so yeah… idk why most people buy flagships phones only to open tiktok, facebook, etc.
I mean does anyone actually game on their phone regularly? Like an entire pubg mobile gaming session on it?
Or is it primarily a camera thing.
Anymore, I imagine most people are just utilizing the upgrade models for their carriers and either getting these flagship devices with a trade in for essentially free (with monthly discounts) or with a nominal payment, after paying the sales tax. If people were paying full price for phones, only the true enthusiasts would bother paying for a $2000 phone. Those deals usually do basically soft lock you into their plan for the duration unless you want to pay off the remainder of the phone. But if you’re not planning to switch carriers in the next two years and you can upgrade to the newest flagship or the last Gen flagship paying only the sales taxes on it… why not?
Also, sometimes there is some feature exclusive to the flagship beyond the processor and ram that makes it valuable. Anymore that’s usually just the camera quality, at best, but if that really matters to you, then that can be a good reason to go with it.
Also, sometimes there is some feature exclusive to the flagship beyond the processor and ram that makes it valuable.
Oh yea that reminds me, I heard that there are offline translation features in the expensive/new models of Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel, and Apple’s iPhones. Could be useful to have a conversation in places without reliable internet (afiak google translate requires internet for voice translate).
For the last time, Sam, it’s my RAM, and no, you can’t have it.
At the start of the year I upgraded from my S20, to an iPhone 17 Pro. That S20 lasted for 6 years, I plan to keep this phone for about the same amount of time. Eventually Samsung dropped support for the S20 so I flashed Lineage, which was great, but the camera suffered. Eventually the usb port began to fail, the battery was struggling to last a day, screen was cracked, so I thought it time to upgrade.
Unfortunately I bought into an Apple device under Tim Cooks stewardship. But it appears the new guy seems less impressive.
No, I do not. But there was no current alternative with comparable GrapheneOS support available, which I consider the minimum acceptable standard for mobile device security.
Nice try Sam, you can’t have my ram.
Nooooo… Think of the poor shareholders 🥺
Nobody buys Pixels for the processing power. If it weren’t for GrapheneOS I’d be using something compatible with LineageOS, probably.
I’m no stranger to buying flagship phones, but I never buy them when they’re the flagship. Used mobile phones depreciate so much from the original launch price after only a year or two! I’m usually paying $200-$300 for phones that came out with a $1100-$1400 price tag originally. Because the specs were so high on the phones when they launched, they’re still very good mid-range performers. It also opens the chance to save money if there’s a bit of a scratch on the outside (but not the screen!). I don’t mind mild wear as I’m going to add my own wear to it, and if I happen to scratch it or dent it, its no worse then when I got it so I don’t have huge anxiety about keeping my phone perfect.
Ultimately these are all consumable devices. Paying top dollar, then treating them like priceless jewelry doesn’t make sense to me.
I do the same. I find the build quality, camera module, etc. are far better on older flagships than on similarly priced new mid-range phones. They hold up better to wear and tear, have better accessory options (cases, etc.), and often have other design or functionality perks.
I’m a firm believer you shouldn’t buy anything but a flagship phone. Even a decade old flagship is better than a brand new budget phone
I have basic mid-range Samsung that’s 5 years old and not showing any signs of giving up. Back when there was still a benefit in choosing a flagship model I still was getting the same 6 to 7 years of use from one.
Mine needs a new battery, but that’s about it. I’m happy enough with it, although I swear they’ve deliberately screwed up the camera firmware.
Whats a midrange? Is it one of the a series?.. if its an S# i consider that flagship. Size of screen and battery dont make it not one.
I personally just get last years phone on sale every 3 or so years for $3-400 and its been great for me.
The real dumb move is paying monthy, and getting a locked phone.
Same. People argue that you can buy a $200 phone that lasts a couple years but I’m about to hit 6 years with this flagship (with no end in sight) so I’ll spend about the same amount of money over the life of the phone but have the better specs the whole time.
Hmm. My last budget phone had excellent battery life, lasted 6 years and it was fast enough for my use case. OS updates (or lack thereof) were a thing, so my current phone is a Fairphone with OS updates for years to come. Other than that, I have never felt the need for anything more expensive than budget specs.
Yeah… In the meantime my 5 year old mid range OnePlus just works fine.
I have owned phones of all classes over the years. I have carried 2 phones for the past decade.
The only time I have used a phones full processing power is some games on a budget phone. Most of the time the extra power has no noticable difference.
For a long time there was a significant difference in the camera. Flagship phones had noticably superior camera systems. Today, mid-range phones tend to have as good or even superior cameras to flagships.
I used to buy one flagship (work) and one budget phone (personal). The contrast between the two phones used to be a lot smaller.
The last few years however I started purchasing only mid-range phones. The budget phones have fallen in overall quality and features. The flagship phones are massively overpriced for what they do. I have found that the midrange segment provides acceptable build quality and performance.
For me its definitely a camera thing. I recently downgraded from my s20 to a moto G stylus 2025 and while I have noticed a speed difference, the lack of the telescopic lens is killing me bad enough that when I am in a more economically stable state im probably dumping it to go to one with a telescopic again.
I didn’t spend money on it. No shit, I found my Google Pixel 10 Pro XL in a trash can in a park. I legit noticed it was a phone, reached in, took it out, got into it, and found out some fuckass threw away a whole operating phone.
I’m honestly not sure what to do with it, but I might flash Graphene on it and use it as a sidepiece to my iPhone.
… And the original owner told you to keep it after you contacted them?
…and use it as a sidepiece to my iPhone
Found Jensen Huang’s Lemmy account. 👆
Someone stole a phone and threw it away once they realized they couldn’t get in right away.
How did you get it to work? I got an old pixel cheap from my friend and when I tried a factory reset it said it needed the password associated with his account, presumably as some sort of anti theft measure. Can you load a different OS without that?
Camera. Phones are the best way to capture those missable pet and loved ones moments that you don’t want to lose, and flagships generally have the best cameras.
I don’t usually buy new flagship, I’ll wait a couple generations and get them at deeply discounted prices, or buy refurb however.
Only exception to that was this last time - as soon as the RAM crisis started and SSDs started to follow, I got a new flagship for me and my spouse, because I know that it will be years before they’re either affordable again or with the same amount of on-device RAM/storage. Both our devices would probably have lasted another 2-3 years fine, but even back then I suspected we wouldn’t be out of the woods by then (looks even worse than I thought) and an accidental break would be even worse.
Now we have our last, working phones as backups if these break. Hopefully things will shake out ok before we need new ones.
I hop between apps often - and, let me tell you, that 12 GB of ram is worth every penny to prevent apps from reloading on every switch.
i have an old flagship so it’s not at all powerful in today’s standards… but I wouldn’t have been able to use it for so long if it wasn’t a flagship.
i don’t do much heavy stuff on it other than occasionally running desktop softwares using termux/chroot
My theory is I can spend a little more money on a better phone and then use it for years longer than a midrange phone before hungry OS updates finally cripple it.
But what if I have to calculate in the price of a battery replacement before the rest of the system can’t keep up anymore? I haven’t done the math because I don’t want to know.
My SIL buys the top iPhone every 2 years for the camera. She cannot be made to understand that anything newer than an iPhone 4 is TOTALLY FINE for taking photos of a bunch of people sitting around a table not even posing. They just get shrunk down to potato quality before they’re sent to anyone else anyway.
