Smartphone interest is dying.

[Coraya]

MY interest in smartphones is dying slowly. I was so into it all since I had my first Blackberry back in 2008-2009. Innovation was moving was so quickly that I couldn't help but be on the forums everyday, posting multiple times a day and reading many of the articles posted on Crackberry everyday. Then, when I finally joined AC, I was doing the same thing here.

But now, I'm clicking on the AC app a little less and it's not their fault. They only report the news, they're not the manufacturers. Whether it be Samsung, Apple etc... What else can they do really? We have great cameras, great battery life for the most part, large HD+ screens. Some with Iris scanners, fingerprint sensors soon to be under your screen, virtual assistants and every app imaginable. What's next?

For the first time ever, I'm not looking to upgrade my phone. I was a 2 phone per year kind of a guy for the most part.

Now, unless that foldable Samsung Galaxy whatever makes it's appearance and debut soon and the cost finds itself under $1000, I'll be sticking to my G6 for a long time. At least until it becomes unusable over time.

I basically feel like everything has slowed down. The excitement has dwindled. Hopefully we get a phone soon that can print money. Now THAT would be awesome.

 

[belodion]

I think that much of the development, certainly in hardware, has been done.

 

[Mooncatt]

I'm kind of the same way. I'm on a V20 now with no interest in upgrading. It's not so much that I'm losing interest in smartphones in general, but rather, manufacturers are taking away more features I want while their phones are becoming more expensive. There's just nothing else out there catching my interest.

 

[JerBrown]

well, everything changes, so who knows, maybe the end is close

 

[Anthony Turner4]

I'm slowly seeing this as a good thing. Yeah, there are some refinements that need to be made like faster software updates across the board, more stereo speakers, but since we're in a mature phone market there's not much more innovation needed unless someone makes a breakthrough. I have had that moment of waiting for something to happen but I find myself just letting go after a while. As much as I love tech I feel at peace when I saw 2 people arguing over which camera (Pixel 2XL or Iphone X) was the best. Back in 2012 it was nothing but people complaining about battery drain, terrible lag, ****ty displays, etc.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I'm kind of the same way. I'm on a V20 now with no interest in upgrading. It's not so much that I'm losing interest in smartphones in general, but rather, manufacturers are taking away more features I want while their phones are becoming more expensive. There's just nothing else out there catching my interest.

I'm somewhat inclined to agree with aspects of devices being removed. Not wild about the headphone jack being removed myself.

Overall, I think the slowing down is hardware related as we are nearing the theoretical boundaries set by that hardware. If someone say made a new SoC that was say physically 50% bigger but was 200% more energy efficient, then we would have something to talk about. Until that happens, we will probably see a big stop in the latest and greatest.

 

[Guytronic]

I agree with the OP also.
Smartphones to me have peaked.
The race to the top was won some time ago.

 

[Sam_Gs7]

Kudos to Coraya for posting this topic to be discussed on Acentral.com
I totally agree with the comments posted for all the above members

We living in the era of wireless communications..We got influenced in different ways
the characteristic - American citizen and celebrities of this & other developed countries

Who can afford a New phone every Yr. Take pride to get the latest iPhone
or Samsung flagship and dump or traded their older phones..

But nothing wrong with that as AC/DC song says money talk. Personally
don't get impressed to get the latest phone on market. I switched
only if lost it get stolen or dropped and get unusable,.Haha!

 

[Ry]

That's expected. No real innovation right now.

 

[Almeuit]

I used to change a ton and re-sell my old phones to makeup majority (not all) of the costs to swap a ton.

That is getting old since phones are becoming more and more redundant. Look at the S8 to S9. The only true difference is the aperture on the camera but other then that.... eh?

I am sticking with the Pixel line now and stopping the phone swap game. Going to try and be that 1 year - 1 upgrade kind of person. The Pixel 2 XL is holding me through it due to it being snappy, the camera is amazing, and it actually gets security patches which I value.

 

[Laura Knotek]

I don't find that I need the latest and greatest at the $1k price point. That's the same way with notebook PCs. I got a midrange new Dell notebook last December, and it was cheaper than the previous notebook I got in 2013, which was considered high-end at the time.

I typically opt for the last year's flagship phone when a new model is introduced. That way I have decent performance at a much lower price.

 

[kramer5150]

Nothing has caught my attention since the V20. I'm still rockin' a V10 in a UAG case... it just works. If anything innovation appears to be stepping backwards, by omitting features. I am actually OK with this though. If the V10/V20 represents the best features this industry has to offer I'll take it and keep my $1000.... minus the $20 for 2-3 new batteries every year.

 

[chanchan05]

I typically opt for the last year's flagship phone when a new model is introduced. That way I have decent performance at a much lower price.

My usual trend is get the flagship then keep it for two years. Although with current pricing I'm considering going for last year's flagship then keeping it for 2 years. It depends though on pricing. I'm up for upgrade at the end of March and will just be looking at what my carrier has ij stock at that point and if there will be any sale on the S8 or S9. My sister got the introductory sale on her iPhone 8 where it was available cheaper than the iPhone 7 from our carrier (making it the obvious choice, she came from the iPhone 6). I'm hoping for the same/similar deal on the S9.

As it stands pricing prior to discounts from my carrier is S8<S9<S8+<S9+. I'll get the smaller one though. Looked at the physical dimensions listed on GSMArena and the 'smaller' S9 is just a couple mm short of the S7 Edge size.

 

[Morty2264]

I can certainly understand how you are feeling. I was so obsessed with my BlackBerry and I couldn't wait to see what the new devices would be. But I find that I have the same excitement now with Android.

However, I must admit that I was more excited last year than I am this year. Maybe it's because I have already decided on what device to get next, so I'm not "looking" for anything now; or because, as many of you have mentioned, hardware has been so improved upon this year that we do not really see anything too groundbreaking nowadays.

With all that being said, though, I am still pretty excited to see what will come next... But as OP mentioned, I won't be itching to upgrade for a while because there may not be anything too groundbreaking or awe-inspiring (in my opinion, anyway) for a while.

 

[Inders99]

Good thread, spot on for me anyway.

I've been feeling this way for a while now, most of the improvements in the past few years have been marginal, nothing really that has made me want to upgrade from my S7 and definitely NOT for $1000 or anywhere near that.

I too have been visiting AC less and less and this year's roll-out of the S9 left me with a sense of apathy. I'm probably like some here that when I do purchase a new phone it'll be last year's model or a decent mid-range Moto type phone. And honestly, as long as my S7 continues it's present level of performance or the battery doesn't quickly degrade, I'll be in it for a few more years.

 

[DsM]

First 3 phones a year, then, 2. Bought S8+ and Note 8. Might stick with Note for 2 years. But there's gonna be some breakthrough we can't anticipate. A Black Swan event is in the future.

 

[Morty2264]

First 3 phones a year, then, 2. Bought S8+ and Note 8. Might stick with Note for 2 years. But there's gonna be some breakthrough we can't anticipate. A Black Swan event is in the future.

You are probably right! Who knows what manufacturers will come up with to try and set themselves apart from the competition!

 

[Mooncatt]

You are probably right! Who knows what manufacturers will come up with to try and set themselves apart from the competition!

Hopefully. It seems the opposite is true now, with everyone trying to imitate Samapple (yes, I just created that word. Lol). No one is really trying to set themselves apart anymore.

 

[dov1978]

Maybe Microsoft really are ahead of the curve with the soon to be released Andromeda device and will bring g the next big thing?

 

[Sam_Gs7]

Oops! wait I'll call them to rename the Phone as " MicroPhonia" doesn't sound cool.? or suggest new name..Haha!