Hot take: Flagship chipsets are no longer necessary

25 October 2020
As we approached the limit of Moore's Law, it became apparent that any further advancement would come at a cost

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  • Anonymous
  • uph
  • 26 Oct 2020

Anonymous, 26 Oct 2020I would happily live with a 765 equipped phone if everythin... more+1

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • 3pU
    • 26 Oct 2020

    I would happily live with a 765 equipped phone if everything else was on the same level with flagships. but having google for example sell me a 765 for $700 with a 3 year old camera is asking a bit much. a compact phone with an adequate processor and top notch camera experience is what I'm waiting for someone to make in the android world, otherwise I'll switch to Apple

      For people that like a phone to last it makes sense to go flagship cpu. The first year it won't make much of a difference but that 2nd-4th year it could be the advantage you need to hold out another year or two for that next phone. With mid range chipsets it's upgrade every 1-2 years out of neccessity.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • 4Am
        • 26 Oct 2020

        midrange soc cpus are fine, but gpu still trails too far behind flagship.

          • N
          • Nakul
          • 7XN
          • 26 Oct 2020

          Beautifully written article and an eye opener for those who are just buying phones for a fact that they want a flagship phone

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • 3yK
            • 26 Oct 2020

            Vasra, 26 Oct 2020I have a flagship chipset phone that runs cool enough, has ... moreSounds like Zenfone 6, great phone. Too bad Asus decided to sheepishly remove the 3.5 in the 7.

              • J
              • JackTheiPhoneKiller
              • sR4
              • 26 Oct 2020

              And what do you think about Poco F2 Pro, Prasad? Did it succeed in getting an 865 processor into a 500 USD phone, or was it compromised?
              Your comment please

                • D
                • AnonD-940827
                • 8pQ
                • 26 Oct 2020

                Anonymous, 25 Oct 2020Rog Phone 3 the only thing worthy it. If you want ping spikes, totally.

                  There'll always be a use case for a flagship chipset.
                  Either it for those gamers, or for power users that actually use their phone for something other than just opening multiple apps at the same times (eg: dev, editing on the go, etc.).

                  And as for my case, as long as my phone can open google maps, texting, and do phone calls, I'm fine with it lol

                    I have a flagship chipset phone that runs cool enough, has full 2 day battery, cost 500€, has dual active SIMs And a separate microsdcard slot and also fits in a 3.5mm headphone jack. oh, and no notch.

                    no compromises and half the price of big name flagships.

                    the big losers in this are Apple, Samsung and the other big players. plenty of good options for mid price from competition without having to sacrifice gaming or photo DSP speeds.

                      Mi note 10 was not lag free even, but it taken down camera performers at 3-4x price. Still is one of kind for its price, powerful can have many meanings.

                        Rayquaza, 26 Oct 2020to the editor: at least if you are mobile gamer than you wi... moreAlso when you need to regularly take 4K60p videos or above

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                          • abc.to.xyz
                          • 6Q6
                          • 26 Oct 2020

                          This is just US trying to compartmentalize Mobile Processors just like Intel and co did with computer processors few decades back. Since major innovations are drying up, they'll pull up such tricks to snatch your next 1000$.

                            • ?
                            • Anonymous
                            • fCP
                            • 26 Oct 2020

                            Anonymous, 25 Oct 2020Poco and Xiaomi has destroyed the statement since a long timeLG sold g8x cheaper than Xiaomi or poco. It's far better than any Chinese phone.

                              I don't know. Sure mid rangers has gotten more powerful than ever, but when it comes to graphic intense games (which I do play every once in a blue moon), AI performances (for whatever ML or something in the future), and computational photography, high spec SoCs are really something that can provide users with a better experience. I just hope this experience comes at a cheaper price because I'll be really sad if for next year the SD prices will make flagship phones more expensive than this year.

                                Strawhat, 26 Oct 2020Not all ads can be switched, true they deliver outstanding ... moreAnd that is precisely why Xiaomi phones are so popular with custom ROM community.

                                  Kingslayer, 26 Oct 2020We are living in the 2020s and smartphones are no longer co... moreAt least among the sea of rectangular generic smartphone design, the LG Wing definitely stands out from the crowd. As for foldable screen, not really a big fan of it as you basically want a phone that can be turned into a tablet, that's all.

                                    Yeah, we still need super powerful flagship chipsets. Not when we have really big games like Fortnite, COD "Mobile", the upcoming mobile ports of Apex Legends and Warzone, Genshin, and now emulators for Nintendo Switch.

                                    People will still need really powerful hardware to run bigger and heavier games; the weaker GPUs of the SD700-series and its Kirin/Mediatek/Exynos equivalents just won't cut it.

                                      Imperator Neubaticus, 26 Oct 2020And still we have children arguing about the numbers in the... moreI do run Linux OS on my phone via Andronix, so having a powerful chipset to help me working with all my favourite Linux OS softwares definitely would be helpful.

                                        So the flagships will now become just a premium midrange model, then? I'm not sure if I want that. There's a reason why midrange exist, and it's not there to be the top-of-the-range model.

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