flagship phone prices

Dehaka · June 12, 2019

i got a s10 last month because it was 35% off. im in australia so cant get local models of cheap chinese flagships like pocophone. thought it was a good deal, then saw a70 release for less than half the price with bigger screen and much larger battery, just camera and cpu slightly worse (australia has the shitty exynos on s10, probably the same in multicore as snapdragon 675). i can get a a70 right now for half the price i paid for s10. i really dont think flagships are worth so much more. can a techxpert explain why flagships are so much more expensive even within a brand? not even comparing between brands and asking why iphone is so expensive, in the same brand they use the same os and same support so only hardware is the difference.

Bouzoo · June 12, 2019

Definitely not a tech expert but some notable things (on S10 vs A70):

Best display from manufacturer which is in this case HDR certified
Better SoC (multi core of 675 is worse than multi core of 835 if you think geekbench is relevant. Exynos is sub 10k, 675 is sub 6k, much better GPU, usually better DSP but would need to check that in this case, better modem, higher bandwidth, higher RAM capacity support, more memory channels, lower process 8nm vs 11 so should be more power efficient)
Better storage (can't remember if mid rangers have started to use even UFS 2.1)
Better camera(s)
Better Gorilla glass (in this case yes)
NFC (on A70 market dependant)
IP rating
Better fingerprint reader (ultrasonic vs optical)
USB 3.1 vs 2.0
More storage options (take that one as you want but it can raise the price)
Better mic, speakers and proper 32-bit support (essentially better DAC)
And of course, the premium price for flagship, let's not pretend it doesn't exist
For Samsung priority updates and quite long security patch updates
I can bet a lot more software options (intelligent scan?)

There are many things under the hood that we don't know that exist. Are they worth it? Depends on your needs.

They cost as much as the market will pay. Also people have been upgrading less often so you gotta keep the margins up, and you can do that by raising prices.

Imo if you're satisfied with the S10, leave it.

Commodus · June 13, 2019

3 hours ago, manchild said:

i got a s10 last month because it was 35% off. im in australia so cant get local models of cheap chinese flagships like pocophone. thought it was a good deal, then saw a70 release for less than half the price with bigger screen and much larger battery, just camera and cpu slightly worse (australia has the shitty exynos on s10, probably the same in multicore as snapdragon 675). i can get a a70 right now for half the price i paid for s10. i really dont think flagships are worth so much more. can a techxpert explain why flagships are so much more expensive even within a brand? not even comparing between brands and asking why iphone is so expensive, in the same brand they use the same os and same support so only hardware is the difference.

To expand on what Bouzoo said: phones are the classic example of how many products are sold, especially in technology.

Many products, whether they're phones, computers or cars, are designed to be "good enough" for most people. But it's often the case that people want better than good enough, and making all the little tweaks that turn something from "good" to "great" add up to a lot. Cutting-edge processors, cameras and storage are costly to make; water resistance and IP ratings aren't cheap. Part of why vendors like OnePlus have done well is because they only budge on a few improvements and are willing to make compromises (such as the OP7Pro's lack of an IP rating) to keep the price down.