Weekly poll: do flagship chipsets still matter?

12 November 2023
The latest silicon brings higher performance and advanced features for image processing, game graphics and AI. But do you really need all that?

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Anonymous, 12 Nov 2023For long battery life no. For everything else yes. But usua... moreWaste of money is to believe 90hz shitty screen will make difference comparing to flagship 60hz Oled best in class screen :)

    Rodolf, 12 Nov 2023Making chipsets faster in smartphones will only make batter... moreLol, battery life reamined the same for years around 1 or 2 days of use,but computionwl power grew 100 tomes comparing to last 10 years or so, so your point is completely useless 😉

      Of course it matters, try playing RE8 on the 100 dollar Android :) if you don't play games still matters, meaning your flagship phone will be as new even 5 years after purchase, so yeah it matters and will matter, no doubts about that.

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        • Anonymous
        • 04N
        • 12 Nov 2023

        Anonymous, 12 Nov 2023do flagship chipsets still matter? No, because Tensor/Exyno... more 7+ gen 2 is flagship is not midrange tsmc a17 pro is midrange

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          • Anonymous
          • t7D
          • 12 Nov 2023

          Yes. Flagship was a game changer after switching from a mid-ranger. No more jitters and wondering if my phone can play this app. You don't really have a smartphone without using a flagship.

            shniderx93, 12 Nov 2023Of course it still matter! Flagship chipsets nowadays are ... moreWiFi 7 is one way the Snap gen 3 will be be better than the gen 2. GPU performance may provide superior gaming (?).
            On the downside:
            since it's going to be faster yet still another 4 nanometer chipset like the ones from the pevious few years, and not smaller it runs the risk of having worse battery life and running hot ... (especially in overclocked SoC varietie) . There's notable ups and potential downs afoot for sure.

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              • Rly
              • MxZ
              • 12 Nov 2023

              Anonymous, 12 Nov 2023Disable settings that impact phone speed and you will be go... moreMy S22 Ultra SD version still kicking asshhh, but im watching for a substitute now, never had a phone for nearlyb2 years and most crazy is i dont play games etc.
              I only read and search stuff and emails ofc.
              So for me a midranger would be all enough but i always buy a high-end flagship bc i want my phone super fast without any lagg and stuff.

              In last century my Samsung phones got laggy after 1 year around.
              Only brand which always keept their speed etc was my Huawei Mate phones the Mate 8, 10, 20X and 20X 5g... Miss the superior Mate phones back days, super battery and camera optimized to, damn well build also.

              Every year i telling my self now is enough and i will buy a midranger 🤣🤣🤷🏻 i still didn't 🤔

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                • Anonymous
                • nU2
                • 12 Nov 2023

                do flagship chipsets still matter? No, because Tensor/Exynos are flagship chips but inferior than midrange 7+ gen 2

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                  • Anonymous
                  • 0cB
                  • 12 Nov 2023

                  jiyen235, 12 Nov 2023it's less about the chipset and more about the manufac... moreDisable settings that impact phone speed and you will be good to go.

                    TBH I just care about efficiency and thermals. I think any processor is good enough for almost anything.

                      Flagship chips matters if its good in real life not only on paper i.e. benchmark scores
                      (Yes Apple thinking about you) but nowdays even midrangers preforming awesome.
                      Or midrangers with last year flagships CPUs like Ace 2 by Oneplus.
                      But when comes to overall best phone for affordable price Poco F5 pro or Motorola Edge Neo are a very easy winners.

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                        • Anonymous
                        • nE2
                        • 12 Nov 2023

                        Yes flagships deliver great performance but the latest and greatest will not necessarily add value to the daily experience. It depends on your use case. For 90% of the users, SoCs from several generations past like S870, S888+, S8+G1 or D9000 will be more than enough. For corporate / business phone use, good mid or entry level SoCs are an all round better choice as they will never be used for intensive tasks and long battery life is the name of the game.

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                          • Zuzuz
                          • mA{
                          • 12 Nov 2023

                          If someone thinks that we need the most powerful every year to function in a flagship style, is mistaken.
                          The best example is the lastest Huawei, Mate 60 pro, that with a chip that can achieve "only" 800k points in antutu, it does everything as Xiaomi 14 pro/ S23 Ultra with over 1.5 million points.

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                            • Anonymous
                            • 0fU
                            • 12 Nov 2023

                            My Pixel 4a is still buttery smooth after 3 years, despite having a midrange cpu. It's the software that matters.

                              I have been using top end flagships for past few years, My next phone will be a midranger for sure. Some Midrange brands use top-engd chipsets. Take Realme GT 5 for example, Anyway you look at that phone, beats a lot of flagships.

                                Why not? In my opinion there are 4 reason to chase the Latest Top dog.
                                1- You will pay for the latest Chipset.
                                2- Generally, the last Handset from the series to receive proper updates is the one that has Flagship Chipset.
                                3- During the time of consuming your smartphone, developers are more focused on Flagship optimization of their apps than even upper mid ranger.
                                4- If I ignore the chipset, gradually overall improvement of SoCs will decrease and the price illogically increases annually without any chance to obtain last year's Flagship chipset on a more logical price range.

                                In fact, we must have a smartphone in its optimal level of use, as a daily driver for all needs, then lowering the expectation of improvement.

                                If we consider Smartphone as a gaming gadget, we have much better options to have. If it must be finally an all rounder tool, like Laptops, then there is a long way to go.

                                  it's less about the chipset and more about the manufacturer and how they support and optimise the chipset/phone. If they want they can continue to support the phone to continue feeling fast for years or they can intentionally slow the phone down. Flagship phones tend to not get thrown under the bus like that so it's either the flagship chipsets holding their performance longer or the software support being better.
                                  I don't think at all that past flagship chips are bad, manufacturers are just pretty damn horrible and just want to squeeze money. My S22 Ultra felt fast af at first, so did the S8 and S7 edge, after a year they're smooth for the most part but become laggy overall, the S22 Ultra experienced this the less but my point is, if the phones were fast before, why are they slow now? I mean the benchmark scores are quite close to what they were before.

                                    Of course it still matter!
                                    Flagship chipsets nowadays are involved in a lot of tasks that may not be relevant to everyone. I don't game on phones r8 now but I do know that cameras performance and processing with AI features and high MP resolution depend a lot on the SoC, and you can see how the SP gen3 AI performs with the new features for Xiaomi . Video recording processing and enhancements capabilities clearly shows off the new SoC potential. I have an S23 Ultra and think it might get overrun by next gen's enhancements

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                                      • yalim
                                      • mu4
                                      • 12 Nov 2023

                                      it doesn't have to be the latest but, always go for a flagship. even a 2 year old flagship is better than a new midranger. it has better hw and sw features.

                                        IpsDisplay, 12 Nov 2023I have news for you pal this older flagship soc over curren... moreIf you look at the raw numbers, it was never a thing. But reality is rarely about 'raw numbers'. Flagship soc's are generally much better supported even after years, they are just generally more stable, and sometimes even have some specific feature that's missing from midrangers. You can also more easily find other OS's to install to them compared to midrangers, when even the security updates are over.