Sunday debate: Buying a mid-ranger every year vs. a flagship every other one

27 May 2018
Yordan and Ro get into a heated debate what is the better solution for getting a daily driver.

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  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • EFR
  • 27 May 2018

Gads, 'a new phone every year' - is extraordinarily wasteful. A new phone every couple of years is wasteful enough.

    • H
    • H-1
    • dMB
    • 27 May 2018

    To me, I'd buy a midranger (middle or upper midrange) every 2-4 years. A midranger this year is almost as good as a flagship of two years ago, which is perfectly fine for taking calls, sending messages, browsing a bit and some casual gaming here and there. Cameras have improved a lot in the past few years and photos by some of this year's midrangers are comparable to (and sometimes better than) photos taken by some high end flagships of yesteryears. To me, buying a flagship is like buying a Benz to run house errands 😅

      • m
      • matix
      • 3LZ
      • 27 May 2018

      From my own research and experience, not only getting a new flagship device is better than buying a budget phone, and even after few years the same flagship is better than newer budget phones, but also getting a few years older flagship device is often better option and also cheaper option than getting a brand new device. For example from my own opinion when comparing specs and reviews I realised that: Samsung Galaxy S7 (2016) is better than Galaxy A8 (2018), Huawei Mate 8 (2015) is better than P20 Lite (2018) or even LG G3 (2014) is better than Q6 (2017) and !!!Motorola Nexus 6 (2014) is better than Moto G6 Plus (2018)!!!!! This is staggering! 4 years older device is better than brand new one, all of that and also most of them are much cheaper than their new, budget brethren, especially on amazon, ebay etc, where you can buy not used old flagships in awesome bargains. Only real downside is that these old flagships usually lack modern trends, like water resistance, bezelless displays, portrait mode and even fingerprint scanners, which could be a dealbreaker. They also usually have much older OS, but because they were usually more popular and supported, installing newer OS is much easier on them and with a bit of work they can even gain some newer features (for example portrait mode from pixel on my S7 Edge). Also old flagships have some features that NONE of budget phones have, for example QHD display or propably wireless charging. All in all I think that sticking to only flagships is the best solution, so now I'm waiting with my S7 Edge, very happy with it, propably for S10+ or Pixel 3 XL, because that's the best way and only one to feel, even for a short time, that in your hand you have marvel of technology, the best phone in the world.

        Whackcar, 27 May 2018How about flagships every year. There's a reason they launc... moreLol. Rich kid

          How about flagships every year. There's a reason they launch every year. I know everyone can't afford them, but for a lot of us, it's the ideal way.

          Personally, i can no longer see myself using a mid-ranger anymore. Flagship FTW!

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • pdH
            • 27 May 2018

            The debate should be. Buy flagship every ten years or midranger every five years...

              • D
              • AnonD-152638
              • mhB
              • 27 May 2018

              If there were companies that made mid-rangers, but no flagships, so they would not intentionally limit the capabilities of the mid-rangers in order to keep selling flagships, well, then perhaps mid-ranger every year could work as a strategy.
              But the flagship makers, still in two ears don't have mid-rangers to take on the then 2 year old flagship, in terms of general performance and camera performance.

              For those that aren't looking for flagship product, mid-rangers has gotten so good, that one could hold its right, compared to new mid-rangers just as well as flagships holds up compared to new flagships.
              So it is more like a choice of mid-rangers every 2 year or flagship every 2 year.
              So probably a better sunday debate would be, have mid-rangers gotten so good, one don't have to replace them every year.

                • D
                • AnonD-735023
                • mF8
                • 27 May 2018

                Nowdays, a good midranger around 200 bucks (ex. Mi A1) has more than enough lifespan/power to last 2-3y, it usually when the updates also die, depending on the phone.

                And then we updagrade.
                That is the smart choice anyway, but consumers like flagships, even when they dont even have money to afford them and endup asking for loans.

                  3rd year using flagship, midranges still didn't catch up in features that it got. Also most of newest features are first on flagships too. Depends on needs.

                    True question is:
                    "Do we need new version of Android and what are the benefits from it?

                    I must say that my old OnePlus 2 on Marshmallow is still fulfilling my daily needs and is still running as it was a year ago.
                    I do not see the need to update every app I have installed on it. To be honest I must say that majority of apps I am using have no big improvements in new versions (so I do not update them).
                    It includes Google services, too.

                    Also I do not see the huge improvements in Android as well. I think that Nougat is good enought.

                      • ?
                      • Anonymous
                      • 39h
                      • 27 May 2018

                      Whoever wrote this article simply cannot fathom that phones will sufficiently work far longer than one or two years. If you buy a new phone every other year or more often, you have more money than sense.

                        • ?
                        • Anonymous
                        • g%1
                        • 27 May 2018

                        this is dumb. buy last years flagship every year.
                        costs less than new midrangers, plenty used ones on the market, and better than newer midrangers.

                        typing this from my new s8plus for 300usd...

                          Sherlock Mix, 27 May 2018People do not buy from eBay where i love though. Easier to ... moreOLX

                            --VM--, 27 May 2018Totally wrong . Selling mid range is very easy in eBay .i... morePeople do not buy from eBay where i love though. Easier to just sell in my own country.

                              • ?
                              • Anonymous
                              • 0BG
                              • 27 May 2018

                              Alien , 27 May 2018High-end flagships all the way! Mid-range phones are for... moreRight. Because having no 3.5mm jack or using iOS is so advanced. Or playing children's games...

                              Flagships are for show-offs and iPhone-users are the definition of a noob.

                                I could do with mid-range hardware, but having a good camera is very important to me.
                                Besides, all mid-range phones are oversized nowadays. So I have to stick to high-end phones.

                                  • F
                                  • Freelancer
                                  • 2Fy
                                  • 27 May 2018

                                  Actually my real choice would be either buy a year-old flagship, or a new mid tier phone every few years.

                                    • A
                                    • Alien
                                    • SvB
                                    • 27 May 2018

                                    High-end flagships all the way!

                                    Mid-range phones are for regular users and noobs..

                                      [deleted post]Well, in this comment we have the same vision about 1" sensor... but with lower 10MP resolution, i want it to have Dual LED + a Xenon, larger aperture. And with not too thick body profile, around 1 cm

                                        • ?
                                        • Anonymous
                                        • 0BG
                                        • 27 May 2018

                                        Why not option C? Buying a mid-ranger every 2-2.5 years?
                                        You can buy anything and it will always have tons of compromises. Flagships don't even have 3.5mm jack.

                                        So if you won't be completely happy with your phone anyway, why waste tons of money?

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