There was a time when a year’s upcoming high-end flagship smartphone was the latest and greatest must have. If it was 2010, perhaps.
Fast forward to now and it’s all but great phones now, sure. But, it turns out, phones can plateau, too, with hardly anything really great to offer aside from a better camera. Sure it’s faster, clearer but shouldn’t there be more?
A great example is the Nexus 6P vs the Google Pixel XL. Features wise, yes, the Google Pixel has advantages. The camera, the unlimited hi-res image storage, built-in Google Assistant, and the better chipset. Outside of that, honestly, it’s still the Nexus rebranded with add ons. Notwithstanding the hefty price tag.
Read:
5 reasons why the Huawei Nexus 6P is better than the Galaxy Note 5
The Huawei Nexus 6P Review: Easily One of the best Android of 2015
Live with the King: Top 5 Huawei Nexus 6P features
An even better example comes in the form of the iPhone 7. Where technologies that are “brand new” to Apple have been in existence in the Android universe for the last 2-4 years and Cupertino is just playing catch-up to what everyone else has been enjoying.
Read:
iPhone 7 & 7 Plus unboxing and hands on
iPhone 7, Galaxy S7, Zenfone 3, Xperia X Performance Camera Test
iPhone 7 vs Zenfone 3 Deluxe Comparison
See there’s really not a lot a (insert year) high-end flagship smartphone can offer that can be very compelling to the analytical mind to buy.
What happens now is that those who want to save more on their budget looks to last year’s model and compare from there. In all honesty, those are still beasts in their own rights. OS update support aside, there aren’t any problems in getting the “dated” model which is only 12 months old.
In fact, take a look at the LG V10. It’s currently retailing at about PHP 18,000 right now. Yes, some of its parts are a year or sold older but that’s about the only downside you have. Unless you require 6GB RAM to run your app/s (which is not present and is not looking likely an app/OS will require all 6GBs to run), it will have no problems in running as your dependable daily driver. Even more so, have you tried the camera? It’s packing a 16MP camera set at F1.8 aperture. Which, to this day, is not present in all flagships being released.
Read:
LG V10 6 Months Later
Top 8 reasons why the LG V10 is a better buy than the Galaxy Note 5
LG V10 Officially Released: Dual display, Snapdragon 808, Dual front-facing cameras
See, it’s not the marketing hype and idea that it’s a status symbol. Far from it. It should be personal preference on getting your next reliable daily driver. The lapdog that will always be there. The boy/girl scout that will have all the basic tools covered (and then some) to get you through things that you go through everyday.
Dead are the super-hyper-lightning-fast-flagship-of-this-year that makes last year’s model so 10 years ago. In fact, manufacturers try so hard to make their units future-proof into 2-3 years of a lifespan in compelling mobile phone seekers on getting their version of what a ‘powerful’ Android can be.
Do you, instead. Stop giving manufacturers what they think you should own because it “looks cool” or that “you’ll be the envy of everyone.” Maybe, after everyone realizes this, smartphone makers just might be compelled to make a truly ‘great’ smartphone that stands to be the only phone to get rather than sprucing up an old package.
Well I was looking for last years flagship, i saw one brandnew but its Xiaomi Mi4c, cost less than 6500, so i tried to look for some pretty decent 2nd hand, not bad I got it for 4000, just have to manually install google apps, for a flagship that price rocking an SD808, it might only be 16gb and 2gb ram, but still its like have a Nexus 5x, only way cheaper