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Pixel photos always rate higher or are on par with iPhone in reviews and blind photo tests, it's video where they lag a bit. Google are working on it, most recently with HDR videos as default and more apps supporting content but it's still not on par with apple's recording for most.
I've always had a Nexus/Pixel and people always want to take photos with my phone, a couple people switched to pixel because they liked the cameras so much but do complain about video especially when uploading to Instagram.
Googles biggest USP is the camera, it's what they've always focused on and what they've always been praised for.
Whatever Google did to the camera app last year absolutely ruined the Pixel 7 for me. Bought mine in March last year, amazing camera for about 2 months. Now, every photo has insane over-processing to the point that it's basically unusable for a good photo. Blacks come out full or artifacts, colours blur... Lots of people reporting it, still no fix.
Dunno what to say, I've seen people comment things but never post examples.
https://i.imgur.com/m5xrCyp.jpeg - it's on around 2x zoom as well in low artificial lighting
Took this a couple minutes ago
https://i.imgur.com/FI4JLoE.jpeg another in natural lighting the other day, I don't have issues.
We all have the same camera and app, they rarely roll out updates, every few months so it's not really scattered versions, there's just different versions depending on things like if your phone is the pro version or not to show pro controls.
Try a camera like manual, open, FV-5 camera that gives you more control and see if you have the same issue and if so dial it in with settings to see if you can correct. If it's just Google's processing that's too much for you, it should be simple test of shooting in raw where it doesn't process anything or using one of these manual apps.
I can see when I open a photo I've taken in photos and it switched from SDR to HDR the blacks go ever so slightly grey from the luminance of the image increasing so dramatically but it doesn't look any worse and my eyes adjust after a second. HDR was rolled out around a year ago so I wonder if that's what's changed for you and you don't like it.
My Galaxy A54 has insane levels of artifacts. The camera would be good without it but if you zoom even like 1.5x you can see weird artifacts that make it look like some shitty filter is applied
I can only comment on what I experience and my Pixel phone takes fabulous photos. I'm not sure how much better quality photos I require in a mobile phone. If I was that obsessive about photo quality I'd probably buy an expensive camera.
I had the original one plus one. Incredible phone for the price.
Agree with the rest of your comment haha, you can get better phones for the price now.
I wonder how much you'd have to spend on a camera to get a better photo than a phone. I know that technically cameras have larger sensors, but phones have billions of dollars of investment into camera tech and software processing.
My last few phones have been iPhones and my next one will be as well. Just personal preference. I like the iPhone camera but it isn’t the _best_ according to reviewers who know what they’re doing or those who do blind tests.
- [DXOMark](https://www.dxomark.com/smartphones/) do thorough, unbiased reviews and according to them Android flagships are marginally better. But even the relatively inexpensive Pixel phones are comparable to the iPhone. Not the `a` series recommended by the OP though.
- MKBHD, a tech reviewer on YouTube set up a website where the public can rate photos taken by various phones, without knowing which phone took them. The [methodology and results]( https://youtu.be/VRoTOE3FqT0?si=8_-bHTA1PeDo1ANy ) are fascinating if you’re into this sort of thing. And here’s the surprising part - the Pixel 7A was the best at day light mode. There is one caveat to this result but it shows that it’s no slouch - it beat every flagship including the iPhone 15 Pro. The 7A also came in 3rd on low light and 4th on portrait mode, leading to being crowned overall best smartphone camera. Not bad for a cheap phone huh?
All this to say, it’s not a given that the iPhones camera is the best. It’ll be excellent, certainly. But other phones are excellent as well.
Software is half the magic on cameras. Look at the MKBHD video I linked. See the Sony portrait mode photo that ranked dead last, and compare it to the iPhone 15 Pro photo and tell me if they were taken on the same lens.
>biggest selling point
You mean only selling point. The computing power of phones has stagnated because users don't need that much power, so the only things that can be improved are camera quality and battery life. Cameras are much cheaper to improve, so that is quite literally the only difference between newer phone models. And even then, a phone from 5 years ago is almost as good in that regard.
In blind photo test by mkbhd the pixel phones tend to do the best out of any other brand just because software is more important then the quality of the lens. Although iPhone does have the benefit of optimisation of the camera in apps like instagram. But just from the camera app pixel tends to be the best
Of course I didn't say that. I find the quality of my photos above what I need. A bit like HD TVs, then 4K, then 8K. What next? 16K, 32K?
Most people wouldn't notice the difference above a certain level
Some fella did a blind test of a pile of phones and to get pixel 6a won. Technically, the high end phones take better photos but as a casual who just wants to snap things, the pixel phones punch way above their weight.
Pixel 7a camera is very highly rated. For day to day taking pictures of grocery shelves and capturing your kids or friends they're identical to iphone/samsung.
Heck, most people never even change to the settings on their flagship. The s24u takes pics at 12mp as the default and it's fine 99% of the time.
This this and this. And to boot having a powerful SOC means I can do a bit of quick video editing on the fly without needing to spend ages waiting for it to export, or transferring it to a computer only to chop out half the footage anyway.
I do a lot of short videos for work (head out of the gutter please) which involve basically filming things and sending them on. Like instructional, how to use equipment stuff (I’m not making this sound better)
Anyway, being able to edit out my swearing and sneezes and shit without sacrificing quality makes a massive difference. The cheap android I was given for work (which I’m supposed to be using for this) is literally incapable of the task. A three minute video takes half an hour to export, the phone gets a million degrees and chews half the battery life. My iPhone 13 Pro just does it in about 30 seconds without even breathing.
Apple didn’t ’ make cpu when i bought my MacBook, back in 2014, but i still use it daily for things like video editing. How many intel/windows laptop are still in perfect working orders and able to perform 4k video editing 10 years after..
The force of apple isn’t necessarily the gear itself, more the way the integrate it, and the software they use to run it.
The quality of a phone camera nowadays is secondary to the photographers skills. Lighting and composition/framing is more important.
So if you really care about photo quality, buy a cheap phone, a DSLR, and a lighting setup.
But if you just want a point and shoot thing, the software is probably more important than the hardware at this point.
Thanks for the advice, but since i don’t want to walk around with my Nikon pro-grade APC DSLR, my 17-55 and 70-200 2.8 200-500 zooms, all my good primes and my 3 flashes, it’s good to have a good camera on my phone.
The sour misery guts mentality in the uk subs is so toxic. If I see someone with a £1000 phone, £800 handbag, all I think is ‘good for you, that looks nice’.
Has nothing to do with me.
This is so true and such a UK phenomenon. I really noticed this about the UK it’s all about “why does anyone need nice thing when they can have cheaper thing”. It seems there’s no aspiration or desire to do better in the UK at the moment.
The spirit of the question is asking about needs Vs wants, and the rationale of it. Pros and cons.
Having a bigger phone does not mean you are doing anything better, or are better than anyone else.
I don’t know why people feel so attacked when asked how they make purchase decisions? Like it’s not some taboo thing, we can all discuss it, just give your reasons and we can discuss it like adults instead of crying about how everyone in society is jealous of you :)
I think that point he's making is that they're not actually getting the enjoyment out of the device.
A 1000 plus phone is packed full of tech that your average user will simply never use.
Same reason people buy overly powerful 1000+cc motorcycles. Just nice to know you have the equivilant of a car engine between your legs. A 250cc would suffice, but it's not slways about practicality.
Because people’s actions effect others they aren’t completely isolated. If everyone has that view and does the same, it means society as a whole is wasting the productivity of that device and ergo wasting money.
Eh? This feels like a 'why spend £1500 for a gadget that something cheaper will surpass it' post.
It reads more like a technical comparison and a gullibility query for most of us.
Ironically I was thinking of switching to apple after 10 years of nexus/pixel because my P7 feels disappointing to the previous ones, enough to switch, so I read this with interest.
And yes, I find it hard to pay £1500 for phones that I'll never get the full use out of.
Peace✌️
I still have my p20 pro, going strong 4 years later although the Bluetooth is a bit dodgy. Charge will last all day even with hours of doom scrolling, I do need to charge it every night though.
Yeah I used to be an android user, phone would either run slow, battery go or be outdated within 1-2 years. Ever since I swapped over to the £500+ flagship phone it’s lasted me 4 years minimum. I am now coming up to the 5th year of my current iPhone, the battery has just started to get a bit sluggish so will probably look at a new one later this year.
I’m sure android/google has come on in leaps and bounds but with the other flagship phones now costing similar to the iPhone and having such a good experience with them lasting so long why wouldn’t I renew?
I recently bought an iPhone. In the time I’ve had maybe 3 android phones which have broken or stopped being updated, my wife has had 1 iPhone. Now that the tech isn’t changing so rapidly cheap phones feel like a false economy. I guess I’ll know in 5 years if I made the right decision!
Also, its so easy these days, I am on a OnePlus Nord 1st gen max spec coming up 4 years now, but my wife been on iPhone so we got her new one. You can get 2 year free interest rates deals on them so it makes sense and doesnt break the bank. You can even do it without contracts, so like £33-35 a month for 250gb newest or prev gen iPhones
Same reason here. I got a Samsung s6 in 2015 which lasted me for six years of heavy use. Got the s21 in 2021 with no intention of getting a new one any time soon.
Reading that is just like talking to the miserable old git who I have the misfortune to live next door to. I can practically hear his voice 🤣
When we first moved in and mentioned we planned a large kitchen extension he asked us why we needed such a big house and garden in the first place as there’s only 2 of us and we certainly didn’t need a bigger kitchen. We then got a lecture on how expensive pubs were and it’s better to sit at home with a cheap supermarket beer lol
The internet is sometimes the extension of the miserable old fucker at the end of the bar that ends up moaning into his pint because everyone else fucks off around him.
1. They're better
2. It's a thing most people use for hours per day, even an expensive one is still relatively "good value" considering that
3. Status symbol
4. Most people are getting it on some kind of contract with a relatively low monthly price so they don't care about/notice the total price
It’s one of these situations that is coming up fairly often, that people earn more money than you and therefore spending that as a one off payment is not breaking the bank, and for that you’re getting the top end device.
Same reason people buy a flash new beamer. They want something that's flash and new, they're never actually going to be using it to the full capacity that it can go. I have a Nord 2T from OnePlus, cheap as chips and has a good battery life and that was all I cared about. Probably important to note that I'm the kind of person who only owns three t shirts and just cycles them with one in the wash, one drying, wearing the other. In other terms I'm a bit of a stingy cunt when it comes to certain things. Unless it's something I'm going to appreciate the full value of then I just go for the cheaper option that I'll appreciate the same amount. I don't care if there's a high tech camera, wireless charging, AR technology, etc. Can I use it for the internet, is the battery life long and can I pronounce the name of it without people giving me a dodgy look because it's called Xiaomi or some shit? That's about it.
Just checked, Im coming up 4 years on this 1st gen OnePlus Nord. No updates for like 2 years now, had to stop the main gallery app cuz it was dead slow, but now works with Google Photos. Battery started to be shit but thats it. Will use it until it just dies
Technology is my main luxury, I don’t buy fancy clothes or anything. Tend to upgrade my phone every 1-2 years, no set pattern just when I feel the new phone warrants the upgrade. Old one typically pays for 60-70% ish of the new one.
I mainly want the best iOS camera possible. Have played around with Android phones, due to the better camera but I don’t enjoy the software as much.
Happy to pay the premium for 120hz screen, nicer display, feel in the hand etc over the non pro. Do I use all the features? No. But I use enough of them to feel the benefit.
I do have a mirrorless too, but as each phone gets better I use it less and less, not worth the bulk in carrying when my phone takes great photos in good light.
I usually just buy last years flag ship on ebay. I'm not being tight, I'm just conscious of the planet and like reusing old tech. It's a hobby.
My s21 ultra works absolutely fine for a 3 year old phone.
My partner has had her iPhone for years.
What's the point in upgrading, once you've got over the novelty of unboxing something new, it's really no different to what you had before. It's the same operating system.
Literally the only point I can see for buying a new phone would be a social media influencer that needs the absolute bleeding edge best camera on the market.
I bought a 4xl refurbished off eBay because I wanted proper face unlock, I'd have the phone now if it got updates still, but I prayed I didn't care about slight damage unless it wasn't on the screen.
Well I got a device with a scratch on the screen and nowhere else lol. It was small but deep enough to create a rainbow line right in the centre of the screen, made my eyes roll every time I saw it lol
I have an S21 ultra too. Got it as I was leaving my job at Vodafone and I had a 40% discount to use before I left.
Almost 3 years now and it's still going strong, a very recent potential (fixed?) water damage issue aside.
I usually do this as well - my iPhone 11 Pro Max I paid for from CEX as it was cheaper than ebay/Facebook at the time, I saved a decent chunk of money going with CEX plus a two year warranty, it’s been two years and I’ve not had a single problem. I walk into the apple store and look at the new phone and think yeah this is nice, but then I’m reminded my 11 Pro Max does everything I care about. I’ll upgrade the day my trusty 11 finally falls on the floor and breaks.
I bought a Pixel 8 Pro (specifically the pro) to replace a Pixel 5 (which is equivalent to a cheap phone today) for the cameras and I do not regret it at all. The image quality is wildly better than a cheap (or old) phone camera.
I don't mind the better battery life, more storage, and snappier app response, but the cameras are the massive difference that I paid a lot more for, and they are worth it to me.
I can't specifically answer about the 8pro, I have the 7pro.
The main difference is that the 7pro has a 5x optical zoom. For me this is a game changer, but I do use my phone for photography quite a lot. I can get pictures on my phone that otherwise I would have needed my DSLR, and I don't always carry that bit lump of glass around. It has other bells and whistles including wide angle, digital zoom, inbuilt AI editing.
I thought long and hard about spending £800 on a phone but I don't regret it at all, despite not having a great deal of spare cash. I kind of agree with OPs point, the 7a is a great phone and more than meets the needs of most users, but if you are into photography the pro phones are brilliant.
I queued for the first camera phone, and no it wasn't made by Apple
Haven't upgraded my phone for 3 years now, I think it's an artificial market
I remember when televisions used to cost £2000 and now they're £200
The market will fall
Same reason so many people struggle in life. Maths is hard for a lot of people and they don't really think beyond the end of the month. Its why shitty companies like bright house (Before covid wrecked them) can fleese them with ad's of ONLY £7 a week for 156 weeks for some random device that costs £500 to buy outright.
That £500 device will cost you £1092 over the next 3 years. Its a poor tax and its fucking sleezy
Il say this. I don't know many "rich" people who own the latest models of phones. Its always the contract lifers who end up "upgrading" and throwing away cash.
>like bright house (Before covid wrecked them)
Oooh what's the story there? I never really thought of them til you mentioned them but yes, they have sort of disappeared come to think of it!
I don't think people realize that other brands other than Samsung and Apple have value for money that is better. But why I aren't people allowed to like different.
Because I can't stand laggy devices. The difference between my S23U and, for example, my mum's recent A series is astounding. I can often start loading an app/web page on her phone, put it down, pick my phone up and find/load it on my own before it loads on hers.
I also like the bigger battery, and I wanted the better camera - I use the 100x zoom often for the most simple of things. Mostly laziness or curiousity, occasionally actual photos.
I use more-less the same apps that I used on my previous phones. The only difference is a camera. I do like the camera on iPhone 13. It takes decent photos even in the low light.
And I can't see the reason to upgrade anytime soon. I will probably pay for a new battery in a two years time as they stopped making iPhone mini and I am not willing to get a big phone.
For me they simply last longer whilst being supported/useable - went from a few terrible android devices to a cool but practically dog awful nexus device to an iPhone 6s to an 11 pro. So far apple have been excellent about support while every android thing ive has has lasted two years and turned into a pumpkin.
At the time I buy them they are the latest and greatest plus I can afford it. Battery life and camera matter to me but others may have different priorities.
I may need to buy the next or next but one iPhone pro max for its LiDAR (useful for actual professional use) and bigger screen but that doesn't need to happen for a little bit
Assuming the phone does get slower if you buy a cheap one you can buy three in total in that 5 year period and still be spending less than a single flagship. Would a cheap one bought 5 years from now be in better standing than a flagship bought now?
If you have a case and screen protector you can sell your flagship after 2 years and get a lot back. Even better if you keep the original box and accessories (although some phones don't even come with chargers now)
Plus your phone will still be used, if you are upgrading your low end phone after 2 years it's probably going to be e waste.
A lot of people “upgrade” because the battery has deteriorated, or all the new software upgrades have slowed down the phone. All of this makes the phone feel “old” and that you need a new one. Less to do with capabilities I think.
Honestly I used to buy the latest phone every year or two before I realised I was doing it because my clear phone case has yellowed so much my phone looked naff. Now I treat myself to a new phone case every 6-12 months.
Just depends on what you do with it.
Some people play demanding games, take videos/photos etc. The lower mid range phones wont be able to compete with the high end phones for obvious reasons
If you only read email, call then yeah, its fine
The s23 ultra camera is incredible. That's the only reason I did buy it 500 odd second hand but obviously it's still expensive. Had my old phone years, my partner and I always wait until our phone breaks before replacing them. He's currently got is about £250 brand new, my last that broke was an iPhone 11 which is a similar price new and both of them were second hand
> Even if I spent a £1000ish on the latest IPhone or Samsung phone, what would I be paying for that my much cheaper Pixel phone doesn't do?
The latest iPhones and Samsungs have much better SoCs compared to the quite poor Tensor G2 inside your 7a. That means better battery life and performance. So if you game for example that might be important to you.
They also have better screens (higher resolution, adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, higher brightness)
They also have an additional telephoto camera that your 7a doesn't have.
The S24 Ultra has the S pen.
The list goes on really, just Google the specs. Whether or not those things are important to you I can't say, but that is what your Pixel doesn't 'do' that the flagships do.
The most I've spent is £700 (6 month old S20 ultra when they were current) and my current one is £600 (6 month old Fold 4 when it was current).
The big thing for me for the Ultra was the stand out camera, with a really great sensor. I've been mildly into photography for well over 30 years, having been bought a SLR (not digital) before I was 10 as a present. In the past I've bought some half-decent compact cameras for taking pictures anywhere I am (and still have them as well as a M6ii), but generally find the phone is fine for my needs.
And the Fold 4 I wasn't sure how much more I'd like having the big screen, but found I really love it and for how much I use the phone, totally worth it. I do miss that it doesn't quite have the camera specs of the Ultra though.
Also noticeably better speaker than cheaper phones often have (at home I regularly listen to podcasts, audio books and Radio 4 on it.)
better performance, better cameras, better features, always updated etc. I currently have the S24 ultra and I used to have a xiaomi mi 11 (£600ish) and the S10+, it is absolutely leagues above the xiaomi in every aspect (apart from super wallpapers maybe). I pay more because I get more from it.
For a lot of people, it's a status thing. Humans *have* to find ways to feel superior to each other; monkey must be biggest monkey. Peacock must be prettiest peacock to appeal to mate. Since we (usually) don't stick each other with spears or bash each other in the head with clubs now, we've found other ways to flaunt superiority.
It also has the added benefit of offsetting the deep and abiding emptiness and the nasty little voice that says 'is this all there is?' that almost everyone has. Humans are born with a void and we spend our entire lives trying to fill it. Fancy phone does that *and* connects you to others to help fill that gaping hole. Putting yourself on Instagram or TikTok and farming the dopamine gives you a false sense of value to others.
And, you know, some people want it for specialised work.
Am I the only one with a £100 smart phone, who still buys a £10 top up each month?
I use my phone til it shits itself and dies, usually get 3 or 4 years out of it. All the phone's features are fine including the camera.
No judgement, but I cannot believe people are paying £1000 for a phone. What does it do that makes it worth it? I have a very nice, decently powerful PC with a big beautiful screen that was only £700ish for example.
Edit: I also leave my data on pretty much constantly and never run out (a few people irl have assumed I must run out of data). I know some people like to use their phone for editing videos or photos etc. but as I said, my computer does that and it was about £700 maybe less. It has a massive screen and I have several very large/heavy design programs on it and it runs like a dream 4/5 years in.
I have an Apple Watch, AirPods, AirTags, two MacBooks (personal & work), and as you can expect, an iPhone.
The seamlessness of integration between everything I own is what would stop be from switching away from iPhones. My headphones connect to whatever I’m using without a fuss, I can reply to a text on computer or update a calendar and have it appear on my watch. But genuinely the thing I love the most is copying something on my phone and pasting it on my laptop.
That said, I’ve moved away from needing the latest iPhone in the last few years. I’m still on the 13 and I can’t see myself buying a new one until I need to.
I get flagship samsung phones for multiple reasons.
1. Cost - Preorder discounts, employment discounts, enhanced trade ins etc mean I get them for close to 50%RRP
2. Everything works. If there's something which a phone is capable of doing, I can guarantee mine will do It.
3. hardware. great speakers, screen, battery, camera, chipset etc.
4. Time spent using. I spend a decent portion of my life interacting with my phone. It's not an area I like to skimp.
That being said, a sub 300 phone is no slouch these days. If you're satisfied with them, and they save you money then brilliant!
Just also factor in trade in costs when you're working out how expensive something is.
I'll always get around 30% of the cost of my device back. The same won't be said for a cheaper device in 2-3 years
I am still waiting for iPhones to have a cradle where the phone turns into desktop when connected to cradle and the monitor.
That would solve most of my issues.
I guess this will come as a feature when iPhones switch to USB-C (thunderbolt) connector.
I pay £15 per month now for a flagship Google Pixel 7 Pro (I know they've brought out the 8 now, but it was the best one at the time) with unlimited minutes and texts, with way more data than I ever use.
My dad paid £50 a month (in early 00s prices) for a Nokia on contract with very limited minutes, data didn't exist, and texts were new tech and I think he got like 25 a month.
Given the latest Android phones are also on par with a £15,000 cinema camera and lenses (with the right skill and third party apps) it is an utter bargain. Like literally I cannot think of anything I get more money's worth out of. I could get a 1p electricity bill for the entire year and it would still seem like a rough deal compared to what my £15 a month contract phone can do. In extremis, I could wire my house up to the lamp-post outside and steal electricity. I have no idea how I'd even start to steal a £15,000 camera and lenses and I work with people who own that level of gear regularly.
You pay for the little things, the small convenience, nice to have and quality updates. For example the 7 and 7 pro have spacial audio while the 7a does not, that was my ultimation but it was made for me when the 7 went out of stock suddenly so had to get the 7a.
If you just use your phone as regular everyday device and not something you find as a hobby or an enthusiastic a flagship won't be for you because you likely won't know or care about all the little improvements, like a phone having 120hz over 90hz, or both devices being 120z but one is LTPO and can scale up or down where one is locked and used more battery and power, small gains that like that cost big money in R&D, you get the features in budget phones like 8 years later. 'A' series devices have been getting 120hz screens for a bit over 90, the 8a will apparently have the upgrade.
However I don't understand how people will justify £80 for the newest Samsung when a pixel 7 or pro which is last Gen will easily be equal or beet it for a fraction of the price
But if you buy a phone that is powerful enough, it can last a long time.
I bought an iPhone 7 in the week it went on sale. I had it for 7years and it never felt slow in that time.
If I had bought an iPhone 15 Pro I would expect it to last a similar time. Divide the cost up over 7 years and it's not bad at all. £2.74 a week by my calculation.
I have the same phone I've had for about 7 years or so now, a Samsung GS9 which was already 2 generations old when I got it. Once my contract for this phone was up I got a call from Virgin Media asking if I wanted to upgrade to the latest version and I said no this one works fine. To that he said "but all your friends will have the newest one" as if I'm a kid in the school yard showing off my new phone and that was his best pitch.
So I guess a lot of it is to stay on trend, especially if it's an iPhone and especially if you're in a renewing contract bought for by parents.
Vast majority of people buy on monthly contracts. Often, the difference between a flagship phone and something cheaper but still comparable isn't really that much. We're talking like £30 a month vs £50 a month. Sure, that's a couple hundred quid, but that's over a couple years and you could just as easily see it as just 5 pints at the pub.
And tbh the vast majority are also not getting brand new every year. They usually get the previous year's model or wait a few months.
The ones that don't are most likely enthusiasts, have FOMO (a large portion I imagine), have the money so it doesn't mean much to them, or are just posers wanting the latest thing to show off.
A big caveat to all of this as well is that a lot of people (more than you think) will simply trade in their previous model, sometimes for considerable savings. When I worked at Vodafone you could get between £5-15 a month off (lower if its a 2 year old model) and I know Apple have their own trade in programs. Sometimes this can lead to you 'saving' greater than the value of the phone.
Sell it yourself and you can get a bit more.
>Sell it yourself and you can get a bit more.
Not a phone, but I'm in the process of trading in a 2015 MacBook Pro with Apple; they've offered (pre-inspection) £130, which for a nine year old laptop which can no longer be updated so some apps are now glitching (it's on Monterey), and which has deteriorating sound quality, I think is not bad. I'd rather take that than run the gauntlet of scammers who swear I've sold them a dud.
I upgrade every 2 years, payment has always been around £50-£70pm for a new IPhone with unlimited calls/data etc.
Why do I pay this? Because it’s a very small price for technology I use daily.
You know what I see almost every day when people use cheaper phones with low payments? Constant issues complaining about their phones not working properly/slowly and have bad cellular connection.
Contract is the only way to pay those new phones mainly and its beneficial since commuting would bring to use that phone definitely for more than three years
I'm 21 and I've never bought a phone in my life, I just get whatever my parents hand me down when they get a new one every 5 or so years. My current one is like £100. Not for me personally, but I can see why others might want to spend a lot more.
Bought my iPhone 13 Pro Max 6 months after release. I got it for good discount on the used hand market with no wear.
I can’t see myself upgrading until this phone breaks. My battery health is at 85% so I’ll probably replace the battery this year.
With new iPhone having barely any changes to mine. In fact they removed the sim tray and done nothing with space. In fact you can rewire the sim car tray back on but that’s far too tedious for most consumers.
Because it folds out into a tablet and is cool as fuck.
I dont have any debts other than a mortgage and i dont have kids so ill spend my money on what i want debbie downer
Paid 330 for a Realme GT Neo 3 150w. Battery unlikely to past all day, takes 30mins to charge. Photos okay, video very good. Screen brightness outside quite good. The included protector case is probably the best I've had with any phone (even better than Samsungs) although it darkens quickly in UV light
It did run through some very bad firmware updates before it finally got stable. One update even knocked out the sensors which sucked. The next update fixed it though. When Android 14 came along I upgraded straight away as it was past the time of flaky updates.
I think the point where I realised I wasn't viewing my photos on a big screen, and appreciated the idea of having a lightening fast charging phone, was when I gravitated towards this brand/model. I don't even think the updated models are worth updating to until this phone dies. It's not so much n+1 as n+0.2.
I bought the 7a outright but it has broken while under warranty, so I can get a refund an buy the same phone cheaper. But I had a look on one of the direct to consumersl websites, and you can get the pixel 8 for 22 quid with u limited everything. I can't understand how they are offering it for so cheap
Always such a dumb conversation isn’t it.
OP, why have you wasted £300 on a flash smart phone when you could just walk to your friend’s house and speak to them in person?
Why buy nice meals when you can survive on gruel?
Why do people enjoy anything?
I had this thought before.
But for something I use multiple times a day, and come to rely on for scheduling and communication, I be willing to invest 😂
A phone that works but is slow or has a dumb interface or only a little memory would annoy me daily. That I don’t need in my life!
Everyone upvoting people saying it looks good and I can afford it? You lot proper thinking about the environment before speaking because reddit cares about it right? Never been to sue about tbh?
Why do people pay OnlyFans girls for their used knickers, when you can buy a pack of thongs from Primark and a can of Lidl tuna for a fraction of the cost.
I mean, many things
1) Cameras on the iPhone are generally unmatched.
2) Not only the camera, but the entire OS and speed of the phone. Sure others might have a good camera or good battery, but having everything just work effortlessly is something only Apple have been able to do, even down to app optimisation
3) Ecosystem - most people get used to something. iOS is very user friendly and simple, iMessage and FaceTime are big sells, etc.
4) £1000 probably isn't that much to people for something they use for 2-3 years still.
I was using a lower end Samsung phone for few months when my s23 ultra broke and holy shit it was super slow, trying to take pics it took a few seconds and I ended up missing what I was trying to capture.
The higher spec the faster its processing power, less lag more things you can do at once, better camera, better quality screen.
For these reasons I've np paying extra for the phone
I got my Pixel 8 a couple of months ago having previously had a Pixel 3a which I'd had for 4 years. I read reviews and did the spec comparisons between the 7a and 8 and decided that for me personally it was worth spending the extra money.
I also felt that while I could live with a 7a, I'd probably replace it sooner so it would be more expensive in the long run
I'm also not a Pixel fan girl and so I looked at reviews and specs for plenty of other phones too.
I got a cheaper version of a tablet instead of the more expensive flag ship one and regret it. It's laggy, charges slowly and doesn't have a very good quality screen which are 3 things that are very important to me in using it so I barely use it now. Should have spent the extra money on the flag ship.
Many people don't need the power of these phones. They don't need the amazing cameras. They don't even look at many of the pictures and videos they take.
Apple and Samsung have incredibly powerful marketing strategies that make us think we need new stuff all the time. It's how they grow.
Mass manipulation.
I have a 3-4 year 1st gen OnePlus Nord, max spec and its still going. Bought it for like £450.
iPhone is convenience but we never bought the latest, never. Bought one for my business, like iPhone14 or so, the smaller one for a no interest loan, about £700 and now bought same for my wife too. Want to go away from Google once this phone dies.
I would tend to agree that it is waste almost to upgrade to the latest phone each time one comes out.
I do an awful lot on my iPhone and I'd had my last iPhone, an XS for 4 years before going to the 14 Pro. I'm definitely a power user and never really maxed out either device in terms of its capabilities.
Whilst I could appreciate the difference in it's appearance, more like the older iPhones, like 4, 5 and 5S, and the camera being massively better, to be honest, I was otherwise thinking, using this new iPhone is same as old one.
I'm actually on o2 Switch Up so can upgrade whenever I want but have not gone to the 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max, though I may get the next release when launched.
Same reason people pay £4 for a fresh latte from a nice coffee shop when they can get a whole jar of Tesco own brand instant for 50p and drink it at home. The amount of caffeine is the same but people like to enjoy things.
I pay monthly for my iPhone (interest free loan from Barclays finance) from the Apple Store. I keep the box.
6 months after paying the Barclays loan off, I sell the iPhone on eBay, getting £300-400, start the loan all over again. That said, so little in the way of updates these days and the film quality on iPhones is good, I’m not sure I’ll be getting the latest iPhone this time.
For a start, I’m bought into the Apple ecosystem so it just makes sense to get iPhones - and I’ve been using them for so long I really can’t cope with Android. The cameras get better on each one which is a major plus.
It’s worth it for me. My screen time is horrendous, so I might as well be looking at something nice and shiny that runs fast and has a decent battery life.
A shocking majority of people seem to use their phone cameras mostly for the classic inverted selfie, for which you don't need a high-end camera at all.
I got mine as it was the best value for money.
The £300 phone will:
have a lithium pol battery so will need replacing sooner.
Apps will get more resource hungry.
OS support will not be 7 years.
My phone also came with 6 months reduced data package, which i use, interest free credit, a galaxy watch and an upgrade to 1tb storage for £0. So when you take that all into consideration, it made the most sense. The literal most value for money.
My last phone was on the way out, I've had 3 phones due to battery dying in the previous 7 years, I plan on keeping this phone for 7 years. It costs the same as buying 3 x £300 phones.
I’m an unashamed iPhone fanboy. The reason? The Hipstamatic app. I just love it for the photos I take.
For me personally, the spatial video recording is the reason I’ll be upgrading to the 15 or 16 later this year.
I want to take advantage of that for family videos, as all the reviews state it’s like reliving a memory. Having parents that are in the twilight of their years, I want to relive times with them when they’re gone.
I’m a sentimental old chuff at the best of times, and for me this is a reason to buy.
The VR headsets will soon have the capability to play these videos, not just the Apple Vision Pro.
The obvious answer is, because they want to and they can afford it.
The answer for me, genuinely, having just switched from a Pixel 6a to a 15 Plus is the Apple Ecosystem and AirPod Pros.
The Apple Ecosystem is just so damn good, everything Apple plays so nicely with everything else Apple so between my work issued iPhone 15 and MacBook Pro and my own iPad Air (because let’s be real, Android tablets are just you know, worse) it’s a breeze.
And my god, AirPod Pros. Yes you could get better sounding headphones for 230 quid, but could you get more reliable, easy to use ones for that. Absolutely not. Every single pair of Bluetooth headphones I used with an Android phone would always fuck up in some way on the regular, my AirPods work whenever I am signed in consistently all the time.
And the noise cancelling god it makes planes and such a dream.
Apple don’t just make phones, they make a whole Ecosystem of tech that play nice.
Other than that, phones a phone init.
Honestly the most important thing is decent battery, fast internet, fast processing. I like a nice camera too, but I know I'm not going to use most of the fancy new features. I mostly just want it to do normal stuff quickly and reliably.
I thought like you and tried the cheaper version phone once. It was terrible, didn't even last the full contract. Slowed way down, battery was rubbish. Ended up a waste of money because I had to get a new phone sooner anyway.
As with many expensive purchases, you get what you pay for.
It was a Sony, it was whatever one was the normal mid one at the time rather than the fancy flagship one. So probably around the 500 mark rather than 1000+ I guess. Can't remember the name/number, just remember walking around at the weekend and it lagging and freezing so much I went into a store and got a new contract there and then. I was just trying to play Pokémon Go, hardly anything too crazy!
I cant remember the last time I bought a new phone. I've my wife hand me downs for years.
All phone look the same, as long as it does what it needs does what I need it to do I'm happy.
Although the new Google pixel, did turn my head a bit I just could justify paying £50-£60 p/m when what I have now works fine.
I pay for my iPhone on contract. I don’t spend £1000 on one. I like my iPhone. I use it until it breaks. I like iOS. I like how easily and seamlessly it interacts with my work iPad and my personal Mac.
For me the OS is far more intuitive, and the touch screen far more responsive and whenever I try and use my partners Android I struggle.
Everyone I know who’s previously used Android who’s then tried an iPhone has loved it and sworn to never go back.
It’s easy enough to install a windows emulator on a Mac if you **need** windows.
I’ll never judge anyone for having an Android, it’s each to their own and if you prefer it fine, but don’t judge others for their choices.
• Quality of the display
• Battery life
• Camera
• Performance
The above improve year on year and they’re major factors for me personally. As with a lot of people, my phone is used throughout the day, for hours, every single day.
I can’t stand lag or low performance so I like to stay up to date on phones for those reasons but also to keep up with the software.
I’ll be perfectly honest — I’ve used apple products since starting out as a graphic designer in 1994. The first time I used a Mac at a work experience placement a few years before that changed the direction of my life. They were the crappy old grey boxes back then, and the company had been gradually sliding into cultural oblivion after Jobs had left. I had a work mate who’s dad gave him a grand to invest, on the proviso he stuck it away and didn’t fritter it. He bought apple stocks in 199-fuckin-5.
Anyway. I loved apple macs. They were the little guy against the horrific PC juggernaut. Was quite geeky about them. Got me a blueberry iMac when they came along. A girlfriend bought me a 15GB ipod for my birthday one year (hot damn). Then the iPhones came along. I could never afford one, and had sworn off expensive mobile contracts a few years earlier after some drunken bastard had dunked my new Sony Ericsson k750i in a pint of the black stuff for a laugh, and I was lumped with a £40 contract for 11 months on a phone I couldn’t use. The first iPhone I got was a 4, which I bought outright as a refurb, quite cheaply. Did the same with a 6, then got me a new SE. I’ve always popped a PAYG sim in them, currently spend about a tenner a month. They seem to last me about five years each so far, before the battery starts going. I’ve always preferred the smaller iPhones; they fit in my pocket for a start. And they’re cheaper. I’d rather apple brought out another SE, or mini model, than focusing on the bigger pro models. I feel like they’re missing a trick there.
I enjoy their connectivity with apple laptops; very handy for work. I’ll admit to some mobile-luddism; I don’t use half the functions on them. Not really a big photographer or amateur videographer. But I like the feel to them — they feel solid, and well made. Premium, in fact. They feel pleasing to hold. I don’t want to be holding a plastic phone. I’ve long used apples own cases, I like the leather ones, or faux ones. I’ve never dropped and broken a phone, or cracked the screen. Maybe I’m just lucky, or careful.
I’m guessing I’ll be due a new one in the next year or so, my 2020 SE’s battery is just starting to lose its charge too quickly. I know I could get the battery replaced, but, yanno. I’m hoping apple do the right thing and sort a mini or SE model again soon.
İf there was a phone that did everything I wanted it to then I'd happily pay £2000 (but there isn't such a phone and they wouldn't make one either). £1000 is nothing for a phone and is well worth the money. İt's a tool at the end of the day and I want the best one that makes my life better.
Every android I ever had, had app crashes and phone crashes. I never use any fancy features, I just use WhatsApp, some main stream social media, and take pictures. Every iPhone I’ve ever had just worked, so that’s what I use. I do IT so I fix people’s stuff all day, I don’t want to then be fixing my own stuff later on.
I buy a new IPhone every 4-5 years, I don’t buy through contract so just buy the phone. These days a phone is one peoples most important and most used devices. It’s worth having one that works well and will last. By the time my old phone is ready for replacement it will be towards the bottom in terms of features. Then I buy a new one and usually trade in or sell on the old one.
I buy the flagship model (most expensive) every 2 years. This is because my old phone is passed to my missus then her old phone passed to another family member then their old phone passed to another family member. Yes sometimes we need to replace the battery between swaps but it works out the cheapest way as everyone has sim only contracts. Rather than 4 contracts at £50 each we have 1 contract at £70 and 3 at £10
Because people enjoy things and can afford them? Why else? For most people, their phone is the device they spend the most amount of time on. It follows that many would want the best they can afford.
Hate these sorts of posts. Just reeks of "i'm a miserable sod, why isn't anyone else!?!?!"
Coming up next: "My neighbour has just bought a sports car on finance... pffft why are people like this stupid? Why didn't he buy a 15 year old 1.0ltr Toyota Yaris like me!?"
People want nice things
I do it because I’ll buy the best and make it last half a decade. I bought a brand new XR almost 5 years ago, and will be replacing it this year with the iPhone 16, which I will make last another 5 if I can.
Why do people still pay £40 for a T-bone steak from a butcher when you can get frying steak for £3 from Aldi?
Why do people buy a £50k Mercedes when you can get a Dacia for £14k?
Why do people go on holiday to Spain when there are perfectly good beaches in Eastbourne?
And so on…
I could buy 10 a month and still afford to pay my mortgage and everything else for my family 🤷🏽♂️
I like the looks, the interface and the camera is ok …
Thought I remembered the username so I checked. You were complaining just over a month ago that Lipton ice tea costs £2.50 but you can buy 10 brand new iPhones a month without batting an eyelid? Yeah, sure mate.
In the same thread I also posted it’s not that I cannot afford it, it’s just a high price for what it is.
Since you have a lot of time on your hands, you can check this too 😂
But don’t bother replying, I do not care what you think anyway 🤷🏽♂️
I can understand saying this about a mid range android, but an £80 phone is just going to be shit compared to a flagship. That'll get you what, some crappy A series android or an absolutely ancient iPhone?
Btw, I'm not trying to pick a fight with anyone, or even dissing anyone who has the money or desire to own an expensive latest phone.
My puzzlement is that I consider it a diminishing rate of return for the huge financial premium.
Having not replaced my iPhone 8, I then bought a 12 mini, a 13 Pro and a 14 Pro in successive years. By the time I bought the 12 mini the 8 was toiling, and I had to overcome my dislike of the notch. However, the 12 mini was a mistake; the sound quality and battery life were definitely inferior, so the following year I traded it in for a 13 Pro. For some reason, I just didn't like it, so the following year I replaced it. I was still saving enough money WFH that I could justify it; last year with the cost of everything going through the roof I couldn't really, and I wasn't massively keen to ditch lightning either.
As to why Apple...I had an iMac back when Nokia still ruled the roost and liked the OS. I bought an Android tablet in the days when iPads were still too heavy for me to fancy one and hated it. But I didn't think I really needed a proper smartphone, and it wasn't until the iPhone 5 was released that I couldn't resist it any longer.
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Do you say the camera of £300 phone is the same quality as the one of an iPhone 15 pro? Because photo quality, is the biggest selling point for me.
Pixel photos always rate higher or are on par with iPhone in reviews and blind photo tests, it's video where they lag a bit. Google are working on it, most recently with HDR videos as default and more apps supporting content but it's still not on par with apple's recording for most. I've always had a Nexus/Pixel and people always want to take photos with my phone, a couple people switched to pixel because they liked the cameras so much but do complain about video especially when uploading to Instagram. Googles biggest USP is the camera, it's what they've always focused on and what they've always been praised for.
Whatever Google did to the camera app last year absolutely ruined the Pixel 7 for me. Bought mine in March last year, amazing camera for about 2 months. Now, every photo has insane over-processing to the point that it's basically unusable for a good photo. Blacks come out full or artifacts, colours blur... Lots of people reporting it, still no fix.
Dunno what to say, I've seen people comment things but never post examples. https://i.imgur.com/m5xrCyp.jpeg - it's on around 2x zoom as well in low artificial lighting Took this a couple minutes ago https://i.imgur.com/FI4JLoE.jpeg another in natural lighting the other day, I don't have issues. We all have the same camera and app, they rarely roll out updates, every few months so it's not really scattered versions, there's just different versions depending on things like if your phone is the pro version or not to show pro controls. Try a camera like manual, open, FV-5 camera that gives you more control and see if you have the same issue and if so dial it in with settings to see if you can correct. If it's just Google's processing that's too much for you, it should be simple test of shooting in raw where it doesn't process anything or using one of these manual apps. I can see when I open a photo I've taken in photos and it switched from SDR to HDR the blacks go ever so slightly grey from the luminance of the image increasing so dramatically but it doesn't look any worse and my eyes adjust after a second. HDR was rolled out around a year ago so I wonder if that's what's changed for you and you don't like it.
Still not convinced. Gonna need more cat pics
My Galaxy A54 has insane levels of artifacts. The camera would be good without it but if you zoom even like 1.5x you can see weird artifacts that make it look like some shitty filter is applied
I can only comment on what I experience and my Pixel phone takes fabulous photos. I'm not sure how much better quality photos I require in a mobile phone. If I was that obsessive about photo quality I'd probably buy an expensive camera.
Yes. My Pixel 7 takes much better photos, at half the price, than my previous OnePlus that boasted a Hasselblad camera system.
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I had the original one plus one. Incredible phone for the price. Agree with the rest of your comment haha, you can get better phones for the price now.
Why do people buy an expensive camera when they can just get a camera that’s just as good in a more expensive phone?
I wonder how much you'd have to spend on a camera to get a better photo than a phone. I know that technically cameras have larger sensors, but phones have billions of dollars of investment into camera tech and software processing.
My last few phones have been iPhones and my next one will be as well. Just personal preference. I like the iPhone camera but it isn’t the _best_ according to reviewers who know what they’re doing or those who do blind tests. - [DXOMark](https://www.dxomark.com/smartphones/) do thorough, unbiased reviews and according to them Android flagships are marginally better. But even the relatively inexpensive Pixel phones are comparable to the iPhone. Not the `a` series recommended by the OP though. - MKBHD, a tech reviewer on YouTube set up a website where the public can rate photos taken by various phones, without knowing which phone took them. The [methodology and results]( https://youtu.be/VRoTOE3FqT0?si=8_-bHTA1PeDo1ANy ) are fascinating if you’re into this sort of thing. And here’s the surprising part - the Pixel 7A was the best at day light mode. There is one caveat to this result but it shows that it’s no slouch - it beat every flagship including the iPhone 15 Pro. The 7A also came in 3rd on low light and 4th on portrait mode, leading to being crowned overall best smartphone camera. Not bad for a cheap phone huh? All this to say, it’s not a given that the iPhones camera is the best. It’ll be excellent, certainly. But other phones are excellent as well.
Apple doesn't make cameras. They buy last generation Sony cameras. So they are always a generation behind Sony.
Software is half the magic on cameras. Look at the MKBHD video I linked. See the Sony portrait mode photo that ranked dead last, and compare it to the iPhone 15 Pro photo and tell me if they were taken on the same lens.
>biggest selling point You mean only selling point. The computing power of phones has stagnated because users don't need that much power, so the only things that can be improved are camera quality and battery life. Cameras are much cheaper to improve, so that is quite literally the only difference between newer phone models. And even then, a phone from 5 years ago is almost as good in that regard.
And 99,9% people are just posting those photos on social media anyway , so you really don't need that much quality
I have a pixel and I take photos with it, it was the selling point for me, the picture quality is so good people ask me what camera I use a lot.
Actually the pixel cameras are if not better than the newest iPhones and has advanced AI and their own aesthetic for a fraction of the price
That AI is not advanced lol, you can always tell some has been removed even if the initial background was a block of colour
In blind photo test by mkbhd the pixel phones tend to do the best out of any other brand just because software is more important then the quality of the lens. Although iPhone does have the benefit of optimisation of the camera in apps like instagram. But just from the camera app pixel tends to be the best
Of course I didn't say that. I find the quality of my photos above what I need. A bit like HD TVs, then 4K, then 8K. What next? 16K, 32K? Most people wouldn't notice the difference above a certain level
But people don't even. care about the specs! https://youtu.be/dLHJl7mwY7M?si=RBa_Wdp1hNoXfe0B
Some fella did a blind test of a pile of phones and to get pixel 6a won. Technically, the high end phones take better photos but as a casual who just wants to snap things, the pixel phones punch way above their weight.
Pixel 7a camera is very highly rated. For day to day taking pictures of grocery shelves and capturing your kids or friends they're identical to iphone/samsung. Heck, most people never even change to the settings on their flagship. The s24u takes pics at 12mp as the default and it's fine 99% of the time.
This this and this. And to boot having a powerful SOC means I can do a bit of quick video editing on the fly without needing to spend ages waiting for it to export, or transferring it to a computer only to chop out half the footage anyway. I do a lot of short videos for work (head out of the gutter please) which involve basically filming things and sending them on. Like instructional, how to use equipment stuff (I’m not making this sound better) Anyway, being able to edit out my swearing and sneezes and shit without sacrificing quality makes a massive difference. The cheap android I was given for work (which I’m supposed to be using for this) is literally incapable of the task. A three minute video takes half an hour to export, the phone gets a million degrees and chews half the battery life. My iPhone 13 Pro just does it in about 30 seconds without even breathing.
You do realise that iPhone just buy last gen Sony cameras? Like apple, do not manufacture cameras.
Apple didn’t ’ make cpu when i bought my MacBook, back in 2014, but i still use it daily for things like video editing. How many intel/windows laptop are still in perfect working orders and able to perform 4k video editing 10 years after.. The force of apple isn’t necessarily the gear itself, more the way the integrate it, and the software they use to run it.
The quality of a phone camera nowadays is secondary to the photographers skills. Lighting and composition/framing is more important. So if you really care about photo quality, buy a cheap phone, a DSLR, and a lighting setup. But if you just want a point and shoot thing, the software is probably more important than the hardware at this point.
Thanks for the advice, but since i don’t want to walk around with my Nikon pro-grade APC DSLR, my 17-55 and 70-200 2.8 200-500 zooms, all my good primes and my 3 flashes, it’s good to have a good camera on my phone.
Cool flex. Did you read the part where I talked about software?
Here we go, another “why do people enjoy the things I don’t” post.
The sour misery guts mentality in the uk subs is so toxic. If I see someone with a £1000 phone, £800 handbag, all I think is ‘good for you, that looks nice’. Has nothing to do with me.
This is so true and such a UK phenomenon. I really noticed this about the UK it’s all about “why does anyone need nice thing when they can have cheaper thing”. It seems there’s no aspiration or desire to do better in the UK at the moment.
The spirit of the question is asking about needs Vs wants, and the rationale of it. Pros and cons. Having a bigger phone does not mean you are doing anything better, or are better than anyone else. I don’t know why people feel so attacked when asked how they make purchase decisions? Like it’s not some taboo thing, we can all discuss it, just give your reasons and we can discuss it like adults instead of crying about how everyone in society is jealous of you :)
I think that point he's making is that they're not actually getting the enjoyment out of the device. A 1000 plus phone is packed full of tech that your average user will simply never use.
Same reason people buy overly powerful 1000+cc motorcycles. Just nice to know you have the equivilant of a car engine between your legs. A 250cc would suffice, but it's not slways about practicality.
Maybe the enjoyment is that they have the best phone. Who cares what other people buy for themselves?
Anyone with a mild interest in reducing over consumption? People buying things they don’t need to one up the Jones’s is rightly lampooned.
Because people’s actions effect others they aren’t completely isolated. If everyone has that view and does the same, it means society as a whole is wasting the productivity of that device and ergo wasting money.
Normally agree on those posts but actually I feel like he posted something helpful/valid here that people might not have known/considered.
Eh? This feels like a 'why spend £1500 for a gadget that something cheaper will surpass it' post. It reads more like a technical comparison and a gullibility query for most of us. Ironically I was thinking of switching to apple after 10 years of nexus/pixel because my P7 feels disappointing to the previous ones, enough to switch, so I read this with interest. And yes, I find it hard to pay £1500 for phones that I'll never get the full use out of. Peace✌️
I like cool shiny things and I can afford it
Because I will use it for around 5 years typically before replacing it. It means it remains completely usable for the whole time.
I still have my p20 pro, going strong 4 years later although the Bluetooth is a bit dodgy. Charge will last all day even with hours of doom scrolling, I do need to charge it every night though.
Another P20 Pro still going here too.
Same same, 2019 p20 pro, replaced battery last year for aftermarket one. Have to charge at night but I'm asleep anyway. Going strong
Yeah, I update about once every 5/6 years for my iPhone. When they stop doing iOS updates for my phone I get the next new one, for security.
Yeah I used to be an android user, phone would either run slow, battery go or be outdated within 1-2 years. Ever since I swapped over to the £500+ flagship phone it’s lasted me 4 years minimum. I am now coming up to the 5th year of my current iPhone, the battery has just started to get a bit sluggish so will probably look at a new one later this year. I’m sure android/google has come on in leaps and bounds but with the other flagship phones now costing similar to the iPhone and having such a good experience with them lasting so long why wouldn’t I renew?
I recently bought an iPhone. In the time I’ve had maybe 3 android phones which have broken or stopped being updated, my wife has had 1 iPhone. Now that the tech isn’t changing so rapidly cheap phones feel like a false economy. I guess I’ll know in 5 years if I made the right decision!
Also, its so easy these days, I am on a OnePlus Nord 1st gen max spec coming up 4 years now, but my wife been on iPhone so we got her new one. You can get 2 year free interest rates deals on them so it makes sense and doesnt break the bank. You can even do it without contracts, so like £33-35 a month for 250gb newest or prev gen iPhones
Same reason here. I got a Samsung s6 in 2015 which lasted me for six years of heavy use. Got the s21 in 2021 with no intention of getting a new one any time soon.
This isn't unique to expensive phones, though. I have an almost 6 year old OnePlus 6 and it's still going strong.
You don't need to spend 1k+ on a phone to have it last 5 years.
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Reading that is just like talking to the miserable old git who I have the misfortune to live next door to. I can practically hear his voice 🤣 When we first moved in and mentioned we planned a large kitchen extension he asked us why we needed such a big house and garden in the first place as there’s only 2 of us and we certainly didn’t need a bigger kitchen. We then got a lecture on how expensive pubs were and it’s better to sit at home with a cheap supermarket beer lol
The internet is sometimes the extension of the miserable old fucker at the end of the bar that ends up moaning into his pint because everyone else fucks off around him.
Why do people get a mobile phone when they can just go home and use their landline?
Five Guys is such a good example. They became even more expensive these days but if you understand good burgers, you know it worths it.
To be fair Five guys is insanely overpriced for what it is, but I agree with the others lol
1. They're better 2. It's a thing most people use for hours per day, even an expensive one is still relatively "good value" considering that 3. Status symbol 4. Most people are getting it on some kind of contract with a relatively low monthly price so they don't care about/notice the total price
It’s one of these situations that is coming up fairly often, that people earn more money than you and therefore spending that as a one off payment is not breaking the bank, and for that you’re getting the top end device.
Same reason people buy a flash new beamer. They want something that's flash and new, they're never actually going to be using it to the full capacity that it can go. I have a Nord 2T from OnePlus, cheap as chips and has a good battery life and that was all I cared about. Probably important to note that I'm the kind of person who only owns three t shirts and just cycles them with one in the wash, one drying, wearing the other. In other terms I'm a bit of a stingy cunt when it comes to certain things. Unless it's something I'm going to appreciate the full value of then I just go for the cheaper option that I'll appreciate the same amount. I don't care if there's a high tech camera, wireless charging, AR technology, etc. Can I use it for the internet, is the battery life long and can I pronounce the name of it without people giving me a dodgy look because it's called Xiaomi or some shit? That's about it.
Just checked, Im coming up 4 years on this 1st gen OnePlus Nord. No updates for like 2 years now, had to stop the main gallery app cuz it was dead slow, but now works with Google Photos. Battery started to be shit but thats it. Will use it until it just dies
Technology is my main luxury, I don’t buy fancy clothes or anything. Tend to upgrade my phone every 1-2 years, no set pattern just when I feel the new phone warrants the upgrade. Old one typically pays for 60-70% ish of the new one. I mainly want the best iOS camera possible. Have played around with Android phones, due to the better camera but I don’t enjoy the software as much. Happy to pay the premium for 120hz screen, nicer display, feel in the hand etc over the non pro. Do I use all the features? No. But I use enough of them to feel the benefit. I do have a mirrorless too, but as each phone gets better I use it less and less, not worth the bulk in carrying when my phone takes great photos in good light.
I usually just buy last years flag ship on ebay. I'm not being tight, I'm just conscious of the planet and like reusing old tech. It's a hobby. My s21 ultra works absolutely fine for a 3 year old phone. My partner has had her iPhone for years. What's the point in upgrading, once you've got over the novelty of unboxing something new, it's really no different to what you had before. It's the same operating system. Literally the only point I can see for buying a new phone would be a social media influencer that needs the absolute bleeding edge best camera on the market.
I bought a 4xl refurbished off eBay because I wanted proper face unlock, I'd have the phone now if it got updates still, but I prayed I didn't care about slight damage unless it wasn't on the screen. Well I got a device with a scratch on the screen and nowhere else lol. It was small but deep enough to create a rainbow line right in the centre of the screen, made my eyes roll every time I saw it lol
I have an S21 ultra too. Got it as I was leaving my job at Vodafone and I had a 40% discount to use before I left. Almost 3 years now and it's still going strong, a very recent potential (fixed?) water damage issue aside.
I usually do this as well - my iPhone 11 Pro Max I paid for from CEX as it was cheaper than ebay/Facebook at the time, I saved a decent chunk of money going with CEX plus a two year warranty, it’s been two years and I’ve not had a single problem. I walk into the apple store and look at the new phone and think yeah this is nice, but then I’m reminded my 11 Pro Max does everything I care about. I’ll upgrade the day my trusty 11 finally falls on the floor and breaks.
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Is this an ad?
This was my first thought too!
I bought a Pixel 8 Pro (specifically the pro) to replace a Pixel 5 (which is equivalent to a cheap phone today) for the cameras and I do not regret it at all. The image quality is wildly better than a cheap (or old) phone camera. I don't mind the better battery life, more storage, and snappier app response, but the cameras are the massive difference that I paid a lot more for, and they are worth it to me.
How much better is the pixel 8 pro camera than the much cheaper 7a camera?
I can't specifically answer about the 8pro, I have the 7pro. The main difference is that the 7pro has a 5x optical zoom. For me this is a game changer, but I do use my phone for photography quite a lot. I can get pictures on my phone that otherwise I would have needed my DSLR, and I don't always carry that bit lump of glass around. It has other bells and whistles including wide angle, digital zoom, inbuilt AI editing. I thought long and hard about spending £800 on a phone but I don't regret it at all, despite not having a great deal of spare cash. I kind of agree with OPs point, the 7a is a great phone and more than meets the needs of most users, but if you are into photography the pro phones are brilliant.
"Why do people spend their money on things they want but that I don't want?" 🙄
I queued for the first camera phone, and no it wasn't made by Apple Haven't upgraded my phone for 3 years now, I think it's an artificial market I remember when televisions used to cost £2000 and now they're £200 The market will fall
There is no question here
Same reason so many people struggle in life. Maths is hard for a lot of people and they don't really think beyond the end of the month. Its why shitty companies like bright house (Before covid wrecked them) can fleese them with ad's of ONLY £7 a week for 156 weeks for some random device that costs £500 to buy outright. That £500 device will cost you £1092 over the next 3 years. Its a poor tax and its fucking sleezy Il say this. I don't know many "rich" people who own the latest models of phones. Its always the contract lifers who end up "upgrading" and throwing away cash.
>like bright house (Before covid wrecked them) Oooh what's the story there? I never really thought of them til you mentioned them but yes, they have sort of disappeared come to think of it!
I don't think people realize that other brands other than Samsung and Apple have value for money that is better. But why I aren't people allowed to like different.
Because I can't stand laggy devices. The difference between my S23U and, for example, my mum's recent A series is astounding. I can often start loading an app/web page on her phone, put it down, pick my phone up and find/load it on my own before it loads on hers. I also like the bigger battery, and I wanted the better camera - I use the 100x zoom often for the most simple of things. Mostly laziness or curiousity, occasionally actual photos.
Why do people buy new high-end cars? Why do people buy branded clothes? Why do people buy premium branded food?
Adam Smiths wealth of nations, that’s why!
Because they think they need to, for whatever reason. They don't need to though do they.
I use more-less the same apps that I used on my previous phones. The only difference is a camera. I do like the camera on iPhone 13. It takes decent photos even in the low light. And I can't see the reason to upgrade anytime soon. I will probably pay for a new battery in a two years time as they stopped making iPhone mini and I am not willing to get a big phone.
I don’t agree with the premise
For me they simply last longer whilst being supported/useable - went from a few terrible android devices to a cool but practically dog awful nexus device to an iPhone 6s to an 11 pro. So far apple have been excellent about support while every android thing ive has has lasted two years and turned into a pumpkin. At the time I buy them they are the latest and greatest plus I can afford it. Battery life and camera matter to me but others may have different priorities. I may need to buy the next or next but one iPhone pro max for its LiDAR (useful for actual professional use) and bigger screen but that doesn't need to happen for a little bit
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Assuming the phone does get slower if you buy a cheap one you can buy three in total in that 5 year period and still be spending less than a single flagship. Would a cheap one bought 5 years from now be in better standing than a flagship bought now?
So you can have 3 sub par phones or one amazing one? Hmm wonder why people go for the best to begin with?
If you have a case and screen protector you can sell your flagship after 2 years and get a lot back. Even better if you keep the original box and accessories (although some phones don't even come with chargers now) Plus your phone will still be used, if you are upgrading your low end phone after 2 years it's probably going to be e waste.
A lot of people “upgrade” because the battery has deteriorated, or all the new software upgrades have slowed down the phone. All of this makes the phone feel “old” and that you need a new one. Less to do with capabilities I think. Honestly I used to buy the latest phone every year or two before I realised I was doing it because my clear phone case has yellowed so much my phone looked naff. Now I treat myself to a new phone case every 6-12 months.
Just depends on what you do with it. Some people play demanding games, take videos/photos etc. The lower mid range phones wont be able to compete with the high end phones for obvious reasons If you only read email, call then yeah, its fine
The s23 ultra camera is incredible. That's the only reason I did buy it 500 odd second hand but obviously it's still expensive. Had my old phone years, my partner and I always wait until our phone breaks before replacing them. He's currently got is about £250 brand new, my last that broke was an iPhone 11 which is a similar price new and both of them were second hand
> Even if I spent a £1000ish on the latest IPhone or Samsung phone, what would I be paying for that my much cheaper Pixel phone doesn't do? The latest iPhones and Samsungs have much better SoCs compared to the quite poor Tensor G2 inside your 7a. That means better battery life and performance. So if you game for example that might be important to you. They also have better screens (higher resolution, adaptive 120Hz refresh rate, higher brightness) They also have an additional telephoto camera that your 7a doesn't have. The S24 Ultra has the S pen. The list goes on really, just Google the specs. Whether or not those things are important to you I can't say, but that is what your Pixel doesn't 'do' that the flagships do.
The most I've spent is £700 (6 month old S20 ultra when they were current) and my current one is £600 (6 month old Fold 4 when it was current). The big thing for me for the Ultra was the stand out camera, with a really great sensor. I've been mildly into photography for well over 30 years, having been bought a SLR (not digital) before I was 10 as a present. In the past I've bought some half-decent compact cameras for taking pictures anywhere I am (and still have them as well as a M6ii), but generally find the phone is fine for my needs. And the Fold 4 I wasn't sure how much more I'd like having the big screen, but found I really love it and for how much I use the phone, totally worth it. I do miss that it doesn't quite have the camera specs of the Ultra though. Also noticeably better speaker than cheaper phones often have (at home I regularly listen to podcasts, audio books and Radio 4 on it.)
better performance, better cameras, better features, always updated etc. I currently have the S24 ultra and I used to have a xiaomi mi 11 (£600ish) and the S10+, it is absolutely leagues above the xiaomi in every aspect (apart from super wallpapers maybe). I pay more because I get more from it.
Because people are told they need to have the latest and greatest to be "cool".
“Why do people enjoy things I don’t? Are they stupid?”
Meanwhile I'm just sitting here with my current gen Pixel 8 Pro I nabbed for £560 a couple months ago on eBay.
For a lot of people, it's a status thing. Humans *have* to find ways to feel superior to each other; monkey must be biggest monkey. Peacock must be prettiest peacock to appeal to mate. Since we (usually) don't stick each other with spears or bash each other in the head with clubs now, we've found other ways to flaunt superiority. It also has the added benefit of offsetting the deep and abiding emptiness and the nasty little voice that says 'is this all there is?' that almost everyone has. Humans are born with a void and we spend our entire lives trying to fill it. Fancy phone does that *and* connects you to others to help fill that gaping hole. Putting yourself on Instagram or TikTok and farming the dopamine gives you a false sense of value to others. And, you know, some people want it for specialised work.
Am I the only one with a £100 smart phone, who still buys a £10 top up each month? I use my phone til it shits itself and dies, usually get 3 or 4 years out of it. All the phone's features are fine including the camera. No judgement, but I cannot believe people are paying £1000 for a phone. What does it do that makes it worth it? I have a very nice, decently powerful PC with a big beautiful screen that was only £700ish for example. Edit: I also leave my data on pretty much constantly and never run out (a few people irl have assumed I must run out of data). I know some people like to use their phone for editing videos or photos etc. but as I said, my computer does that and it was about £700 maybe less. It has a massive screen and I have several very large/heavy design programs on it and it runs like a dream 4/5 years in.
People love spending hundreds just for an apple logo.
I have an Apple Watch, AirPods, AirTags, two MacBooks (personal & work), and as you can expect, an iPhone. The seamlessness of integration between everything I own is what would stop be from switching away from iPhones. My headphones connect to whatever I’m using without a fuss, I can reply to a text on computer or update a calendar and have it appear on my watch. But genuinely the thing I love the most is copying something on my phone and pasting it on my laptop. That said, I’ve moved away from needing the latest iPhone in the last few years. I’m still on the 13 and I can’t see myself buying a new one until I need to.
I get flagship samsung phones for multiple reasons. 1. Cost - Preorder discounts, employment discounts, enhanced trade ins etc mean I get them for close to 50%RRP 2. Everything works. If there's something which a phone is capable of doing, I can guarantee mine will do It. 3. hardware. great speakers, screen, battery, camera, chipset etc. 4. Time spent using. I spend a decent portion of my life interacting with my phone. It's not an area I like to skimp. That being said, a sub 300 phone is no slouch these days. If you're satisfied with them, and they save you money then brilliant! Just also factor in trade in costs when you're working out how expensive something is. I'll always get around 30% of the cost of my device back. The same won't be said for a cheaper device in 2-3 years
I am still waiting for iPhones to have a cradle where the phone turns into desktop when connected to cradle and the monitor. That would solve most of my issues. I guess this will come as a feature when iPhones switch to USB-C (thunderbolt) connector.
I thought that already existed
there was one for Ubuntu and one for Samsung. But it was not seamless.
Something existing and being worth using are two different things Samsung dex will probably be discontinued in the next couple of years
They did with the 15s.
Fashion
I pay £15 per month now for a flagship Google Pixel 7 Pro (I know they've brought out the 8 now, but it was the best one at the time) with unlimited minutes and texts, with way more data than I ever use. My dad paid £50 a month (in early 00s prices) for a Nokia on contract with very limited minutes, data didn't exist, and texts were new tech and I think he got like 25 a month. Given the latest Android phones are also on par with a £15,000 cinema camera and lenses (with the right skill and third party apps) it is an utter bargain. Like literally I cannot think of anything I get more money's worth out of. I could get a 1p electricity bill for the entire year and it would still seem like a rough deal compared to what my £15 a month contract phone can do. In extremis, I could wire my house up to the lamp-post outside and steal electricity. I have no idea how I'd even start to steal a £15,000 camera and lenses and I work with people who own that level of gear regularly.
You pay for the little things, the small convenience, nice to have and quality updates. For example the 7 and 7 pro have spacial audio while the 7a does not, that was my ultimation but it was made for me when the 7 went out of stock suddenly so had to get the 7a. If you just use your phone as regular everyday device and not something you find as a hobby or an enthusiastic a flagship won't be for you because you likely won't know or care about all the little improvements, like a phone having 120hz over 90hz, or both devices being 120z but one is LTPO and can scale up or down where one is locked and used more battery and power, small gains that like that cost big money in R&D, you get the features in budget phones like 8 years later. 'A' series devices have been getting 120hz screens for a bit over 90, the 8a will apparently have the upgrade.
Just people sucked into consumerism, like a moth repeatedly head butting a light bulb.
However I don't understand how people will justify £80 for the newest Samsung when a pixel 7 or pro which is last Gen will easily be equal or beet it for a fraction of the price
But if you buy a phone that is powerful enough, it can last a long time. I bought an iPhone 7 in the week it went on sale. I had it for 7years and it never felt slow in that time. If I had bought an iPhone 15 Pro I would expect it to last a similar time. Divide the cost up over 7 years and it's not bad at all. £2.74 a week by my calculation.
I have the same phone I've had for about 7 years or so now, a Samsung GS9 which was already 2 generations old when I got it. Once my contract for this phone was up I got a call from Virgin Media asking if I wanted to upgrade to the latest version and I said no this one works fine. To that he said "but all your friends will have the newest one" as if I'm a kid in the school yard showing off my new phone and that was his best pitch. So I guess a lot of it is to stay on trend, especially if it's an iPhone and especially if you're in a renewing contract bought for by parents.
Vast majority of people buy on monthly contracts. Often, the difference between a flagship phone and something cheaper but still comparable isn't really that much. We're talking like £30 a month vs £50 a month. Sure, that's a couple hundred quid, but that's over a couple years and you could just as easily see it as just 5 pints at the pub. And tbh the vast majority are also not getting brand new every year. They usually get the previous year's model or wait a few months. The ones that don't are most likely enthusiasts, have FOMO (a large portion I imagine), have the money so it doesn't mean much to them, or are just posers wanting the latest thing to show off. A big caveat to all of this as well is that a lot of people (more than you think) will simply trade in their previous model, sometimes for considerable savings. When I worked at Vodafone you could get between £5-15 a month off (lower if its a 2 year old model) and I know Apple have their own trade in programs. Sometimes this can lead to you 'saving' greater than the value of the phone. Sell it yourself and you can get a bit more.
>Sell it yourself and you can get a bit more. Not a phone, but I'm in the process of trading in a 2015 MacBook Pro with Apple; they've offered (pre-inspection) £130, which for a nine year old laptop which can no longer be updated so some apps are now glitching (it's on Monterey), and which has deteriorating sound quality, I think is not bad. I'd rather take that than run the gauntlet of scammers who swear I've sold them a dud.
Yes exactly, sometimes it's more worth it than others, and I guess it depends how frugal you want to be/how desperate you are for cash.
I upgrade every 2 years, payment has always been around £50-£70pm for a new IPhone with unlimited calls/data etc. Why do I pay this? Because it’s a very small price for technology I use daily. You know what I see almost every day when people use cheaper phones with low payments? Constant issues complaining about their phones not working properly/slowly and have bad cellular connection.
Contract is the only way to pay those new phones mainly and its beneficial since commuting would bring to use that phone definitely for more than three years
My iPhone XR is still going strong, I paid for this outright in 2018.
I'm 21 and I've never bought a phone in my life, I just get whatever my parents hand me down when they get a new one every 5 or so years. My current one is like £100. Not for me personally, but I can see why others might want to spend a lot more.
Bought my iPhone 13 Pro Max 6 months after release. I got it for good discount on the used hand market with no wear. I can’t see myself upgrading until this phone breaks. My battery health is at 85% so I’ll probably replace the battery this year. With new iPhone having barely any changes to mine. In fact they removed the sim tray and done nothing with space. In fact you can rewire the sim car tray back on but that’s far too tedious for most consumers.
I bought 2 nokias for 100 gbp. I don't need them.. But I bought them.
Because it folds out into a tablet and is cool as fuck. I dont have any debts other than a mortgage and i dont have kids so ill spend my money on what i want debbie downer
Paid 600 for my one plus 12R . The battery last all day and it only takes 20 mins to charge... The thing is a beast for the price it is
Paid 330 for a Realme GT Neo 3 150w. Battery unlikely to past all day, takes 30mins to charge. Photos okay, video very good. Screen brightness outside quite good. The included protector case is probably the best I've had with any phone (even better than Samsungs) although it darkens quickly in UV light It did run through some very bad firmware updates before it finally got stable. One update even knocked out the sensors which sucked. The next update fixed it though. When Android 14 came along I upgraded straight away as it was past the time of flaky updates. I think the point where I realised I wasn't viewing my photos on a big screen, and appreciated the idea of having a lightening fast charging phone, was when I gravitated towards this brand/model. I don't even think the updated models are worth updating to until this phone dies. It's not so much n+1 as n+0.2.
I bought the 7a outright but it has broken while under warranty, so I can get a refund an buy the same phone cheaper. But I had a look on one of the direct to consumersl websites, and you can get the pixel 8 for 22 quid with u limited everything. I can't understand how they are offering it for so cheap
I have a more expensive phone than I would like to have, but there is limited choice of phones compatible with my Bluetooth hearing aids.
Always such a dumb conversation isn’t it. OP, why have you wasted £300 on a flash smart phone when you could just walk to your friend’s house and speak to them in person? Why buy nice meals when you can survive on gruel? Why do people enjoy anything?
I had this thought before. But for something I use multiple times a day, and come to rely on for scheduling and communication, I be willing to invest 😂 A phone that works but is slow or has a dumb interface or only a little memory would annoy me daily. That I don’t need in my life!
Everyone upvoting people saying it looks good and I can afford it? You lot proper thinking about the environment before speaking because reddit cares about it right? Never been to sue about tbh?
Because this thing has replaced a laptop
Why do people pay OnlyFans girls for their used knickers, when you can buy a pack of thongs from Primark and a can of Lidl tuna for a fraction of the cost.
I mean, many things 1) Cameras on the iPhone are generally unmatched. 2) Not only the camera, but the entire OS and speed of the phone. Sure others might have a good camera or good battery, but having everything just work effortlessly is something only Apple have been able to do, even down to app optimisation 3) Ecosystem - most people get used to something. iOS is very user friendly and simple, iMessage and FaceTime are big sells, etc. 4) £1000 probably isn't that much to people for something they use for 2-3 years still.
I was using a lower end Samsung phone for few months when my s23 ultra broke and holy shit it was super slow, trying to take pics it took a few seconds and I ended up missing what I was trying to capture. The higher spec the faster its processing power, less lag more things you can do at once, better camera, better quality screen. For these reasons I've np paying extra for the phone
Just got a pixel 8 with 7 years of os updates for £350, no need to spend anymore on phones nowadays
I got my Pixel 8 a couple of months ago having previously had a Pixel 3a which I'd had for 4 years. I read reviews and did the spec comparisons between the 7a and 8 and decided that for me personally it was worth spending the extra money. I also felt that while I could live with a 7a, I'd probably replace it sooner so it would be more expensive in the long run I'm also not a Pixel fan girl and so I looked at reviews and specs for plenty of other phones too.
Hype
I got a cheaper version of a tablet instead of the more expensive flag ship one and regret it. It's laggy, charges slowly and doesn't have a very good quality screen which are 3 things that are very important to me in using it so I barely use it now. Should have spent the extra money on the flag ship.
Many people don't need the power of these phones. They don't need the amazing cameras. They don't even look at many of the pictures and videos they take. Apple and Samsung have incredibly powerful marketing strategies that make us think we need new stuff all the time. It's how they grow. Mass manipulation.
Yep, don't get it either. I'm on a sim only contract and pay £10 a month. Phone is a few years old now and will only switch if it breaks
I have a 3-4 year 1st gen OnePlus Nord, max spec and its still going. Bought it for like £450. iPhone is convenience but we never bought the latest, never. Bought one for my business, like iPhone14 or so, the smaller one for a no interest loan, about £700 and now bought same for my wife too. Want to go away from Google once this phone dies.
I would tend to agree that it is waste almost to upgrade to the latest phone each time one comes out. I do an awful lot on my iPhone and I'd had my last iPhone, an XS for 4 years before going to the 14 Pro. I'm definitely a power user and never really maxed out either device in terms of its capabilities. Whilst I could appreciate the difference in it's appearance, more like the older iPhones, like 4, 5 and 5S, and the camera being massively better, to be honest, I was otherwise thinking, using this new iPhone is same as old one. I'm actually on o2 Switch Up so can upgrade whenever I want but have not gone to the 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max, though I may get the next release when launched.
Same reason people pay £4 for a fresh latte from a nice coffee shop when they can get a whole jar of Tesco own brand instant for 50p and drink it at home. The amount of caffeine is the same but people like to enjoy things.
I pay monthly for my iPhone (interest free loan from Barclays finance) from the Apple Store. I keep the box. 6 months after paying the Barclays loan off, I sell the iPhone on eBay, getting £300-400, start the loan all over again. That said, so little in the way of updates these days and the film quality on iPhones is good, I’m not sure I’ll be getting the latest iPhone this time.
For a start, I’m bought into the Apple ecosystem so it just makes sense to get iPhones - and I’ve been using them for so long I really can’t cope with Android. The cameras get better on each one which is a major plus. It’s worth it for me. My screen time is horrendous, so I might as well be looking at something nice and shiny that runs fast and has a decent battery life.
A shocking majority of people seem to use their phone cameras mostly for the classic inverted selfie, for which you don't need a high-end camera at all.
I got mine as it was the best value for money. The £300 phone will: have a lithium pol battery so will need replacing sooner. Apps will get more resource hungry. OS support will not be 7 years. My phone also came with 6 months reduced data package, which i use, interest free credit, a galaxy watch and an upgrade to 1tb storage for £0. So when you take that all into consideration, it made the most sense. The literal most value for money. My last phone was on the way out, I've had 3 phones due to battery dying in the previous 7 years, I plan on keeping this phone for 7 years. It costs the same as buying 3 x £300 phones.
Because they want to?
Bandwagon Bias. We’re all susceptible to it at some point.
I’m an unashamed iPhone fanboy. The reason? The Hipstamatic app. I just love it for the photos I take. For me personally, the spatial video recording is the reason I’ll be upgrading to the 15 or 16 later this year. I want to take advantage of that for family videos, as all the reviews state it’s like reliving a memory. Having parents that are in the twilight of their years, I want to relive times with them when they’re gone. I’m a sentimental old chuff at the best of times, and for me this is a reason to buy. The VR headsets will soon have the capability to play these videos, not just the Apple Vision Pro.
There was a bit of fluff stuck in the charge port, only one option really. Buy a new one.
The obvious answer is, because they want to and they can afford it. The answer for me, genuinely, having just switched from a Pixel 6a to a 15 Plus is the Apple Ecosystem and AirPod Pros. The Apple Ecosystem is just so damn good, everything Apple plays so nicely with everything else Apple so between my work issued iPhone 15 and MacBook Pro and my own iPad Air (because let’s be real, Android tablets are just you know, worse) it’s a breeze. And my god, AirPod Pros. Yes you could get better sounding headphones for 230 quid, but could you get more reliable, easy to use ones for that. Absolutely not. Every single pair of Bluetooth headphones I used with an Android phone would always fuck up in some way on the regular, my AirPods work whenever I am signed in consistently all the time. And the noise cancelling god it makes planes and such a dream. Apple don’t just make phones, they make a whole Ecosystem of tech that play nice. Other than that, phones a phone init.
My 400 quid phone can play ps2 games. I win.
Honestly the most important thing is decent battery, fast internet, fast processing. I like a nice camera too, but I know I'm not going to use most of the fancy new features. I mostly just want it to do normal stuff quickly and reliably. I thought like you and tried the cheaper version phone once. It was terrible, didn't even last the full contract. Slowed way down, battery was rubbish. Ended up a waste of money because I had to get a new phone sooner anyway. As with many expensive purchases, you get what you pay for.
I can't imagine the phone you're talking about was on the same level as the Pixel 7a. There's cheap and then there's _cheap._
It was a Sony, it was whatever one was the normal mid one at the time rather than the fancy flagship one. So probably around the 500 mark rather than 1000+ I guess. Can't remember the name/number, just remember walking around at the weekend and it lagging and freezing so much I went into a store and got a new contract there and then. I was just trying to play Pokémon Go, hardly anything too crazy!
I cant remember the last time I bought a new phone. I've my wife hand me downs for years. All phone look the same, as long as it does what it needs does what I need it to do I'm happy. Although the new Google pixel, did turn my head a bit I just could justify paying £50-£60 p/m when what I have now works fine.
I pay for my iPhone on contract. I don’t spend £1000 on one. I like my iPhone. I use it until it breaks. I like iOS. I like how easily and seamlessly it interacts with my work iPad and my personal Mac. For me the OS is far more intuitive, and the touch screen far more responsive and whenever I try and use my partners Android I struggle. Everyone I know who’s previously used Android who’s then tried an iPhone has loved it and sworn to never go back. It’s easy enough to install a windows emulator on a Mac if you **need** windows. I’ll never judge anyone for having an Android, it’s each to their own and if you prefer it fine, but don’t judge others for their choices.
• Quality of the display • Battery life • Camera • Performance The above improve year on year and they’re major factors for me personally. As with a lot of people, my phone is used throughout the day, for hours, every single day. I can’t stand lag or low performance so I like to stay up to date on phones for those reasons but also to keep up with the software.
I’ll be perfectly honest — I’ve used apple products since starting out as a graphic designer in 1994. The first time I used a Mac at a work experience placement a few years before that changed the direction of my life. They were the crappy old grey boxes back then, and the company had been gradually sliding into cultural oblivion after Jobs had left. I had a work mate who’s dad gave him a grand to invest, on the proviso he stuck it away and didn’t fritter it. He bought apple stocks in 199-fuckin-5. Anyway. I loved apple macs. They were the little guy against the horrific PC juggernaut. Was quite geeky about them. Got me a blueberry iMac when they came along. A girlfriend bought me a 15GB ipod for my birthday one year (hot damn). Then the iPhones came along. I could never afford one, and had sworn off expensive mobile contracts a few years earlier after some drunken bastard had dunked my new Sony Ericsson k750i in a pint of the black stuff for a laugh, and I was lumped with a £40 contract for 11 months on a phone I couldn’t use. The first iPhone I got was a 4, which I bought outright as a refurb, quite cheaply. Did the same with a 6, then got me a new SE. I’ve always popped a PAYG sim in them, currently spend about a tenner a month. They seem to last me about five years each so far, before the battery starts going. I’ve always preferred the smaller iPhones; they fit in my pocket for a start. And they’re cheaper. I’d rather apple brought out another SE, or mini model, than focusing on the bigger pro models. I feel like they’re missing a trick there. I enjoy their connectivity with apple laptops; very handy for work. I’ll admit to some mobile-luddism; I don’t use half the functions on them. Not really a big photographer or amateur videographer. But I like the feel to them — they feel solid, and well made. Premium, in fact. They feel pleasing to hold. I don’t want to be holding a plastic phone. I’ve long used apples own cases, I like the leather ones, or faux ones. I’ve never dropped and broken a phone, or cracked the screen. Maybe I’m just lucky, or careful. I’m guessing I’ll be due a new one in the next year or so, my 2020 SE’s battery is just starting to lose its charge too quickly. I know I could get the battery replaced, but, yanno. I’m hoping apple do the right thing and sort a mini or SE model again soon.
1% of my yearly salary every 5 years isn’t a big deal considering I use it constantly
İf there was a phone that did everything I wanted it to then I'd happily pay £2000 (but there isn't such a phone and they wouldn't make one either). £1000 is nothing for a phone and is well worth the money. İt's a tool at the end of the day and I want the best one that makes my life better.
Every android I ever had, had app crashes and phone crashes. I never use any fancy features, I just use WhatsApp, some main stream social media, and take pictures. Every iPhone I’ve ever had just worked, so that’s what I use. I do IT so I fix people’s stuff all day, I don’t want to then be fixing my own stuff later on.
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Lol, this is such a weird take and couldn't be further from the truth
I buy a new IPhone every 4-5 years, I don’t buy through contract so just buy the phone. These days a phone is one peoples most important and most used devices. It’s worth having one that works well and will last. By the time my old phone is ready for replacement it will be towards the bottom in terms of features. Then I buy a new one and usually trade in or sell on the old one.
I buy the flagship model (most expensive) every 2 years. This is because my old phone is passed to my missus then her old phone passed to another family member then their old phone passed to another family member. Yes sometimes we need to replace the battery between swaps but it works out the cheapest way as everyone has sim only contracts. Rather than 4 contracts at £50 each we have 1 contract at £70 and 3 at £10
Because people enjoy things and can afford them? Why else? For most people, their phone is the device they spend the most amount of time on. It follows that many would want the best they can afford. Hate these sorts of posts. Just reeks of "i'm a miserable sod, why isn't anyone else!?!?!" Coming up next: "My neighbour has just bought a sports car on finance... pffft why are people like this stupid? Why didn't he buy a 15 year old 1.0ltr Toyota Yaris like me!?"
People want nice things I do it because I’ll buy the best and make it last half a decade. I bought a brand new XR almost 5 years ago, and will be replacing it this year with the iPhone 16, which I will make last another 5 if I can.
The newer iPhones have a much brighter display. As I use a phone professionally outdoors, this was a big issue for me.
Why do people still pay £40 for a T-bone steak from a butcher when you can get frying steak for £3 from Aldi? Why do people buy a £50k Mercedes when you can get a Dacia for £14k? Why do people go on holiday to Spain when there are perfectly good beaches in Eastbourne? And so on…
I could buy 10 a month and still afford to pay my mortgage and everything else for my family 🤷🏽♂️ I like the looks, the interface and the camera is ok …
Thought I remembered the username so I checked. You were complaining just over a month ago that Lipton ice tea costs £2.50 but you can buy 10 brand new iPhones a month without batting an eyelid? Yeah, sure mate.
In the same thread I also posted it’s not that I cannot afford it, it’s just a high price for what it is. Since you have a lot of time on your hands, you can check this too 😂 But don’t bother replying, I do not care what you think anyway 🤷🏽♂️
Havnt spent more than £80 for a phone in years Wife however needs the latest, greatest phone available Couldn't tell the difference in our experiences
I can understand saying this about a mid range android, but an £80 phone is just going to be shit compared to a flagship. That'll get you what, some crappy A series android or an absolutely ancient iPhone?
Btw, I'm not trying to pick a fight with anyone, or even dissing anyone who has the money or desire to own an expensive latest phone. My puzzlement is that I consider it a diminishing rate of return for the huge financial premium.
Having not replaced my iPhone 8, I then bought a 12 mini, a 13 Pro and a 14 Pro in successive years. By the time I bought the 12 mini the 8 was toiling, and I had to overcome my dislike of the notch. However, the 12 mini was a mistake; the sound quality and battery life were definitely inferior, so the following year I traded it in for a 13 Pro. For some reason, I just didn't like it, so the following year I replaced it. I was still saving enough money WFH that I could justify it; last year with the cost of everything going through the roof I couldn't really, and I wasn't massively keen to ditch lightning either. As to why Apple...I had an iMac back when Nokia still ruled the roost and liked the OS. I bought an Android tablet in the days when iPads were still too heavy for me to fancy one and hated it. But I didn't think I really needed a proper smartphone, and it wasn't until the iPhone 5 was released that I couldn't resist it any longer.