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Going cheaper with my next smartphone. A mistake?

I've had a Moto G4 for about six months. Great battery life. Small enough to fit comfortably in my pocket, but the screen is still reasonably sized (5 inches.) Less than $150.
 
Just on the radio: this seems to be a trend.
More people choosing a cheaper phone.

I think people realise that the flagship phones are overkill for their purposes.
 
abaddon said:
I agree. Some years ago, I drove a Lexus GS300. It was a money pit and I suddenly decided that it was utter lunacy and ditched it. Why did I buy it in the first place? In three parts, status symbol, boy was it a fantastic drive and my BIL was setting out on his career as a car salesman so support was de riguer.

Realistically, it was an awesome drive but two and a half grand in tax and insurance before you even step into it? Really? I discreetly disposed of it so as not to offend the BIL. These days, I drive a very modest car. It does the business and is actually better specced than the Lexus ever was. Such is progress. I kind of like that progress.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy performance motors. But I have no need of them. Nought to sixty in a nano second? So what? When will that ever happen?
As a daily jobbing motor, it simply costs a bucket and adds nothing.

So, these days, I wheel around in a 1.5 diesel estate. All of the running costs are roughly quarter of the lexus of many years ago. It has more gizmos than the Lexus and it looks nice. Sure, it won't win any drag races, but I have no interest in drag races anyway.

The simple fact is that one can spend mad money on a performance car. That is a matter of choice and I can understand that given I have done it myself. However, it matters not a whit when suburban speed limits are 50 mph or less. What are you really claiming?
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My interest in luxury cars has waned in recent years.

When you calculate how much you save over the course of several years, it becomes really compelling.
 
I have a cheap Chinese Android phone (Xiaomi). Similar specs to a top of the range Samsung at the moment of purchase, for about a third the price. The camera isn't great, but good enough, and otherwise I've had no performance issues, and the battery life is actually quite impressive.
 
I have a Cubot H1. It has a very large battery (5.2 Ampere hours) so lasts ages on a charge.

I've had it for about a year. Cost me about £100. It's performed well. It has dual sims and room for a micro sd card too.
 
Eddie Dane said:
Just on the radio: this seems to be a trend.
More people choosing a cheaper phone.

I think people realise that the flagship phones are overkill for their purposes.
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So true. A year ago I bought (forgive me) a Lumia 640. Add a large MicroSD card and it's amazing value for money at about a quarter the price of the flagship model, and an excellent phone (with just a single tiny caveat: it was obvious even a year ago that the entire Windows Phone format was circling the drain).

It'll certainly do until Microsoft decide what they're going to replace it with (if anything) and I decide whether to jump ship for some kind of Android thing.
 
Eddie Dane said:
The iPhone's battery is acting weird. The geniuses at Apple are going to look into it.

In addition I get €200 for a smartphone every 2 years. So I will have free money to spend in a month.
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I'm not asking to disagree, just looking at the overall picture.

With the car examples mentioned there is typically an added cost to keeping the high end item (higher maintenance) and there is a thriving market for selling it. With phones the cost is mostly at the front end and the used market is rather week for the seller.

So, if the iPhone6 is nicer than the new phones you are considering, then maybe it would be worth trying to figure out if you could spend your allowance on a new battery for it. But if that is not possible, then I would be looking for something that fit the allowance better so that you go the most phone at the least cost over the next two years.

But, if you can find lower cost new phones that are nicer than your iPhone6 then I would not hesitate to move on to the new one if you are not wed to the Apple environment.
 
Jack by the hedge said:
So true. A year ago I bought (forgive me) a Lumia 640. Add a large MicroSD card and it's amazing value for money at about a quarter the price of the flagship model, and an excellent phone (with just a single tiny caveat: it was obvious even a year ago that the entire Windows Phone format was circling the drain).

It'll certainly do until Microsoft decide what they're going to replace it with (if anything) and I decide whether to jump ship for some kind of Android thing.
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There is renewed speculation that Microsoft will be re-entering the smart phone market in 2018 or later.

Microsoft's latest mobile patent may provide next-generation Surface device clues
A newly revealed Microsoft patent application for a foldable phone and hinge has reignited speculation about the company's plans to re-enter the mobile-device space.
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Jack by the hedge said:
That's interesting, but if they really plan to have no new product until 2018 or beyond, I assume they have written off hope of retaining any of their existing phone users.
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Sadly it appears they have, the tech journalist who writes that column publicly gave up and moved to Android a while back. At one of the Redmond press events last year CEO Satya Nadella saw her and asked about her switch to Android. She said that he was not surprised and gave the impression that he understood and accepted that most customers were going to leave for the bigger user base platforms. Most of the Office and Labs team mobile apps come out for Android & iOS first and only Windows 10 Phone later, some of them never even make it to Win10 phone.

As of the Q3 Android is 86.8%, iOS 12.5% and other at 0.4%, that leaves Windows Phone with 0.3% share (they were still @ 1.2% Q4 2015). With such a microscopic market share left, I expect that Microsoft feels the risk of alienating the last few consumers now is a reasonable trade off for taking the time they need to create the phone OS they've always envisioned. They are getting very close to having full Win10 run on ARM processors with x86 emulation so that all desktop apps can be run. The vision is that you stick the phone in a dock with a monitor, keyboard and mouse and use all your favorite desktop programs.
 
I love technology. I use my phone constantly at work every day.

Last year, I replaced my Samsung Galaxy S3 with a Samsung Galaxy S4. The more recent models are of course much better, but I don't feel it gives me that much more with the price difference. The S4 serves me well, and probably will for a long time.

I never understood people who replace their phone every time a new model comes out, especially as most of them are "casual normies" who just use their phone to call, send messages, check facebook, play some simple games and watch the occasional YouTube video.
 
I had to get rid of my brick last year because the G2 network was being shut down. :mad:

The new smartphones are bigger (necessary for the fat fingered) and more awkward. They also appear to be more fragile. Of all the fancy extras that I get, the only app that I find useful is the facebook messenger. I can tap into my wifi and send and receive messages for free.
 
sidenote:

A friend of mine has opted for a dumb phone, combined with a tablet.

In a way it's the best of both worlds:
The phone has a week-long battery life, and the tablet is actually good for browsing, video etc.

Unfortunately I use some apps that I need easy access to, like Whatsapp.
 
Ryokan said:
I love technology. I use my phone constantly at work every day.

Last year, I replaced my Samsung Galaxy S3 with a Samsung Galaxy S4. The more recent models are of course much better, but I don't feel it gives me that much more with the price difference. The S4 serves me well, and probably will for a long time.

I never understood people who replace their phone every time a new model comes out, especially as most of them are "casual normies" who just use their phone to call, send messages, check facebook, play some simple games and watch the occasional YouTube video.
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But it's new? Never understood you abnormal people, a new sticker means you need, no you HAVE to have it!
 
Darat said:
But it's new? Never understood you abnormal people, a new sticker means you need, no you HAVE to have it!
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I understand the draw of "the shiny", but never really taken to it with phones. Lots of other things, but not really phones.
 
Eddie Dane said:
A friend of mine has opted for a dumb phone, combined with a tablet.
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I looked into getting a dumbphone as a replacement for my landline, but the GSM networks they rely on might not be around for much longer.

I'm fed up with iPhones because they go obsolete too quickly, so I ended up buying a Moto Z Play today. Hardly the dumb thing I originally wanted, but it seems okay.
 
eerok said:
I looked into getting a dumbphone as a replacement for my landline, but the GSM networks they rely on might not be around for much longer.

I'm fed up with iPhones because they go obsolete too quickly, so I ended up buying a Moto Z Play today. Hardly the dumb thing I originally wanted, but it seems okay.
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Can you define what those 2 hilited terms mean to you ? That's an assertion that I find difficult to agree with.
 
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