth updating every year, in my opinion.

 

[mustang7757]

Welcome but certainly not worth updating every year, in my opinion.

I agree there , every 2 years maybe 3 to upgrade I would suggest to people unless that 1 year is a major update or must have features.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Welcome but certainly not worth updating every year, in my opinion.

I stopped chasing the yearly updates almost 5 years ago.

I agree there , every 2 years maybe 3 to upgrade I would suggest to people unless that 1 year is a major update or must have features.

Phones have gotten good enough now to me that I'll get a flagship device and keep it until there is something wrong with it that makes it impossible to use.

 

[mustang7757]

I stopped chasing the yearly updates almost 5 years ago. Phones have gotten good enough now to me that I'll get a flagship device and keep it until there is something wrong with it that makes it impossible to use.

That's a good mindset, I even think these midrange phones gotten much better.

 

[the_boon]

I guess because the camera has gotten better with these newer devices and the high refresh rate is something new now to phones and some people need storage for 4k photos video and other things they keep on the device . We not going get major design change like a star wars alien type or 3d projector phone) but the small enhancements like battery more storage ,better ram managment /chip efficiency , AI improvements are a welcome and worth it to me .

Modular phones like the Moto Z are very interesting ideas but those never really took off...

...maybe cause it wasn't Apple making them

Ideally it would be nice to have more portrait sliders like the Priv, more wide phones like the Passport, but the foldables do seem somewhat promising.

Other than that, it's slab after slab after slab.

Even Samsung's lineup looks so similar to one another, it takes a serious trained eye to differentiate them, if at all possible.

 

[Elky64]

I don't consider the smartphone market of today to really be consisted of "choices"

You get to choose between:

-A shiny glass slab with vertical cameras

-A shiny glass slab with horizontal cameras

-A shiny glass slab with a square camera bump

You get where I'm going

TCL/BB Mobile is basically extinct because the KEY phones which did somewhat distinguish themselves failed to sell in good enough numbers.

That leaves us with the foldables and Kickstarter style devices with unconventional form factors like the UniHertz Titan and the F(x) Tec Pro 1

Quite boring/monotonous as you can see.

Even mainstream techtubers like Austin Evans admitted that Smartphones are getting very boring now.

I just don't know how people keep getting excited about new devices that have an extra camera lens slapped in the back, a higher refresh rate, more storage (who needs 1TB storage) etc.

The only improvements that I'm genuinely interested about in today's phones are the improvements in battery efficiency, because those are actually useful, for every one, every day.

Truly believe "camera(s)" are one aspect of smartphones most pay attention too these days so the failure of TCL/BBMo to deliver on that front didn't help their case much either. Their packages were essentially incomplete yet priced high.

 

[Laura Knotek]

Truly believe "camera(s)" are one aspect of smartphones most pay attention too these days so the failure of TCL/BBMo to deliver on that front didn't help their case much either. Their packages were essentially incomplete yet priced high.

I never considered TCL/BBMo,since the specs were mediocre for the prices. I could've purchased a cheap Moto device in the G series for half the price as a TCL/BBMo device with similar specs. PKB wasn't a draw to me.

 

[Ry]

The services matter more to me than the hardware.

 

[the_boon]

I never considered TCL/BBMo,since the specs were mediocre for the prices. I could've purchased a cheap Moto device in the G series for half the price as a TCL/BBMo device with similar specs. PKB wasn't a draw to me.

For spec-heads, BBMo's products weren't attractive.

If you didn't care for the PKB, it makes no sense to buy one, that's for sure.

But are specs alone enough to make a great device?

 

[davidnc]

I also used to get at least one new phone a year. I did last year to but that wont be as much of a guarantee for me anymore.
I think all phones are to pricey by a tad

I could care less for foldable phones, I read about them but as far as buying one. Its not for me.
I don't want a phone I have to unfold, even if it has a mini screen to view without unfolding it.

I would say now the camera has become one of my favorite things ( telephoto lens, and/or wide angle lens) also astrophotography mode.
Longer battery life , better screens , build quality, timely updates both security as well as features added.

As far as companies making a prem. model and a mid range model of the same phone. I think that is a good thing , but they don't need to make quadruplicates of the same model. That is a little bit over done, imo

 

[anon(50597)]

That's a good mindset, I even think these midrange phones gotten much better.

I agree. The difference between the midrange and top is negligible.

 

[anon(50597)]

To me it’s manageable size (I don’t want to carry around a brick), decent battery life, expandable storage and a decent camera which almost all phones have. Having a 3.5 headphone jack is a plus.