S23 ultra. Need some arguments for my parents 😂

[Anonymous 99]

Hi.

I am currently looking to preorder the Samsung galaxy s23 ultra. But before I buy it I have to convince my parents that it is worth the price (even though it is a bit overpriced in EU - 1400€!!).

My parents argument is that it is better to buy a midrange phone (400-600€) every 3 years, than a flagship. In their oppinion you will have 3 midrange phones in 9 years versus a flagship for 4 years. And in their eyes a midrange phone is more than good enough (it is true to some extent, but in my experience they quickly start lagging)

I hope I explained our conversation good enough to help me give arguments so I can buy the phone.

To be clear I am 18 years old and money is not the problem here. It is just that they don't like spending money on such things.

 

[Oshino Shinobu]

Maybe I'm getting old, but I agree with your parents. Midrange phones are getting better and better and flagships are just getting some shiny stuff that doesn't really add anything. Either their way of getting a midrange phone, or buy a few generations old flagships (what I do) makes a lot more sense from a monetary and price/performance standpoint.

 

That said, at 18, really there's nothing they can do to stop you if it's your money, unless they control the account. You may just have to spend the money and deal with whatever criticism they have, if you really want the phone and can justify the price to yourself.

[igormp]

1 minute ago, Anonymous 99 said:

To be clear I am 18 years old and money is not the problem here. It is just that they don't like spending money on such things.

Wait, is it your money or theirs to begin with?

 

Because if it's yours, then you shouldn't need to convince them of anything to begin with. But if it's theirs, then you should follow their advice. Just to be clear, I do agree with them.

[Levent]

Their money, their rules.

[NF-A12x25]

1 hour ago, Anonymous 99 said:

I am currently looking to preorder the Samsung galaxy s23 ultra. But before I buy it I have to convince my parents that it is worth the price (even though it is a bit overpriced in EU - 1400€!!).

no phone is worth 1400 euros. Save your money. I’m also 18, but I’m in uni and am an EMT (looking to be a paramedic) and spend my own money, and I buy midrange phones because they’re nearly as good as the flagships but at a better budget proposition. Having that much power in a cell phone is useless, I’d just as soon have a good PC and a good laptop and setup for gaming vs a $1400 phone. Mobile gaming sucks competitively anyway, everyone will admit it, and it’s really just a time waster.

[Anonymous 99]

2 hours ago, igormp said:

Wait, is it your money or theirs to begin with?

 

Because if it's yours, then you shouldn't need to convince them of anything to begin with. But if it's theirs, then you should follow their advice. Just to be clear, I do agree with them.

 

2 hours ago, Levent said:

Their money, their rules.

It is my money. And they are not trying to stop me from buying it, they are just trying to tell me that that amount of money can/will be usefull in the future.

If I wanted I can buy it, but I understand their point, and now I have a dilemma if I should buy it or save the money and maybe buy something cheaper.

[Anonymous 99]

45 minutes ago, NF-A12x25 said:

no phone is worth 1400 euros. Save your money. I’m also 18, but I’m in uni and am an EMT (looking to be a paramedic) and spend my own money, and I buy midrange phones because they’re nearly as good as the flagships but at a better budget proposition. Having that much power in a cell phone is useless, I’d just as soon have a good PC and a good laptop and setup for gaming vs a $1400 phone. Mobile gaming sucks competitively anyway, everyone will admit it, and it’s really just a time waster.

It is really expensive for a phone. But the truth is that I do a lot of things from my phone. And I never had a flagship phone. I always had midrange ones. Currently on a galaxy a71 which is 2 years old and it is already quite laggy and slow. But my friend has a note 10 plus which he had from the release and it still works smoothly.

[NF-A12x25]

1 minute ago, Anonymous 99 said:

It is really expensive for a phone. But the truth is that I do a lot of things from my phone. And I never had a flagship phone. I always had midrange ones. Currently on a galaxy a71 which is 2 years old and it is already quite laggy and slow. But my friend has a note 10 plus which he had from the release and it still works smoothly.

Just get a cheaper phone fr, find one that has last gen’s flagship chip

[Anonymous 99]

15 minutes ago, NF-A12x25 said:

Just get a cheaper phone fr, find one that has last gen’s flagship chip

Will think about it, thanks. After all preorders are until 16. 2. So there is plenty of time.

[igormp]

2 hours ago, Anonymous 99 said:

It is really expensive for a phone. But the truth is that I do a lot of things from my phone. And I never had a flagship phone. I always had midrange ones. Currently on a galaxy a71 which is 2 years old and it is already quite laggy and slow. But my friend has a note 10 plus which he had from the release and it still works smoothly.

I mean, you could just tell them exactly this, that you want to give it a try and see if it's worth it or not. If you like it enough, you know that it is worthy, otherwise you can just get a midrange next time.

[Lurking]

22 hours ago, Anonymous 99 said:

Hi.

I am currently looking to preorder the Samsung galaxy s23 ultra. But before I buy it I have to convince my parents that it is worth the price (even though it is a bit overpriced in EU - 1400€!!).

My parents argument is that it is better to buy a midrange phone (400-600€) every 3 years, than a flagship. In their oppinion you will have 3 midrange phones in 9 years versus a flagship for 4 years. And in their eyes a midrange phone is more than good enough (it is true to some extent, but in my experience they quickly start lagging)

I hope I explained our conversation good enough to help me give arguments so I can buy the phone.

To be clear I am 18 years old and money is not the problem here. It is just that they don't like spending money on such things.

 

Of course, spending THEIR money is not a problem for you. Get a job and spend your money any way you wish. When you had to work for it, you appreciate how much money is worth. You are 18 now and had many years you could have legally worked to save up for a car by now. 

 

If you worked for your phone, you also keep it safer and don't lose or step on it. 

 

Many here are professionals that use the phone for work and other reasons other than just playing games, and have enough money to buy any phone. And most still don't buy a 1,400 Euro phone because it just is not needed and worth it. But if you want to spend money on a luxury item, it should be the money you earned. 

[igormp]

23 minutes ago, Lurking said:

it should be the money you earned. 

It is, OP clarified it in this thread already.

[Lurking]

14 minutes ago, igormp said:

It is, OP clarified it in this thread already.

Why then the question here? OP is 18 and if it is is their money they worked for, why does OP need parent's approval then? 

 

On the specific topic, this is something only the prospective buyer can decide. The smartest person on Earth couldn't make a decision for the OP or their parents. 

[igormp]

8 minutes ago, Lurking said:

Why then the question here? OP is 18 and if it is is their money they worked for, why does OP need parent's approval then? 

 

On the specific topic, this is something only the prospective buyer can decide. The smartest person on Earth couldn't make a decision for the OP or their parents. 

I mean, you could try reading the rest of the thread in order to understand what's going on.

[Lurking]

1 minute ago, igormp said:

I mean, you could try reading the rest of the thread in order to understand what's going on.

its actually pretty simple:

Option A: you live on your own and pay 100% of your living expenses from your own work. You decide what to do with surplus money. 

Option B: Someone else pays some or all of your living expenses, they get a say. If you don't like them having a say in that, move to option A

[Commodus]

23 hours ago, Anonymous 99 said:

Hi.

I am currently looking to preorder the Samsung galaxy s23 ultra. But before I buy it I have to convince my parents that it is worth the price (even though it is a bit overpriced in EU - 1400€!!).

My parents argument is that it is better to buy a midrange phone (400-600€) every 3 years, than a flagship. In their oppinion you will have 3 midrange phones in 9 years versus a flagship for 4 years. And in their eyes a midrange phone is more than good enough (it is true to some extent, but in my experience they quickly start lagging)

I hope I explained our conversation good enough to help me give arguments so I can buy the phone.

To be clear I am 18 years old and money is not the problem here. It is just that they don't like spending money on such things.

 

At 18, I would strongly advise against spending that much money on any smartphone. You probably don't have a large income, and you're more likely to get into situations where your phone could be stolen or break. I'm sure you'll be careful — but the fact is that going to a party or night club is practially an invitation for something to happen.

 

This doesn't mean you have to settle for a mediocre phone, but you should think about value for money right now. Can you get the Pixel 7 in your country? If so, that's a great choice. It takes superb photos, it's reasonably speedy, and yet it costs about as much as a good mid-range phone. If not that, consider finding a discounted S22+ or S22 Ultra. Still outstanding phones, but they'll be much less expensive and last almost as long.

[rikitikitavi]

Here's another 2 cents,

 

As suggested before, do not spend your money on the latest and greatest especially when you are that young and have to save the money to make such purchase. Usual advice is to never go for the trash tier or the latest top tier, aim for the mid/low range value propositions. Used market can give you a great value too.

 

Basically, you want the shiniest thing today, but tomorrow you might break it or wish you would spend that on something of a bigger value to you.

 

Also, unlike some people said, even if it is your money, do not disregard the opinions of others, especially your parents. A lot of times they will give you an advice that has a value, or at least will make you slow down and think more carefully/critically about your decision. ...after all you are getting suggestions from complete strangers here, who don't care about you much...

 

On 2/5/2023 at 9:44 AM, Anonymous 99 said:

My parents argument is that it is better to buy a midrange phone (400-600€) every 3 years, than a flagship. In their oppinion you will have 3 midrange phones in 9 years versus a flagship for 4 years. And in their eyes a midrange phone is more than good enough (it is true to some extent, but in my experience they quickly start lagging)

Mid range phones today aren't garbage, so 3 years seems like too little. If I buy an iPhone SE today, I expect it to last at least 5 years, with adequate performance and the front-line software support. Android world is different, but afaik Pixels are the best example of it.

[OhioYJ]

You know it's funny, I just happened to skim through this thread today, then as I was reading some articles today, I came across this one.

 

Bloatware pushes the Galaxy S23 Android OS to an incredible 60GB

 

Perhaps that midrange phone wouldn't be such a bad choice after all.....

[Lurking]

15 minutes ago, OhioYJ said:

You know it's funny, I just happened to skim through this thread today, then as I was reading some articles today, I came across this one.

 

Bloatware pushes the Galaxy S23 Android OS to an incredible 60GB

 

Perhaps that midrange phone wouldn't be such a bad choice after all.....

Getting rid of that Bixby BS and the ability to deinstall software were some of the biggest improvements for me when I switched to Pixel after 4 Samsung top of the line phones. Plus actual phone spam filter. 

 

Samsung always has great hardware, but their OS and forced apps ruin it. And it gets worse over the years as they push on more "improvements". 

 

And if you don't use that pen thing, the Ultra really is a waste. 

 

I didn't know Pixel has the dual OS. I noticed that it updates the OS monthly and it takes long. But you can use the phone while it updates. I just thought that is just a new feature. Thanks for linking this.

 

And for that money phone should start with 256GB these days. 

[OhioYJ]

Just now, Lurking said:

Getting rid of that Bixby BS and the ability to deinstall software were some of the biggest improvements for me when I switched to Pixel after 4 Samsung top of the line phones. Plus actual phone spam filter. 

 

Samsung always has great hardware, but their OS and forced apps ruin it. And it gets worse over the years as they push on more "improvements".

I don't buy a device unless it's something that I can unlock and install my on OS to. Every device (phone and tablet) I own is running Lineage. (Before Lineage it was CyanogenMod) Makes it easy to "debloat" as I'm pretty much automatically starting with a "clean" install. I generally power up a device and make sure it functions, and immediately, wipe it.

[E-waste]

On 2/5/2023 at 3:22 PM, Anonymous 99 said:

Currently on a galaxy a71 which is 2 years old and it is already quite laggy and slow

On Linux there is something called swap memory.  If you are eating up all available hardware random access memory (not persistent storage) then it would start using persistent storage for extra space.

 

Hold down the power button and then hold down the on-screen power button "power off" until that red icon turns green and says "safe mode".  $1000 bet that your phone won't lag in this safe mode

 

Maximum power saving is similar in the programs it allows, but there, you only get four custom slots and it slows down the cpu among other things.  I can go four days in this mode and have more than a 60% from a 90% charged battery.

 

I have a device from before 2018 as well and it still has a great battery capacity, without being able to use custom android / lineage.

 

 

 

Your device is uploading data to the cloud and other stupid stuff, well stupid for performance but it pays the bills and more for samsung.

 

Download a firewall onto the device itself--believe it or not you can actually do that, w/o root--I recommend RethinkDNS but pick whatever you want and block the programs, just block all of them, it won't break anything important.  Keep your browser allowed and your podcast apps etc, and block everyrhing else.

 

I bet it will help a bit at least.

 

My phone is on Oreo 8.0 and still runs as fast as it did from the day I got it (I guess) and I have locked bootloader, no chance for lineage and no more updates.

[Anonymous 99]

On 2/6/2023 at 6:54 PM, Commodus said:

At 18, I would strongly advise against spending that much money on any smartphone. You probably don't have a large income, and you're more likely to get into situations where your phone could be stolen or break. I'm sure you'll be careful — but the fact is that going to a party or night club is practially an invitation for something to happen.

 

This doesn't mean you have to settle for a mediocre phone, but you should think about value for money right now. Can you get the Pixel 7 in your country? If so, that's a great choice. It takes superb photos, it's reasonably speedy, and yet it costs about as much as a good mid-range phone. If not that, consider finding a discounted S22+ or S22 Ultra. Still outstanding phones, but they'll be much less expensive and last almost as long.

 

On 2/6/2023 at 9:11 PM, rikitikitavi said:

Here's another 2 cents,

 

As suggested before, do not spend your money on the latest and greatest especially when you are that young and have to save the money to make such purchase. Usual advice is to never go for the trash tier or the latest top tier, aim for the mid/low range value propositions. Used market can give you a great value too.

 

Basically, you want the shiniest thing today, but tomorrow you might break it or wish you would spend that on something of a bigger value to you.

 

Also, unlike some people said, even if it is your money, do not disregard the opinions of others, especially your parents. A lot of times they will give you an advice that has a value, or at least will make you slow down and think more carefully/critically about your decision. ...after all you are getting suggestions from complete strangers here, who don't care about you much...

 

Mid range phones today aren't garbage, so 3 years seems like too little. If I buy an iPhone SE today, I expect it to last at least 5 years, with adequate performance and the front-line software support. Android world is different, but afaik Pixels are the best example of it.

 

On 2/6/2023 at 12:05 AM, igormp said:

I mean, you could just tell them exactly this, that you want to give it a try and see if it's worth it or not. If you like it enough, you know that it is worthy, otherwise you can just get a midrange next time.

Update:

After a few more days of thinking about it and talking with my parents I decided it is worth it. I don't regret it at all. Thanks for all the feedback.

I am probably going to get a summer job this year and I should be able to make this money back.

[E-waste]

3 hours ago, Anonymous 99 said:

I decided it is worth it. I don't regret it at all.

So I'd imagine you didn't do your research.  You just purchased a device that takes up 60 GB of internal storage because of samsungs included apps (my galaxy phone of old has half that amount of storage at 29GB, most of which is used by podcasts, not my phone software!) a locked bootloader so you have no chance of changing the system once updates stop four years from now, and you really think this is THE best possible option out there?  You'd bet $1400 on that?

 

I just think you would be better off with a device that doesn't have so much shit forced on your phone that you can't by default remove, and doesn't respect your freedom, having a locked bootloader, when they stop supporting it.

 

I think samsung is a terrible choice because of these reasons, and would encourage you to research other, higher quality options.

 

Sony has a guide on their website to unlock Sony smartphone bootloaders, and basically encourage you to do so!  So once updates stop, it's not totally unpatched, and you can install Lineage OS, or another system to keep up with at least some security updates.

 

Please reconsider your selection because there are better options.  Yes, I think you just wasted your money.

[igormp]

9 minutes ago, E-waste said:

So I'd imagine you didn't do your research.  You just purchased a device that takes up 60 GB of internal storage because of samsungs included apps (my galaxy phone of old has half that amount of storage at 29GB, most of which is used by podcasts, not my phone software!) a locked bootloader so you have no chance of changing the system once updates stop four years from now, and you really think this is THE best possible option out there?  You'd bet $1400 on that?

 

I just think you would be better off with a device that doesn't have so much shit forced on your phone that you can't by default remove, and doesn't respect your freedom, having a locked bootloader, when they stop supporting it.

 

I think samsung is a terrible choice because of these reasons, and would encourage you to research other, higher quality options.

 

Sony has a guide on their website to unlock Sony smartphone bootloaders, and basically encourage you to do so!  So once updates stop, it's not totally unpatched, and you can install Lineage OS, or another system to keep up with at least some security updates.

 

Please reconsider your selection because there are better options.  Yes, I think you just wasted your money.

I used to be a person who cared about unlockable bootloaders, rooting my phone, buying the good midrange and whatnot, but nowadays I just want something that works out of the box without much fuss, good camera, and 4 years of system updates with another extra one of security updates is more than good enough, by then the battery would be crap already.

 

My current S22 serves me perfectly fine and I'd recommend it to any one who wants a non-Apple phone on the smaller side, although I did pay ~$600 for it at its launch.

 

$1400 may be a lot of money for you, but not for them, and I'd say that getting something that they're not satisfied with is an even worse waste of money.

[E-waste]

On 2/8/2023 at 6:20 PM, igormp said:

4 years of system updates with another extra one of security updates is more than good enough, by then the battery woulrd be crap already.

 

 

 

 

Imagine what a newly made battery of 3000mah could do.