Are phones becoming a bore?

[4K8KW10]

Consumer world. No need now to upgrade yearly or 2 yearly. Use what you have until it can't do what you require or the battery dies. Poco F1 user here now (4 months) after years (12) of top priced high end androids. Never again will I spend over £300 on a phone. Its madness. Look about and spend less time worrying about your phone if you can. I agree it's an essential item thesedays but too much stigma on high end technology and the need to replace it so soon isn't nessasary and the sooner you realise this the better.

Absolutely.

I think in the OP case, the thick bezels are reason for him to be tempted for something new. I would go for a new phone without bezels if I had that XZ Premium, no matter how great its 4K display is, and that it works with latest Android versions.

But in my case, I previously used a Sony Xperia S from July 2013 till March 2018, and now the VKworld S8 is from March 2018 till the present day.

 

[Bluecube]

I bought an iPhone Max XS last year. I really can't see myself replacing it anytime within four years, if not longer. Phones are currently so powerful that they're just wasted on normal smartphone functions. There's absolutely nothing new happened in the last few years. Screens improve, as do cameras but so far so yawnsome. Only a holographic display is going to make me sit up and pay attention these days!

 

[Psycho Sonny]

This is why I now only buy cheap Chinese phones.

i tried a few and the first was too cheap as in the cpu didn't have enough grunt. the second was amazing and was actually cheaper because i ordered from china this time rather than a uk retailer. however the software was lacking refinement. i found a lot of my smart stuff wasn't working right. like Nest. the heating wasn't coming on until i arrived home. it should have been coming on as soon as i left work. so i'm back to samsung but went for a second hand s8.

i feel for me just wait for new gen to come out. give it 6 months then buy second hand old gen. you get the same phone for 1/4 of the price.

once the chinese get better at refining android without it being too aggressive at power saving so it just works then i'll be happy. i tried everything ot get nest to work but it just wouldn't even disabling the optimisation, etc it was still doing it hidden away.

 

[Pottsey]

I think I can just about imagine how someone *might* cover the camera. The point was I have never seen it happen other than reading about how Mark Zuckerberg has his covered.

Not only have I seen it happen a lot with covered up cameras but I have seen cases of cameras being abused with people viewing them without the laptop users knowing. It does happen.

I also find it odd a few years back people would be outraged with the idea of a GPS tracker following their movements and plotting a map of what they have done. Fast forward and today and large amount of the population do that on their mobile without even thinking about it.

 

[AHarvey]

I've decided to keep my busted S7. It's still fast, battery lasts, good screen and camera. Had it 28-30 months now and decided to go sim only.

I can't justify £300-400 upfront for the Mate20 Pro and £25 a month or £180 uupfront and £38 a month. You're looking at £1000+ for the 2 year contract, I've better things to spend that money on.

 

[Mark1989]

Absolutely.

I think in the OP case, the thick bezels are reason for him to be tempted for something new. I would go for a new phone without bezels if I had that XZ Premium, no matter how great its 4K display is, and that it works with latest Android versions.

But in my case, I previously used a Sony Xperia S from July 2013 till March 2018, and now the VKworld S8 is from March 2018 till the present day.

I actually don't mind the bezels, the phone is more than fine.

I just meant in general all the phones these days seem boring, I'll be going sim only come upgrade time

Just wondered if any one else felt the same with phones of today

 

[Kreeeee]

Personally I think it's great that mobile phones have stagnated. I bought my Honor 8x recently for £180 and it should last for a good 3 years primarily because of the anti-consumer decision by manufacturers to remove changeable batteries. If mobile technology wasn't as mature as it is then I'd have to pay a lot more and I'd have to change much earlier to not miss out on features.

I have no desire to spend £400, much less £600+, on a new phone every 2 years to avoid missing out on new things like mobile pay, 4G, large screens etc.

 

[4K8KW10]

Personally I think it's great that mobile phones have stagnated. I bought my Honor 8x recently for £180 and it should last for a good 3 years primarily because of the anti-consumer decision by manufacturers to remove changeable batteries. If mobile technology wasn't as mature as it is then I'd have to pay a lot more and I'd have to change much earlier to not miss out on features.

I have no desire to spend £400, much less £600+, on a new phone every 2 years to avoid missing out on new things like mobile pay, 4G, large screens etc.

Sometimes, it is an advantage because some users may want to put a dangerous battery that doesn't fit, which could result in severe injuries. I am positive towards the batteries because my old phone that lasted 5 years, had its battery intact.

 

[Donnie Fisher]

I completely think they have stagnated, in terms of design and function. I don't really mind that. Like others here, I used to try and get the top line models on contracts, but over the last couple of terms, I've found that realistically I dont do much beyond some phoning, texting and web browsing. I had an S7 edge which died recently ( thankfully just at the time of my contract re-newing ) and this time round, I've cut it right down to a monthly £10 contract and bought a Nokia 7 plus outright. The new phone is a perfect size for me and does everything I need snappily enough. there is just no point in paying more.

On the topic of batteries - i wish they were removable to be honest. Would make phones last longer. An example being my S4 active ... its years old but goes string to this day for my day because its had a new battery put in it.

 

[silvagti]

I've found myself feeling the same way. Bought a OnePlus 5a couple of years ago and have no intention of upgrading it anytime soon as the latest phones don't offer any real improvements.

I kind of feel the same way about computers these days as well though! You notice the lack of progress in terms of CPUs in particular. Even a 5 year old pc runs everything fine so long as it has an SSD and a half decent video card.

 

[4K8KW10]

I've found myself feeling the same way. Bought a OnePlus 5a couple of years ago and have no intention of upgrading it anytime soon.

I kind of feel the same way about computers these days as well though! You notice the lack of progress in terms of CPUs in particular. Even a 5 year old pc runs everything fine so long as it has an SSD and a half decent video card.

Only if you stay at ancient resolutions of the screen. Try doing at 4K or 8K.

 

[mrochester]

I completely think they have stagnated, in terms of design and function. I don't really mind that. Like others here, I used to try and get the top line models on contracts, but over the last couple of terms, I've found that realistically I dont do much beyond some phoning, texting and web browsing. I had an S7 edge which died recently ( thankfully just at the time of my contract re-newing ) and this time round, I've cut it right down to a monthly £10 contract and bought a Nokia 7 plus outright. The new phone is a perfect size for me and does everything I need snappily enough. there is just no point in paying more.

On the topic of batteries - i wish they were removable to be honest. Would make phones last longer. An example being my S4 active ... its years old but goes string to this day for my day because its had a new battery put in it.

My dad still has a 5S with the original battery so non-removable isn't really an issue.

 

[mark43]

I've found myself feeling the same way. Bought a OnePlus 5a couple of years ago and have no intention of upgrading it anytime soon as the latest phones don't offer any real improvements.

I kind of feel the same way about computers these days as well though! You notice the lack of progress in terms of CPUs in particular. Even a 5 year old pc runs everything fine so long as it has an SSD and a half decent video card.

Oh definitely, unless you really care about running everything at the highest settings and res. I recently built a new system but only really got around to it because my graphics card died and I decided it was about time, but everything was seven years old, except the graphics card which was about three. I remember the days when I'd replace everything around every three years as it would get to the point that I could barely play the latest games.

Back to phones, I can forgive them the non-removable batteries as it would add some bulk and not allow some of the nice designs we have. But maybe there should be some with removable for those who don't care so much about such things.

 

[FishLicker]

Most of us in agreement it seems. Ex serial swapper. Currently on a Pixel 2XL. Had it for over 12 months and honestly, I may end up keeping this at least 3 years. Sure I’d like wireless charging and a slightly better screen but otherwise I can’t generally fault it. I would imagine the same goes for nearly any half decent phone these days.

 

[Kreeeee]

My dad still has a 5S with the original battery so non-removable isn't really an issue.

Yeah it is. I was down to 66% battery health after 18 months on my last nexus phone.

 

[Amp34]

I used to swap phones every year, then had to move to 18 months when smartphones became big. I got an iPhone 6 on release day (moved from Android) and only recently switched to an iPhone 8, solely because I could get a new one for the equivalent of £150. I don’t expect to swap it for another 3+ years, unless something massively better comes out.

 

[mrochester]

Yeah it is. I was down to 66% battery health after 18 months on my last nexus phone.

I wonder if they put poor quality batteries in them?

 

[Kreeeee]

I wonder if they put poor quality batteries in them?

Seems pretty standard, the 5s battery is only good for around 500 charge cycles: https://www.quora.com/Will-the-iPhone-battery-still-work-after-500-cycles

 

[4K8KW10]

Seems pretty standard, the 5s battery is only good for around 500 charge cycles: https://www.quora.com/Will-the-iPhone-battery-still-work-after-500-cycles

500 is too low. Depending on the user, can be only 6 months, with average users around 2 years, and someone who touches the phone rarely, 3-4 years.

 

[silvagti]

Interesting video here and to be honest I agree with their comments that smartphones in general haven't moved on at all since 2015 in any meaningful way.

It's very noticeable prices have increased to the point wherea flagship model now costs over a grand (when the equivalent used to retail at half that a couple of years ago) whilst delivering very little advantage over a similar model costing a quarter of the price.

It does make yourself wonder what the next big technology will be. Perhaps augmented reality glasses or something along those lines?