Samsung's Galaxy Note9 is official - 4000mAh battery, S Pen remote, 128GB/512GB storage

[AlTech]

3 minutes ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

Not entirely.

 

There's tons of sub-categories in the midrange section.

 

$200-$300 is what I'd call the lower midrange. This is where you find devices with SD62x processors with 3GB of memory and some might have 4GB. They don't have much features and usually have okay camera but they do the job fine.

 

$400-$500 is the upper-midrange territory. Phones with SD66x SoCs come here and usually pack guts that bridge the gap between a midranger and flagship. They have far better hand-feel, significantly more performance and generally feel more like budget flagships than actual midrangers. Nokia's 7 Plus comes to mind and it is one of the best $400 phones you can get. At times, you'll also find phones with SD8xx chips here.

Well, the SD62x and SD66x pricepoint segregation are going to come to an end hopefully since the Snapdragon 660 is intended to replace the 62x and 63x series. The successor for upper midrange is the upcoming Snapdragon 7xx series which will be launched with Snapdragon 710

[Guest]

3 hours ago, dizmo said:

Haha some people need it. I have a friend with a massive music and movie library. He also takes tons of pictures and video. He's totally getting one. 

Yes, that's fine and understandable. But can you really not realize that, just maybe, there are people that do want that extra little bit of performance and will (obviously, given they haven't had to lower prices) pay to get it? 

 

Another thing you're forgetting is that these larger OEM's invest massive amounts into R&D. Then the smaller companies feed off of their hard work. That money has to come from somewhere.

$200 is far from a midrange phone, that's entry level territory. Midrange is around $400 - $500 depending on the company. You can easily use a flagship phone for 3 or 4 years, and it'll still perform significantly better than an entry level phone. 

And this is where I really think your whole argument is flawed. They are affordable. They're just not affordable for you, so you make it seem like no one else can either. 

Sorry, but a Note 4 is not faster than a 200$ Honor 9 lite. And I will spend the same amount of money you will but I will be able to upgrade every year or 2 years if you are willing to spend 400. I will also have a decent software support. A flagship from Samsung is going to get 3 years of support tops. 

[D13H4RD]

13 minutes ago, Konrad_K said:

Sorry, but a Note 4 is not faster than a 200$ Honor 9 lite. And I will spend the same amount of money you will but I will be able to upgrade every year or 2 years if you are willing to spend 500. I will also have a decent software support. A flagship from Samsung is going to get 3 years of support tops. 

Duh. The Nokia 7 Plus is nearly as powerful as my old Moto Z, and that phone was a top-end flagship from 2016.

 

One question though. Why upgrade every year? Sure, you spend the same money by upgrading every year, but that's not practical. The one big reason people buy cheaper phones is to not spend much on it in the first place. Buying it with the intent to upgrade yearly isn't practical.

 

Also, 2-3 years is normal for most Android flagships. I'm sorry, but an Honor 9 Lite isn't going to receive the same level of software support as a Huawei Mate10 no matter what's promised. Cheaper phones receive updates usually at a later date.

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

Duh. The Nokia 7 Plus is nearly as powerful as my old Moto Z, and that phone was a top-end flagship from 2016.

 

One question though. Why upgrade every year? Sure, you spend the same money by upgrading every year, but that's not practical. The one big reason people buy cheaper phones is to not spend much on it in the first place. Buying it with the intent to upgrade yearly isn't practical.

 

Also, 2-3 years is normal for most Android flagships. I'm sorry, but an Honor 9 Lite isn't going to receive the same level of software support as a Huawei Mate10 no matter what's promised. Cheaper phones receive updates usually at a later date.

Honor was just an example. Funny, I also have a Moto Z and am planning to upgrade to a Nokia 6.1/7+. 

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

Duh. The Nokia 7 Plus is nearly as powerful as my old Moto Z, and that phone was a top-end flagship from 2016.

 

One question though. Why upgrade every year? Sure, you spend the same money by upgrading every year, but that's not practical. The one big reason people buy cheaper phones is to not spend much on it in the first place. Buying it with the intent to upgrade yearly isn't practical.

 

Also, 2-3 years is normal for most Android flagships. I'm sorry, but an Honor 9 Lite isn't going to receive the same level of software support as a Huawei Mate10 no matter what's promised. Cheaper phones receive updates usually at a later date.

Just to make it clear, I am not partial to any brand. I don't really understand how upgrading yearly/biyearly is impractical. As with your example, a Moto Z is two years old, and it's beat by a 300-400$ mid range phone. That's the point. Buying a expensive flagship does not really make much sense anymore. The money that is invested will be partially wasted because a phone thrice the price won't last 3 times longer  . 

 

But that's just what is reasonable, if you are an enthusiast and like having the absolute best in phone technology and can justify the huge price premium it's fine, I am just presenting more of a balanced approach. 

[D13H4RD]

13 minutes ago, Konrad_K said:

Just to make it clear, I am not partial to any brand. I don't really understand how upgrading yearly/biyearly is impractical. As with your example, a Moto Z is two years old, and it's beat by a 300-400$ mid range phone. That's the point. Buying a expensive flagship does not really make much sense anymore. The money that is invested will be partially wasted because a phone thrice the price won't last 3 times longer  .

I find it impractical because I am increasingly finding it difficult to justify a yearly upgrade.

 

What are you getting for flipping your phone every year on this day and age? We're now at a time where a Nokia 7+ can last for quite a while without feeling grossly obsolete

[Guest]

Just now, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

I find it impractical because I am increasingly finding it difficult to justify a yearly upgrade.

 

What are you getting for flipping your phone every year on this day and age? We're now at a time where a Nokia 7+ can last for quite a while

Its fine. it's just my approach. I find buying a 1000$ flagship impractical because I can't justify paying that price for a phone that I will change in 2 years anyways- it's the same thing you pointed out just the other way around. 

[dizmo]

4 hours ago, AluminiumTech said:

No....... $100 is budget. $200-300 is midrange.

 

$400-500 is heavily overpriced midrange

If a phone costs as much as a good laptop then it's not affordable. The only reason phones are so expensive is cos the profit margins are insanely high.

Someone else already pointed out the err in the pricing structure. 

 

It's affordable for me and many of my friends *shrug* Make more money? 

 

Again, you're ignoring the cost of R&D and focusing only on BOM costs which is illogical. 

1 hour ago, Konrad_K said:

Sorry, but a Note 4 is not faster than a 200$ Honor 9 lite. And I will spend the same amount of money you will but I will be able to upgrade every year or 2 years if you are willing to spend 400. I will also have a decent software support. A flagship from Samsung is going to get 3 years of support tops. 

The Honor 9 Lite also isn't $200. 

I also buy a new phone every year. I spend as much as you do. Contracts. 

1 hour ago, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

One question though. Why upgrade every year? Sure, you spend the same money by upgrading every year, but that's not practical. The one big reason people buy cheaper phones is to not spend much on it in the first place. Buying it with the intent to upgrade yearly isn't practical.

 

Also, 2-3 years is normal for most Android flagships. I'm sorry, but an Honor 9 Lite isn't going to receive the same level of software support as a Huawei Mate10 no matter what's promised. Cheaper phones receive updates usually at a later date.

I upgrade every what because I get the most for my year old phone. If I wait two years, I find I get significantly less.

[Trixanity]

The prices are getting a bit steep but basically the flagship is there to push things forward while earning sweet profits to finance R&D.

 

It's like complaining about the price of a 1080 Ti and saying the 1060 is a better value which can get the job done for the next few years. Of course it's true but there's reasons to go top shelf.

[Brooksie359]

On 8/9/2018 at 1:32 PM, RorzNZ said:

Idk why people are complaining about price when they know as well as I do these will sell like hot cakes. You get a much better feel with flagship phones than cheaper phones. Specs are not everything a phone has to offer at all.

Yeah, usually regretful is what that feeling is called. Overpriced phones are overrated. People who day it's about the intangible things that make the difference are usually full of it because they can't actually come up with a real reason to buy overpriced things.  

[DarkBlade2117]

$999? LOL.  
Not even my 1080Ti cost that much and let's me do a lot more than the phone could. I much rather go with some Chinese smartphone from a company like Xiaomi. $300 get's you a hell of a lot with them.

[EPENEX]

It looks cool, but isn't worth it's $1,000 starting price. I'll just stick to my Note 4, it was much cheaper. The current one I'm using (I have 2) only cost me around $125. Buying used electronics is definitely the way to go.

[Drak3]

30 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

Yeah, usually regretful is what that feeling is called. Overpriced phones are overrated. People who day it's about the intangible things that make the difference are usually full of it because they can't actually come up with a real reason to buy overpriced things.  

My personal experience, flagship phones tend to maintain high performance far longer, and tend to fair Android version updates the best. I'll gladly drop $1000 on a phone if it'll last me at least twice as long as a $500 counterpart, and they always have.

[AnonymousGuy]

1 hour ago, dizmo said:

I upgrade every what because I get the most for my year old phone. If I wait two years, I find I get significantly less.

iPhone my man....4 years old and still worth more than a year old android flagship.  Used S9's are selling for $250 and that's a current generation phone.  iPhone 6 64GB is selling for $200 and it's 4 years and 2 generations out of date.

[Brooksie359]

4 hours ago, Drak3 said:

My personal experience, flagship phones tend to maintain high performance far longer, and tend to fair Android version updates the best. I'll gladly drop $1000 on a phone if it'll last me at least twice as long as a $500 counterpart, and they always have.

Everyone of my phones has lasted me about 4 years accept one. For me the performance degraded on all of them but not enough to matter on any if them. Honestly if it wasn't for the micro usb port giving up after around 4 years I would still have quite a few of them. Anyways phones have become like computer hardware. The high end doesn't make any sense for normal users. 

[kv]

I can already hear the sighs of my fellow developers anticipating the samsung bloat bugs they'll have to deal with on TouchWiz...shame, cos the hardware seem nice (albiet overpriced)

[PlayStation 2]

Honestly, the divide of Android phones mainly seems to be the nice budget ($200-$400) phones and the underwhelming flagships ($700+). This is what kinda has put me off from delving into Android further. I've always wanted to give it a go, but where the fuck do I go when a flagship would be nice but I'd be mocked for owning one, or vice versa with the budget phones?

[handymanshandle]

On 8/9/2018 at 1:45 PM, mynameisjuan said:

It hasnt been because the S8 was a hot seller and the iterations are finally leveling off. 

 

This isnt a fucking bad thing that everyone thinks it is. 

nah next year the S10 if that's what they call it will likely be a good seller if they get it right.
Basically the S9 was for S7 and earlier owners and the S8 was for S6 and earlier owners.

[D13H4RD]

45 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

Honestly, the divide of Android phones mainly seems to be the nice budget ($200-$400) phones and the underwhelming flagships ($700+). This is what kinda has put me off from delving into Android further. I've always wanted to give it a go, but where the fuck do I go when a flagship would be nice but I'd be mocked for owning one, or vice versa with the budget phones?

OnePlus? 

[PlayStation 2]

Just now, D13H4RD2L1V3 said:

OnePlus? 

:thinking:

I dunno, I really do want to look into Android phones further; oh well, that's a thread for another month.

[D13H4RD]

2 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

:thinking:

I dunno, I really do want to look into Android phones further; oh well, that's a thread for another month.

I'd probably say if you want a starting point, the new Nokia phones are a good way to do so. 

 

They run a Googlified-vision of Android, have regular updates, both security and OS and they're affordable. The hardware isn't groundbreaking but it's built extremely well. 

 

I'd say that if I were to switch from my Note8 to the Nokia 7+ as a daily, I wouldn't have noticed the performance difference. That's how good it is. But I'd miss the pen. 

[PlayStation 2]

Just now, valdyrgramr said:

ROG phone?  Ridiculous fan for turbo, a 3ds like case, and a dock so you can phone game on your tv.

nah trust me if I want a switch I got one

[D13H4RD]

3 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

ROG phone?  Ridiculous fan for turbo, a 3ds like case, and a dock so you can phone game on your tv.

I'd get one if they put it in a significantly less gaudy case 

[D13H4RD]

21 minutes ago, valdyrgramr said:

 

I want one cuz it is ridiculous, and honestly, it would be in an otterbox most of the time.   

Not a huge fan of otterbox cases tbf 

[D13H4RD]

1 minute ago, valdyrgramr said:

I like the ones with bumpers.

Oh, those