Have we reached a plateau?

Snotty

7/8 years ago a new phone every year or 2 was essential, new advancements and older phones beginning to fail (battery, hardware, software) almost made it a necessity, but has that changed? When I'm upgrading now, it's more as a treat and rarely that the old phone is end of life. The new phone will have "some" better spec, be it camera, 5G, battery etc but I'm not sure I've actually needed any new spec since the oneplus one days, but of course each new model brings lots of "nice to have" feature.

Quantum Erasure

My current phone is 7 or 8 years old, so...

Atlantic Dawn

For me best improvement has been battery life, 5000mh is the new base model I'd get. Not really bothered with 5G, having 4G has been more than enough for me, can't see the need for it.

Yes. I would say we're getting close to the stage of laptops now, i.e. buying a new one only because the old one is failing rather than due to the excitement of new features.

GBX

Yeah. Definitely. Only small improvements coming along these days.

dzsfah2xoynme9

Phones are getting way more expensive with less features. The new Samsungs are a prime example. No micro sd, no headphone jack. Not even headphones or chargers in the box.

LollipopJimmy

I used to get a phone every 12 months, stopped that when I held onto the Galaxy S8+ for 2 years and now I'm on an S10+ since launch and my mother is still.using the aforementioned S8 which is still flawless after about 3 and a half years use.

I dont see myself getting anything else until this s10 fails.

sugarman

sugarman wrote: »

That was the case up until a year or 2 ago, but AMDs Ryzen mobile range of CPUs are an absolute game changer in laptops these days.

4 core/ 8 thread CPUs as entry level standards with just 15w TDP which can mean upwards of 12hrs battery life in some cases. On board graphics are also the equivalent of dedicated mobile graphics cards that would have come in high end gaming laptops at the cost of a few hundred.

Id argue the computer world stood relatively still for a decade or so between late 00s and late 10s but the last 2 years have been fairly revolutionary.

I think we're in the middle of that 10 year slump with mobile phone improvements at the moment, where things are marginal and "nice" to haves rather than key features.

I wouldn't say any of that is "game changing" but just making entry level laptops more similar to higher end laptops of years ago. My 6 year old laptop (XPS 13) had 8 hours of battery life at purchase (obviously less now) and most laptop owners aren't gamers. And even if they were, improvements in onboard graphics isn't a new feature, it just means you can pay less for the same graphics power.

The new Ryzen processors are great but again are of no real benefit to most. My XPS 13 can handle photo and video editing and processor-heavy tasks and is not noticeably slower than my < 1 year old desktop.

Most people who use both their phones and laptops for typical use cases (browsing internet, light gaming, reading books and even taking photos) have no real reason to be excited to upgrade in either case anymore. The dramatic improvements in just camera quality over the years for example was enough to upgrade for me. Comparing the camera quality of my Pixel 3a to a similarly priced phone of 6 years ago would make it obvious why I upgraded, but I doubt I'll see much of an upgrade in camera quality in 6 years time to be worthy of excitement.

Irishphotodesk

So... Are you people getting the phones on contracts or just buying them outright ?

Can't afford a new phone but choose not to tie myself into 18/24month contracts where I'm paying over the odds for a phone, I was gifted my current Moto g6 play for a birthday almost 2yrs ago, before that I was using a Samsung s7 .

From a work perspective it's important to have the latest and fastest but from a personal/financial perspective, other things are more important.

duffman13

Alicia Square Shipyard wrote: »

Phones are getting way more expensive with less features. The new Samsungs are a prime example. No micro sd, no headphone jack. Not even headphones or chargers in the box.

Pretty much this for me. I had an s7 edge up until s10 launched. Battery life was the main reason I upgraded.

I've had Samsung for the best part of 11 years now and I dont think ill buy another. Screen was badly scratched in my pocket after a few hours walking around and I dont want to justify 1000 for a phone to myself anymore. If something significant comes along that's a must have then maybe. But my next phone will be a cheaper android

beauf

sugarman wrote: »

That was the case up until a year or 2 ago, but AMDs Ryzen mobile range of CPUs are an absolute game changer in laptops these days.

4 core/ 8 thread CPUs as entry level standards with just 15w TDP which can mean upwards of 12hrs battery life in some cases. On board graphics are also the equivalent of dedicated mobile graphics cards that would have come in high end gaming laptops at the cost of a few hundred.

Id argue the computer world stood relatively still for a decade or so between late 00s and late 10s but the last 2 years have been fairly revolutionary.

I think we're in the middle of that 10 year slump with mobile phone improvements at the moment, where things are marginal and "nice" to haves rather than key features.

The real game changer in laptops is the Apple M1 chips. Same processing power as a top end CPU but 20hr battery life. It's like you just got 4x battery life for free.

murphyebass

Never understood lads buying phones every year or two.

I have an iPhone 7 now only because the company made me upgrade from the iPhone 5 which I had for the previous 7 years!

Was a great phone. Only issue was the battery needed to charged a lot.

listermint

beauf wrote: »

The real game changer in laptops is the Apple M1 chips. Same processing power as a top end CPU but 20hr battery life. It's like you just got 4x battery life for free.

Remains to be seen.

I hate when people proclaim game changer when they haven't used something

beauf

As for phone's I stopped buying expensive phone's a long time ago. My current phone is €120 4gb RAM, 64GB, 4000 mAh, fast charging, midrange CPU. The only real weakness is a tiny bit of bloat, non standard OS poor front camera and ok back camera. It's 2-3yrs old. Dual SIM.

Next upgrade will be something with better camera, stereo speakers, stock Android (if I can get it) I won't get bigger battery, they are too heavy. May have Faster or wireless charging.

It won't be more then 250 though. I haven't had a contract in 10yrs or more. Don't need it.

I like a new phone every year and there’s still enough for me to keep doing it. iPhones lately but if something extra interesting comes along in another brand I’ll take a look.

Mrcaramelchoc

beauf wrote: »

As for phone's I stopped buying expensive phone's a long time ago. My current phone is €120 4gb RAM, 64GB, 4000 mAh, fast charging, midrange CPU. The only real weakness is a tiny bit of bloat, non standard OS poor front camera and ok back camera. It's 2-3yrs old. Dual SIM.
.

Which phone is it?

What more can they do with phone s? Longer life battery maybe screens can't get to big or they'll be awkward to carry.
And most top end phones besides Apple are fixable.

beauf

I came from a Windows phone. That was a better OS than Android or IOS. Even Swype texting was vastly better on the windows phone as was memory management. Just everything was better except for the app store. I can do things on a Windows phone that you still can't do on Android or IOS. Both those OS are ancient. They are like Win 3.1

chewed

Battery life used to be important for me in a new phone. but now that we're in lockdown and I don't have to commute, battery life is not an issue anymore.

NIMAN

I never really got the demand for folks to keep changing their phones so often, but then again I always bought a 2nd hand phone and was happy with a Sony Z5 compact for many years, and when that got a broken screen I changed to a Samsung S7, which is serving me well for the last few years. Think I spent about £90 on each of them. They do what I need from a phone.

I do know plenty though who changed phones very regularly. Not sure why, but it was their money so if they wanted the latest one, fair play to them.

From reading reviews over the years, it does appear that there isn't much more they can add to phones now to make them more desirable than the previous model. Unless the ones with foldable screens get more affordable, I do think the number of people upgrading every year or two wil slow down.

beauf

Mrcaramelchoc wrote: »

Which phone is it?/quote]

Redmi note.

sydthebeat

I had contract phones all the way back from the NEC G9 up until around the Samsung S7 period. I would upgrade to a mid range with a 12 / 18 / 24 month contract. Some phones were OK, but I found a lot depreciated quickly enough. Eventually I saw that I was spending way over the odds on a mid range which could get broken at any stage, could get bricked after updates, couldn't do everything I wanted through available apps etc

I moved to my first non tied phone back in 2017 when I went for the xiaomi mi A1 and I was blown away by the quality of phone I could get at a very reasonable price.. Full android one as well, so no bloatware.... Which allowed me to move to a rolling one month contract for way less than I had been paying. That A1 lasted until the pocophone F1 came out, which I am still using now. Pretty much as flagship level phone for €350 back at the end of 2018. The sd 845 is as good today as the day it came out of the box, and slight deterioration of the 4000amh battery but still get over 24hrs use. Kept its value very well as they still are 75% of the initial price.

I'm at the stage of looking at what's on the market to see if there's anything to entice me to change over, but nothing ground breaking has tempted me yet.
The mi 11 Pro will be out in the coming months with 80w wireless charging and v the sd 888 which could be a huge attraction, but I'll wait to see the entry price.

Snotty

beauf wrote: »

I can do things on a Windows phone that you still can't do on Android or IOS.

The app store was the killer for me, I can't remember what app it was that tipped me over but I do remember not being able to get one particular app and buying an android the next day, might have a banking app.

Out of interest, what could be done on Windows phone that can't be done on android or IOS?

youcancallmeal

We've definitely plateaued hardware wise imo. CPU performance, display quality, camera picture quality have been quite good for most phones released in the last 2 years. If a new battery technology emerges in the near future that's the only area I can see hardware innovation happening. Imagine a flagship smartphone that weighs less than 200g and lasts a week on a single charge!

Foldable phones are quite innovative and will get cheaper but personally the form factor doesn't appeal to me. I just want to take my phone out and quickly start doing what I want to do, that is so much easier with the current 'rectangle' form factor. I'm sure I'll eventually get a foldable though and see for myself.

I think the future is manufacturers differentiating themselves based on software offerings, basically like what Samsung are doing right now. They have a strong ecosystem which pulls you in making a switch to another Android oem feel like you're missing key functionality

Buddy Bubs

I got samsung s20 just before Christmas. Despite specs and all being more impressive it is absolutely no better or useful than the HTC One I got in 2013. Can't do anything on it that the HTC couldn't, don't think the battery is any better, don't think the screen is any sharper and it's no better designed or better looking. Screen is bigger but actually too big I think.
The HTC was way ahead at the time in fairness, don't know where they went to they lost their way a bit after that Era apparently.


My smartphone history is iPhone 3s then to HTC one (big jump there in quality) then to a Samsung s6 edge when that stopped working I moved to a Huawei p30 then to my current s20.

None have impressed me as being any better than the one previous since the HTC, despite being impressed with the Huawei being good value for a brand I hadnt heard of before. It was the match for the Samsung s6 that came before it and to be honest it's a match for the s20 that came after it.

Most people in work have the cheaper Samsung a51 and a70 and they're as good as the s range in everyday use too.

Testament1

Buddy Bubs wrote: »

I got samsung s20 just before Christmas. Despite specs and all being more impressive it is absolutely no better or useful than the HTC One I got in 2013. Can't do anything on it that the HTC couldn't, don't think the battery is any better, don't think the screen is any sharper and it's no better designed or better looking. Screen is bigger but actually too big I think.

The HTC was way ahead at the time in fairness, don't know where they went to they lost their way a bit after that Era apparently.

I went from a HTC U11 to an S20 Ultra last year. Definitely found the display to be much nicer on the Ultra. Having said that my favourite phones that I've owned have been HTCs. The One M7 was so much better than its rivals at the time, that metal body and the trademark top and bottom speaker grill was so great looking. I couldn't bring myself to put a case on that phone as it felt so good in hand. Held up pretty well too actually.

The U11 with the gorgeous reflective blue glass back is still amazing to look at. I really wish that HTC could've gotten it together and released another top quality flagship. Used the U11 for about 3 years I think, battery life was gone awful and it had started to lag a lot. HTC were awful at updates too. Took forever for an update to be published and when it was it inevitably messed something up.

brunkonjaa

I'm using SM-A715F and it's fantastic.
Best phone I had was HTC M7 running ViperRom.
I have to add that majority of phones can be upgraded by rooting which in turn allows for system modifications.
Been doing that since 2011, I still use that old HTC M7 as a remote for one of my TVs.

AngryLips

beauf wrote: »

The real game changer in laptops is the Apple M1 chips. Same processing power as a top end CPU but 20hr battery life. It's like you just got 4x battery life for free.

But again, that's not really a game change for the general consumer either, just for a small cohort of on-the-road power users. Most people think nothing of plugging their laptop in to charge given that most of the time that use takes place in the home.

beauf

AngryLips wrote: »

But again, that's not really a game change for the general consumer either, just for a small cohort of on-the-road power users. Most people think nothing of plugging their laptop in to charge given that most of the time that use takes place in the home.

The general consumer mostly use their phones not a laptop.

A CPU that consumes 25% the energy to do more work faster is a game changer. Even if most people only use their laptop as a glorified typewriter is largely missing the point.

beauf

Snotty wrote: »

The app store was the killer for me, I can't remember what app it was that tipped me over but I do remember not being able to get one particular app and buying an android the next day, might have a banking app.

Out of interest, what could be done on Windows phone that can't be done on android or IOS?

There was load of stuff. One of my favorites was live tiles for different inboxes and even different folders within the same account. There was a kids mode and the file handling especially with SD cards was vastly superior. It also ran really well on cheap low powered phones.

But yeah the app store killed it, and Microsoft buying Nokia and ignoring it for a years, and then focusing on the high end, but delivering no high end phones. It was like a puppy bought at Xmas then neglected come new year.

beauf

listermint wrote: »

Remains to be seen.

I hate when people proclaim game changer when they haven't used something

I guess I shouldn't believe the earth is round unless I've seen it either

The Apple chip is a game changer, the numbers speak for themselves. But how influential it will certainly remains to be seen. Its not without its issues for sure.

beauf

Anyway back to phones. A budget phone these days is vastly better than the budget smart phones of old. The amount of bang for buck is incredible.

I still have the same issues though, poor speakers and poor cameras on the low end phones. But not everyone cares about that.

Royale with Cheese

I've been on Android since about 2010, pretty much always kept my phones for two years. The last switch up I made was from a Galaxy S8+ to a OnePlus 7 pro in 2018. I remember after the initial setup was finished thinking there's very little difference here.

The battery life on all my phones has always been complete rubbish after two years, between that and my parents wanting a hand me down to replace whatever ancient thing they were using I'd just buy a new phone. Not happening this time. Since lockdown I've not been leaving my phone plugged in over night so it's not sitting at 100% for hours on end, it's coming up on two years old now and still comfortably lasts the day. I know OnePlus have added smart charging to their flavour of Android 11 (still waiting for it on the 7 pro unfortunately) and it's built into iOS by default now so the main reason most people will have for upgrading at two years isn't going to be such a problem anymore.

Also I love the pop up front camera on the 7 pro (because I never use it) and the lack of a punch hole eating into the screen. Buying something new and losing that would feel like a downgrade, the phone is still lightning quick for what I use it for.

loyatemu

as a veteran of cheap Android phones (I've never paid more than about €200, often much less) my current phone, a Nokia 6.1 is far and away the best and most reliable one I've ever had. I've had it 2 and 1/2 years and it's still perfectly fine, I'd never previously kept one for more than 2 years and I'd have been itching for a change at that stage:

Fast enough for everyday use (I don't play phone games)
Decent battery life
Enough storage for apps (64GB) plus SD card slot
It's AndroidOne so it has received 2 major updates and will get another 6 months of security updates.
Aluminium frame + gorilla glass means it's mostly indestructible.

Every previous cheapo phone I've had has slowed down, or become buggy, or the battery life has gone to sh!t, I've been running out of storage, or has been missing some new feature due to not getting Android updates or having some crappy manufacturer version of Android on it. In many cases I've gone down the road of modding to get missing features or fix bugs, which is frankly a PITA and something I've no interest in doing any more.

So basically, yeah, the cheap end of the market has improved to the point where I no longer feel the need to keep changing phone (I know I'm focussing on the Nokia I have now, but I can see that the new Nokia's, Moto's and Xiaomi's are all offering the same combination of features at low prices). I've no interest in folding screens etc.

beauf

I like the Redmi I have had for years. But I would go for a stock android, Android one phone if at all possible.

Unfortunately the pixels don't have dual sim or SD cards. Android Ones are often poor bang for buck. What's the equivalent of the 6.1 today?