Flagship phones - do we need them?

I think that the flagship phones are quite good as they introduce new features and drive things forward which eventually filter down to the mid-range and below phones.

Would I buy one ... nah, I'm happy with my mid-range one whihc does 90% of what I want at the moment ...

I just need great battery, great screen and great camera

For me the s7 edge ticks these boxes

If there was a mid range phone that is as good as the edge in the above then I'd take a look at it

I was very happy with my HTC one and would still have it but once it was 2 1/2 years old all sorts of things went wrong with it.
Same problem with my previous phone, failed at just over 2 years old.

They don't seem to design them to last longer than 2 years, even the most expensive ones.

The PC market has already reached this point where most users just need a cheap basic box. Phones will probably go the same way.
This is one reason that phones are marketed so heavily... You mostly paying for the brand and asthetics.

You're not the only one.

I'm increasingly hearing people saying that they'll skip a generation or hold on to what they have for a bit longer to see what is coming out.

I think phones have now gone the way of CPUs, new features will be slow coming and probably niche.

yes we do need them as they drive 2innovation" which then in the next generation comes to the md range phones.


however personally no I don't need a flagship.
however I wish someone made a phone that mixed low, medium and high components. to create a reasonable priced phone, that where needed has extra money spent on core components, like speakers, battery or camera. not sure the latest chip is ever needed this day.

I have both a Note 1 and 4 and actually use the 1 more - its not really that behind the 4 hardware wise in terms of impact on actual use, its lighter and I prefer the slightly wider shape. As above battery life, a decent camera are more areas I want to see improved.

FutileBreadMachine said:

Yeah I heard the S8 could be released in Feb so that was on my mind too. If I am going to blow money on a new phone it might as well be a newly released one. Then again, there's always the old adage that if you want to wait for new tech you will always be waiting since new stuff is always around the corner.

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Except the way things are going the S8 will be nearer £700 than £500 ... possibly!

For the average Joe then no, but for someone like me who appreciates flagship specs... Certainly.

And a flagship phone should last you at least two years. I. E. Skip a generation before upgrading again.

Most people don't, yet most people will buy one if they can manage to justify the expense to themselves. I'm really pleased with the relatively recent boom in availability of inexpensive, perfectly adequate Chinese brands such as Xiaomi. Beyond pure tech indulgence, I can't see any reason for me to buy a flagship phone going forward.

This is applicable to almost every product. The relationship between price and function of almost everything we buy can be represented by an exponential curve.

People feel the need to buy over priced flag ship phones for the same reason that they need a white german diesel, a beard and a sleeve tattoo

I have a £80 phone which is pretty damn good.

I don't play music on it as i have a sansa clip.

i don't take photos with it as i have a pretty decent a6000

I'm not falling for "the best phone" ever again,my cheap phone can do what i want and its £520 cheaper than my last phone.

Relentless81 said:

People feel the need to buy over priced flag ship phones for the same reason that they need a white german diesel, a beard and a sleeve tattoo

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schizo said:

I have a £80 phone which is pretty damn good.

I don't play music on it as i have a sansa clip.

i don't take photos with it as i have a pretty decent a6000

I'm not falling for "the best phone" ever again,my cheap phone can do what i want and its £520 cheaper than my last phone.

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These basically, I won't ever again buy a flagship handset again either. They don't offer value for money and the difference between the mid range and top end stuff just does not warrant a 100% price difference in some cases.

As I'm now older (and I hope wiser) specs and features are secondary to value for money for me, flagships just don't offer it. The case is point is when comparing my wifes Moto G4 to her sisters iPhone 7+, nobody can justify a near £600 price difference between them as far as I'm concerned and yes the iPhone may take better pictures but the G4 isn't exactly awful,and the yes the build is better on the Apple as well it should but the signal strength and web browsing experience is far superior on the G4.

Moto G4 does what anyone needs a smartphone to do.

It's the law of diminishing returns. You get headphones priced at £200 which are just as good as those priced at £800.

TV's priced at £1000 just as good as those priced £2500.

Moto G4 is what I would call mid range value for money phone. Budget would be phones under £100.

People talk about how they are struggling and don't have any money, etc and can't afford houses. Yet they can however afford an £800 phone every 12 months.

You have to be pretty flipping stupid to buy a new phone everytime one comes out, because you think you need it? I was under the assumption that the people who did this, felt it made them look cool, and did it through narcassism.
If my phone is 3 or 4 years old and I can afford the newest one out, then why shouldn't we have the best tech!

It's also pretty stupid to not bring out the best technology, cause if you don't then the mid range stuff would be the flagship. So how can you win this. Tell people this is what we can do, but you not going to have it?

Flagship products are needed but nobody really needs them. If your wealthy enough to afford them without having to make cuts elsewhere then why not?

I have an s7 edge and have since launch but I've just picked my daughter up a Samsung a3 and build quality and feature wise I wonder why I'm paying £45 a month for my s7 yet only £14 for her a3, yes I get a lot more data and I have a better battery life but I will be thinking again when my contract is due for renewal and if I could go back I'd happily trade my s7 for a simpler phone.

Who doesnt want choice - this is what makes any market (whether its cars, phones, tv's or anything else) interesting.

One person may want a double width fridge with an ice maker built in, where as a lot of other people just have ice trays in the freezer

This choice also make a lot of the cheaper models viable for the manufacturer. A new top of the line OLED TV that costs £10k is only expected to sell in the 10's or 100's but make it possible for the same manufacturer to sell a very basic LCD for £600 (and sell many thousands of units)

The innovations in the top of the line products usually end up in the budget line after several years / several production refreshes.

Smart phone processing has gotten to the point where even the low end chips provide decent performance, not everyone needs the best any more. However... need=/=want, some will always make up a silly reason to by the latest and greatest .

FutileBreadMachine said:

I think it's down to pure consumerism and people buying new electronics just because they are bored with their current tech. It's the same as kids getting bored with their toys - adults are just really tall children

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the majority of people aren't bored, they're just dumb, and fall for the hype, marketing train.

Orcvader said:

Smart phone processing has gotten to the point where even the low end chips provide decent performance, not everyone needs the best any more. However... need=/=want, some will always make up a silly reason to by the latest and greatest .

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I'd like to know who can actually use all the power of the top end phones?

I mean candy crush runs on any phone does it not? what do people need an 8 core phone fore?