Save money on flagships?

[Adam Frix]

If you're the type to hold on to a phone for three + years you might want the 5g

I doubt that even 3, 4 years from now the whole 5G thing will be squared away. In the meantime, 4G will continue on strong.

At some point it will be obvious that 4G is on the downhill slope of its tenure, and that 5G has ramped up enough to force people to move. But that point will be different for everyone.

But it certainly isn't so now, or even for the foreseeable future.

 

[Casualballer]

I doubt that even 3, 4 years from now the whole 5G thing will be squared away. In the meantime, 4G will continue on strong.

At some point it will be obvious that 4G is on the downhill slope of its tenure, and that 5G has ramped up enough to force people to move. But that point will be different for everyone.

But it certainly isn't so now, or even for the foreseeable future.

I feel like 5g now is like 4g was in say 2011 or so. Not really tremendously useful now but by 2013/4 it was ubiquitous.

 

[Adam Frix]

Your lips to God's ears, but I think 5G is complex enough at many levels that it'll take longer for the masses to convince themselves that they "have to" move away from 4G.

4G is great right now for most people, overall. If it works, don't fix it. I'd say it has longer legs now than 3G did back in 2010-2011, and I'd say 5G is more complex to roll out today than 4G was back in 2011.

Plus, I'm on T-Mobile. They have a history of moving forward rather aggressively, which means switching out and adding bands quickly. The 5G phone today probably has a relatively short shelf life in that environment.

That's why I'm looking at midrange phones. 5G to me is going with a Qualcomm 765G phone today, not a $1500 flagship. But, one has other considerations when buying a phone. Me, I like Samsung's wireless powershare for my watch and earbuds. If having that feature forces me to a more expensive 5G phone, I'll think carefully about it. (Or I could just keep my S10+...)

Anyway, this is a good read on the 5G stuff:

https://www.androidcentral.com/how-much-do-you-really-care-about-5g?

Pay TV cord cutting discussions also talk about "cord-nevers," the young people who grew up on Youtube and whatnot and who never get cable TV at all when they move out on their own. Similarly I think you'll see a bunch of 5G-nevers as well, given how well 4G works, how expensive 5G phones are for their limited additional capabilities today, and the hurdles needed to make 5G significantly more relevant to Joe Sixpack.

 

[Casualballer]

Your lips to God's ears, but I think 5G is complex enough at many levels that it'll take longer for the masses to convince themselves that they "have to" move away from 4G.

4G is great right now for most people, overall. If it works, don't fix it. I'd say it has longer legs now than 3G did back in 2010-2011, and I'd say 5G is more complex to roll out today than 4G was back in 2011.

Plus, I'm on T-Mobile. They have a history of moving forward rather aggressively, which means switching out and adding bands quickly. The 5G phone today probably has a relatively short shelf life in that environment.

That's why I'm looking at midrange phones. 5G to me is going with a Qualcomm 765G phone today, not a $1500 flagship. But, one has other considerations when buying a phone. Me, I like Samsung's wireless powershare for my watch and earbuds. If having that feature forces me to a more expensive 5G phone, I'll think carefully about it. (Or I could just keep my S10+...)

Anyway, this is a good read on the 5G stuff:

https://www.androidcentral.com/how-much-do-you-really-care-about-5g?

Pay TV cord cutting discussions also talk about "cord-nevers," the young people who grew up on Youtube and whatnot and who never get cable TV at all when they move out on their own. Similarly I think you'll see a bunch of 5G-nevers as well, given how well 4G works, how expensive 5G phones are for their limited additional capabilities today, and the hurdles needed to make 5G significantly more relevant to Joe Sixpack.

That's a vey interesting take. There's a lot to unpack there. I'll guve it some thought

 

[Casualballer]

You do have a point about future-proofing. With how expensive and powerful smartphones are today, you'd think and hope that they would stand the test of time...

And now Samsung has announced that they are extending software support by another year! Also makes the s10 a even better device for the older flagship crowd

 

[dpomerance]

Maybe they will just skip over a 2021 release and take a rest.

 

[Adam Frix]

We should put together a poll on the MS Surface Duo, and how long before it (a) comes down to $399, and/or (b) dies off completely as a failed experiment.

 

[shadowsjc]

I just got my S10 (unlocked) a couple of days ago (edit: $600 at best buy, no trade-in needed), so I am in that same boat. Previously I had an unlocked S8 - i would have kept using it but the battery was killing me