Are phones becoming a bore?

Mark1989 · 20 Jan 2019 at 19:28

So I have a Sony XZ premium, its due for upgrade in May.

Looking at what's out now, nothing to me is worthy upgrade, they all seem the same or just not worth the monthly costs imo.

I detest everything about iphones, Samsung s9 is just okay.

The hawaiu phones look nice but again I feel zero point in changing.

Am I the only one who feels there just all becoming the exact same?

Zefan · 20 Jan 2019 at 19:30

This is why I now only buy cheap Chinese phones.

Mark1989 · 20 Jan 2019 at 20:01

Zefan said:
This is why I now only buy cheap Chinese phones.

Oddly enough a freind recently bought one for £200 can't remember it's name, but had a mess around with it and it felt just as nippy as mine is.

Screen quality wasn't as good but in no way was it bad either

Lartyconshayo · 20 Jan 2019 at 20:49

I'm sure I will be proved wrong but don't cheap Chinese phones tend to skimp on the camera ?

Minstadave · 20 Jan 2019 at 20:51

Lartyconshayo said:
I'm sure I will be proved wrong but don't cheap Chinese phones tend to skimp on the camera ?

Not really. There's such a range you can choose what corners are cut or not.

wijcc · 20 Jan 2019 at 23:05

Which Chinese phones have cameras that compare to the ones on the Samsung Sx or Pixel phones?

chroniclard · 20 Jan 2019 at 23:08

Cant fault my Huawei P20, decent camera, decent looking, good build quality, for a reasonable price. Not sure I would label it a "cheap" phone though.

I used to get the latest Samsung every year but they really dont offer anything particularly new anymore so its just not worth it.

Delta3D · 20 Jan 2019 at 23:29

Huawei's never seemed to last for me, 2 years and they were always slow and laggy, I can't speak for the P20 though as haven't touched one of them.

What do you think of the OnePlus 6T?

mrochester · 21 Jan 2019 at 06:23

This is what happens when there is no competition in the smartphone operating system market.

Randomface74 · 21 Jan 2019 at 06:26

Yeah and I'm really turned off by them putting a hole in the screen for a selfie camera.
People should be demanding the selfie camera be removed completely, the last thing you need is a camera watching you while you use your phone, if it was your laptop you'd have a cover over it.

mrochester · 21 Jan 2019 at 06:31

billysielu said:
Yeah and I'm really turned off by them putting a hole in the screen for a selfie camera.
People should be demanding the selfie camera be removed completely, the last thing you need is a camera watching you while you use your phone, if it was your laptop you'd have a cover over it.

How would you video call from your phone? Never heard of anyone having a cover over a laptop camera.

Randomface74 · 21 Jan 2019 at 07:55

mrochester said:
How would you video call from your phone? Never heard of anyone having a cover over a laptop camera.

Can't imagine ever wanting to video call on my phone. Hadn't even occurred to me.
Everyone I know covers the camera on their laptops, but not their phone cameras.

mrochester · 21 Jan 2019 at 08:06

billysielu said:
Can't imagine ever wanting to video call on my phone. Hadn't even occurred to me.
Everyone I know covers the camera on their laptops, but not their phone cameras.

This sounds really... odd. Totally contrary to anything I’ve seen or heard!

Minstadave · 21 Jan 2019 at 08:23

billysielu said:
Can't imagine ever wanting to video call on my phone. Hadn't even occurred to me.
Everyone I know covers the camera on their laptops, but not their phone cameras.

You know strange people.

Skidder · 21 Jan 2019 at 09:10

It is boring now, high end sets cope perfectly with software which is really stagnant. Need a paradigm shift. Wifi interface in the brain time.

Raymond Lin · 21 Jan 2019 at 09:22

I have a cheap Chinese phone, a Maze Alpha. Was £180

Corners cut wise.

was a mid tier CPU
IPS screen
mediocre camera
no wireless charging
not water or dust resistant

But it's okay to use, got the job done. Ultimately though little things bugged me all over that I couldn't live with it so I gave it to my mum, she is coming from a 5-year-old entry level android so it will be an upgrade.

Pretty much every corner you can cut, they've cut. If I were to get a cheap Chinese phone I would double the budget and get something like the Pocophone F1. Although by the time I think if you are going for something like one 6T or P20, these aren't cheap Chinese phone anymore, it's top-end Chinese phone, just being sold competitively.

CK61938 · 21 Jan 2019 at 10:27

billysielu said:
Can't imagine ever wanting to video call on my phone. Hadn't even occurred to me.
Everyone I know covers the camera on their laptops, but not their phone cameras.

mark43 · 21 Jan 2019 at 13:26

Let's face it, there isn't really a lot going on at the moment aside from cosmetic improvements

Years back you'd get a new phone and it would do cool and exciting extra things. I've just got a new phone, I really like it and it looks beautiful, but at the end of the day it doesn't do anything my old one didn't.

I'm not that bothered really, I just upgrade less, had my last phone for about two and a half years and only really replaced it because the battery had got so bad.

And on that note, people really need to get away from the mentality that they are "due an upgrade", you can upgrade, it's purely optional. If you're happy with your current handset save a few bob and go SIM only.

Confused Stu · 21 Jan 2019 at 13:48

I've been bored with all the options for an upgrade for my coming-up 2 year old Galaxy S8, there's very little out there that's interesting or different. In the end, I put an order in last week for a Vivo Nex Dual Display. It might well be a step sideways (or down in some cases - no USB3, no Wireless Charging, no NFC), but it's the first phone that I've found genuinely interesting since the S6 Edge.

Just got to wait several weeks for despatch/delivery!

Sp00n · 21 Jan 2019 at 14:02

Seems like we reached a tipping point where the hardware is much less of a bottleneck than it was, or at least it's slower for it to become noticeable, so getting that latest SoC just doesn't seem too important any more.

Previous phones I have upgraded because they just got slower and slower with each software update, but now, I'm still using a 2+ year old 3T and aside from the battery which I replaced I see no point in upgrading, the money I would have to spend to get what I deem to be a minimal increase in performance/features I just don't see the point, we'll see how I feel after another year of ownership and whether the device still remains acceptable.

billysielu said:
Can't imagine ever wanting to video call on my phone. Hadn't even occurred to me.
Everyone I know covers the camera on their laptops, but not their phone cameras.

Aye, usually a bit of a post-it note stuck over the lens