Sunday debate: Are phones getting too expensive?
- U
- UsmanHSh
- X}$
- 06 Feb 2018
Phones haven't gotten expensive, people are being stupid for buying the latest, the greatest and the status. Most features implemented on flagships are gimmicks that one might only use once or twice for personal gratification while midrange and upper midrange phones have more polished iterations of these features and are more than enough for smartphone needs of 70% people. Multitasking? It is a pity that we intend to do it on a small pocket size touchscreen. We should be buying efficient phones and powerful laptops but instead we buy latest snapdragon or A11s and carry a pixelbook, ultrabooks with y series core or atom processors.
- V
- Vegetaholic
- nIb
- 05 Feb 2018
Of course Peter is right. Phone is not a beastly computing device who can do everything. Problem is with people and manufacturers using this opportunity to rip us off. People started to rely to much on smartphones and decided it is normal to pay thousand pounds for phones which should not be worth more than half as what brands us ask for. I would suggest not to pay more than 600 dollars for a phone, which is right price for to pay for flagship devices, anything more expensive is not worth and will not really benefit you greatly. You think iPhone X it's worth more than one plus 5t or Samsung S8? No it's not, it does not do any miracles to judge 1000 dollar price, people do stupid things and they thing is worth to pay, but mostly these people don't know nothing about phones And only blindly following fashion trends or some other BS. So rest of use could suffer :(
- r
- rckz
- n2d
- 05 Feb 2018
Alien , 05 Feb 2018Or people with high technical skills into programming, codi... moreI guess you haven't done anything close to professional programming. I understand that you can do it on your phone, but believe me it's just not there yet. :(
- o
- okcnaline
- DH2
- 05 Feb 2018
PiCosm, 04 Feb 2018Apple have failed to exploit their powerful hardware, unlik... moreYou've got to be kidding me.
Note 8? Best phone ever? Pixelbook? Best laptop ever? You've just bought the most impractical devices one can possibly own.
Pixelbook is a $1000 luxury item that can't do more than go on YouTube and type on a horrible word processor. The ThinkPad Yoga, on the other hand, is a flexible laptop with Wacom support that can handle illustrations, powerful word processing, photo editing, powerful presentations, proper note-taking, amongst other useful tasks. I'd rather pay $1700 for a top-of-the-line ThinkPad Yoga because that'll last me >5 years and I can do so much more with it than a cheap show-off.
And on that note, what can your Note 8 do that the Xperia XZ1, OnePlus 5(T), and other flagships, can't do? Nothing. It's a phone. No one ever projects from a phone because it's not durable enough and wastes too much electricity. Essentially, in other words, nothing. On the other hand, the Xperia XZ1, OnePlus 5(T), and others are less prone to hardware degradation.
- ?
- Anonymous
- U}}
- 05 Feb 2018
Anonymous, 05 Feb 2018If you think phones are too expensive, then buy a cheaper o... moreI think u miss the point here. We're not talking about flagship.
My first android phone was samsung galaxy young, it is mid range category. I bought it about $150 back then, however now samsung galaxy a8 which is mid range is about $300.
Sure the company do increasing price in every phone category not only in flagship but also in mid range.
With $300 back then I could get flagship killer from Chinese phones.
- ?
- Anonymous
- phh
- 05 Feb 2018
AnonD-727459, 05 Feb 2018You are missing the point here . Its not matter of buying i... moreWell, the title of the post says otherwise.
But I will address your 'overpriced' issue as well. When valuing the worth of a phone, you have to take R&D work needed to develop that phone's hardware, software, and testing.
If you try to value this work for a device that comes from a company who always comes up with new stuff (innovation) on the market (such as Apple, Samsung, etc.) those phones will have much more R&D and QA testing time on them.
So depending on the work that's done, a $1000 phone with new features would look like this:
- internal components have a combined manufacturing value of $200
- $150 invested in R&D
- $20-30 invested in QA testing
- $15 in accessories (charger, headphones, etc.)
- $5-10 in packaging
- $10-15 in shipping (from manufacturer overseas to forwarder's warehouse; from warehouse to phone supplier; from supplier to actual shop)
- $5-10 in customs fees
Then comes the company's profit - companies do need to make a profit out of these - which can be anywhere from 15% to 35%, which means another $50 to $150.
Then you add the forwarder's profit which is another 5-10%, so another $20-45.
Then you add the store profit, which is another 20-35%, so another $70-150.
- D
- AnonD-290712
- 39x
- 05 Feb 2018
I usually by a flagship a year after its launch, that way I save a lot of money and still get an excellent CPU and GPU which are better than a brand new mid-range phones. I used my nexus 5 until the end of last year and now using an HTC 10 which I only paid £290 August 2017 saving £100-200 on original price and as yet there isn't a better mid range phone. Plus I've got a sweet deal on a pay monthly sim which makes it better value for me to buy the phone outright.
- D
- AnonD-727459
- X}Q
- 05 Feb 2018
Anonymous, 05 Feb 2018If you think phones are too expensive, then buy a cheaper o... moreYou are missing the point here . Its not matter of buying it or not . It is about its overpriced for what it offer .
- T
- Tango.
- 8ET
- 05 Feb 2018
Rex Tech, 05 Feb 2018Phones are getting more expensive but also the ones that ar... moreYou made my day with some of your points! Lol
- A
- Alien
- 3RM
- 05 Feb 2018
Anonymous, 05 Feb 2018Mid ranges are so good today. Flagships are for gamers.Or people with high technical skills into programming, coding, scripts, terminal.
Flagship phones are not just for gaming.
Just because you can't do all the mentioned stuff, doesn't mean it's not possible. Since I have a Flagship phone I barely touch my PC.
Go to school and study.
Instead of playing games and taking selfies, you can actually make money.
Warning: this requires you to use your brain :))
As a programmer I can say the the SD crad slot is a real treasure that the brands don't want you to use because they want you to use spying cloud services. That way, everything you own in therms of data is theirs.
99% of the people against SD card slot have NO CLUE about what they're holding in their hands, yet they keep babbling like a broken record.
- y
- yee
- TkK
- 05 Feb 2018
NO! of course they're not getting expensive.
Back in the day I've bought Nokia Luna 8600 for £1000 and it was the most expensive high street phone you could get. Now it seems that 800-1000 is a norm for a flagship device but....I dont know how about the others but I don't plan to hack pentagon or calculate trajectories for getting to mars so what's inside the latest phones is way too much for everyday user.
Nokia Luna was made from best quality materials and all we got now is aluminium and glass.....WOW!
- ?
- Anonymous
- mJs
- 05 Feb 2018
For me the situation is a bit different. I personally don't use the front camera, nor any speaker on my phone. Also I don't need a fingerprint reader or any other gimmick. I don't even phone alot of people with my phone (like once a week, 30 minutes). So I should buy an entrylevel phone right? NOP! I need a 4000+ mAh battery cause I can't charge every night, also a fast SOC, since I play alot of games on my phone. The back cam needs to be tight, I use it for quality shots. What to do? Well, a modular phone would have been awesome, since NO ONE, yes i repeat: no one! needs everything a phone offers. Most people I know only use the front cam+call alot of people, they will never play any game with high rez 3d images etc. Though the modular phone would have been more expensive, I would have exchanged so much modules for battery and would have left out a speaker, etc etc. Like this it's: eat it and pay 800-1000€! What I do? I buy chinese phones, that suck a bit...but ye, they tend to have good battery life and good SOC for average pricing.
- H
- Hekato Jr.
- tTh
- 05 Feb 2018
Throwing out some extra cash for latest devices is a mere trouble but the problem lies in shether we as consumers are we getting what we are paying for.
Even the htc u11, nokia 8, isony xperai XA, iphone 10 & 8, google pixel are a good deal with a touch of little upgrades but specs and performance wise we can get it in other brands much more cheaper trendy and with all required speed.
- ?
- Anonymous
- 6XU
- 05 Feb 2018
Mid ranges are so good today. Flagships are for gamers.
- ?
- Anonymous
- phh
- 05 Feb 2018
If you think phones are too expensive, then buy a cheaper one. You can have a smartphone for as little as $50-$80 used, or $100 new. Flagships are not a necessity. Flagships are for people who can afford them.
Same as with cars. I like Ferrari, but as I find their cars to be very expensive, I'll just use public transport instead.
If you feel a phone is too expensive for you, don't buy it. Get what you can afford and feel comfortable with. Having the best specs is not a necessity. The best devices are for rich people. You are not rich - don't complain about prices. As simple as that.
- T
- Tann Hauser
- pFH
- 05 Feb 2018
No, no at all.
I can get 48 inch 4k hdr android TV with top SoC inside for the price of some phones today.
I dont see them phones expensive.
Just hilariously expensive.
- R
- Rex Tech
- 04P
- 05 Feb 2018
Phones are getting more expensive but also the ones that are for less price offer 2x more than previous models for the same price.
For 250$ phone i have:
-Big quality screen to show images to my friends
-Take quality pictures and record videos of animals or my naked neightbore
-Cheat on exams from a big screen without struggle to read small texts
-Have a battery that will drain slower than models before that
-Play tons of games
-Watch adult videos on FHD resolution on a decent size screen without carrying a lap top
-Owning 64-128 GB of valuable research purposes images,videos,gifs
-Owning over 1000 songs i want to listen
-A flashlight
-Radio
-A mirror to show me how my teeth look like.
-Own apps that suggest me where the local food store is so i won't be lost if i wake updrunk on another continent.Own apps that can make power presentations just like on my PC.
-Read books,read documents,read newspaper,watch the news,watch cartoons,watch movies.
-Have a mini speaker for making low budget parties at home without spending on a speaker
-Make music,play the piano,learn to play the piano,watch online cash grabbing tutors of certain object for fun
-Mine bitcoin
-Watch the stock market values.Stalk my friends on facebook and instagram
-Find a girlfriend (or even a guy or an alien) on tinder.
-Make notes,make alarms,know world clock,know my own time,have a calculator,send emails,dk piks,have a magnifier
-Be fit with fit apps calculating my spent calories wrong
-Unit converters converting rtrded into normal units.
-Call people for hours and send them weird messages.
-Browse 9GAG
-Translate languages and pay with my own phone though android pay and NFC.
Fluid experience while doing all this without stutter or lag
- S
- ST
- 0p}
- 05 Feb 2018
You noticed why APPLE sells less IPHONE X but still make tons of $$$. Becos people keep buying expensive phones when there are excellent midrange phones for a lot cheaper. Really not worth it when you consider that people will change phones after 3 years.
- ?
- Anonymous
- H5W
- 05 Feb 2018
The sony arc flagship was 330 pound today flagships are 600 and more.
I will never buy a new phone from shop I will go on eBay for unwanted upgrade new for 200-300 less then in shop.
When sony xz was 600 in shop on eBay was 350-400.