Save money on flagships?

[Adam Frix]

I have to admit, I got into the S9+ in May. After the March (?) launch, the wireless kiosk at Costco was having a smoking deal. Coincidentally, the screen fell off on my BB KEYone (as they all did) that Saturday. No brainer.

So anyway, yeah, sometimes waiting 3-6 months is the key.

(I got the BB fixed, and still have it...)

 

[Morty2264]

All this focus on the chip and bits and bytes and speeds and feeds takes away from the REAL concern: support for the ever-expanding radio frequencies and communication technologies that are showing up every day.

T-Mobile is one of the biggest "offenders" here, but they're all scrambling to update the communication technologies and protocols. A couple of the absolute BEST reasons to do midrange phones are: (1) midrange performance today is better than flagship performance even only a couple of generations ago, and (b) you can more easily afford to get new midrange phones every year or so in order to keep up with new communication technologies.

I'm a T-Mobile user, so maybe I'm a little more sensitive than most to being left out in the cold with a phone that doesn't support what band T-Mo has turned to this week.

I absolutely agree with you. Mid-range phones are powerhouses today and I've had great experiences using them as my daily driver. They're definitely nothing to sneeze at (especially now!); and you're right in that they make your wallet not as empty as it could be with the higher price tags of flagships these days. I loved my Honor 8 so much that I considered the Honor 9 before getting the Pixel 2.

 

[Morty2264]

In theory the differences could be found in regards to future proofing. That's often a rationale for sticking gobs of RAM into phones when it provides no practical benefits in the here and now. That being said, if the phones are only being supported for 2 years, then the power is still above that threshold. There's no reason the s20 ultra which is literally as powerful as many laptops should only get 2 years of updates. The OS doesn't advance that much in 2 years to require the insane amount of future proofing the s20 ultra provides.

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...

 

[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...

What would it take to see a shift in software support length from manufacturers? Consumer pressure ought to do it but their doesn't seem to be enough awareness on the importance for the Joe average consumer

 

[Adam Frix]

The only way to win is not to play the game.

Remember when you owned the computer, and you could stay on whatever OS you wanted for whatever reason you wanted? Phones gave Big Tech the opportunity to shift that paradigm, and convince people that that's not how it works anymore. So now we have phones that expire.

And now Big Tech has shifted that to desktop computers. And the software developers have played right along with it. You want to run TurboTax on a Macintosh? You'd best be on current or previous two OS versions, otherwise screw you. (And there's PLENTY of reason not to be on current OS, and many other reasons to be three or more versions behind.)

Quit playing the games Big Tech puts out there. Those games are for THEIR benefit, not yours.

When I retire, I can see a flip phone in my life. It's OK to be simple. Phone calls and texts--perfect. Email and maps--great to have. Other than that...

 

[the_boon]

Very interesting thread - thank you for posting! I *sort of* follow your notion: I'll buy a flagship maybe six to eight months after its launch.

It's a smart move because flagships lose a ton of value the first year of release.

 

[the_boon]

which is why Apple spends billions on chip research, which is why they use their own in-house chips for iPhones, and which is why they're dumping Intel in exchange for their own in-house chips on their computers. Apple has ARM chips that sip power--which means the batteries can be smaller--and yet which provide significantly better performance than anything else on the market. It's a one-two punch.

Meanwhile, Android makers just goes the brute force route. The chips get more powerful, which means they need more power, which means the batteries need to be bigger, which means the phone needs to be bigger.

And that sucks.

It sucks when manufacturers negatively compensate for amazing efficiency with tiny batteries, instead of giving us both...so no matter what you end up with a 1 day battery.

 

[the_boon]

Exactly....though I hate the term, a flagship is a flagship even if it's not brand new.

Which is why the title for some follow up reviews like "is X flagship still worth it after 6 months?" are extremely stupid.

But hey, I guess they aren't good enough for OnePlus since they can't stop churning phones every 6 months.

 

[the_boon]

How long does the term still aplly for? Is a galaxy S7 still called a flagship?

Well, it does have some features (wireless charging, IP67 rating) that alot of midrangers even today don't have both of them.

 

[Adam Frix]

Exactly....though I hate the term, a flagship is a flagship even if it's not brand new.

So, my Galaxy S3 from 2013 is still a flagship?

Times change, and so does the technology. If I fired up that S3, it's not a flagship anymore.

The Navy will tell you, what was a flagship is no longer a flagship today.

 

[gebco]

I tend to wait until prices have come down. Currently a top of the line Samsung phone is $2300 here in Canada. I just can't fathom paying that, but that's just me and my priorities. Canadian carriers rotate their subsidies on phones anyway so when I'm ready to buy I wait for the reduced price of the phone I want to be available.

 

[Morty2264]

I tend to wait until prices have come down. Currently a top of the line Samsung phone is $2300 here in Canada. I just can't fathom paying that, but that's just me and my priorities. Canadian carriers rotate their subsidies on phones anyway so when I'm ready to buy I wait for the reduced price of the phone I want to be available.

As a fellow Canadian on a Roger's plan (blah), I do what you do as well. Wait a while for prices to drop. I too couldn't stomach paying over $2000 for a phone.

 

[gendo667]

As a fellow Canadian on a Roger's plan (blah), I do what you do as well. Wait a while for prices to drop. I too couldn't stomach paying over $2000 for a phone.

Currently here in the States, T-Mobile is offering 50% off the S20 with a qualifying trade in. That makes the S20 roughly $500 after trading in my S10. But, my monthly payments increase by $10. I was sooooo so close to jumping on this deal.

 

[Mike Dee]

So, my Galaxy S3 from 2013 is still a flagship?

Times change, and so does the technology. If I fired up that S3, it's not a flagship anymore.

The Navy will tell you, what was a flagship is no longer a flagship today.

This is not the Navy where a flagship is the pride of the fleet for many years and that's a perfect example of why I hate the term flagship when discussing cellular devices.

I'm not into over analysis in a discussion. As I said earlier, the discussion started turning into about prior verses current models and prior models no longer being flagships. I'm saying they go beyond that. The Note series is a flagship line and that hasn't changed. Obviously the Note 3 which is 7 years old, is outclassed by modern devices but it's still a flagship model amongst it's iteration and that doesn't change. The fact that's it's obsolete flagship is a separate issue.

 

[the_boon]

Currently here in the States, T-Mobile is offering 50% off the S20 with a qualifying trade in. That makes the S20 roughly $500 after trading in my S10. But, my monthly payments increase by $10. I was sooooo so close to jumping on this deal.

But why even do that? The S10 is still perfectly good, the S20 is barely any better unless you must have the higher refresh rate.

 

[gendo667]

But why even do that? The S10 is still perfectly good, the S20 is barely any better unless you must have the higher refresh rate.

Look, I'm not going to keep the S10 forever. I bought it at launch with intent on keeping it for two years, but that doesn't mean I can't keep my eye out for a good deal.

 

[Adam Frix]

But why even do that? The S10 is still perfectly good, the S20 is barely any better unless you must have the higher refresh rate.

but...but...the S20 is ten better.

 

[Casualballer]

but...but...the S20 is ten better.

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

 

[mustang7757]

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

Good point!

 

[Morty2264]

Currently here in the States, T-Mobile is offering 50% off the S20 with a qualifying trade in. That makes the S20 roughly $500 after trading in my S10. But, my monthly payments increase by $10. I was sooooo so close to jumping on this deal.

WHOAH, that is a good deal! But the $10 monthly increase - you'd probably feel that later!