Do you feel smarphones are getting too expensive?

[nullBot]

Hi

I love smartphones and they're the greatest invention in this generation. I was looking at the new samsung S5 and the price of $599 is just to steep for me. ( Heck, for that kind of money, you can buy two chromebooks or a mid-power laptop )

In my lifetime, I have owned only 3 smartphones and each were under $200 or less. I could never get the real good ones like the S4 , HTC One and now the S5.

Sure, I can get the S5 for $200 or less, but there is a catch and you have to sign a contract with the devil for twos years. :evil:

If you're old enough, you probably remember when carriers offer cellphones for a penny because they made their money from you using their services. I wish smartphones would follow that old trend again.

Anyway, what is your take on these high-end smartphones -- are they getting too expensive?

- Cheers

 

[julystork]

Well if you want to pay less, don't expect to get better than peanuts. How much you paid for a Honda civic won't get you a Lamborghini Aventador. For cheaper but lower-end smartphones maybe consider Xiaomi's RedMI?

 

[mikedt]

Top of the range smart-phones have always been rather pricey. For a reasonably priced but still high-specced smart-phone have a look at the Oppo Find 7a? :thumbup: ...and to be frank even the most basic smart-phone does a heck of a lot more than a Chromebook, which is just a browser.

Do you want to drive the Honda Civic or do you want to drive the Lamborghini Aventador?

 

[Hadron]

If you're old enough, you probably remember when carriers offer cellphones for a penny because they made their money from you using their services. I wish smartphones would follow that old trend again.

Actually I'm old enough to remember when simple cellphones cost hundreds even when subsidised. And the free or almost free phones were always sold with a contract anyway, which you say you don't want.

It's not so different now. The typical subsidy level has reduced (everyone has a phone now, the economics have changed), but you can still get some smartphones free on contract, heck here in the UK you can get high-end phones for "free" if you sign up to pay enough per month (though that always works out more expensive overall). And what's different from a few years ago is you can get decent smartphones for reasonable amounts without contract (recent Motorola handsets, Nexus, OnePlus One when they eventually sort some sensible distribution). The biggest brands' flagships you won't, because there are enough people prepared to pay more. Ultimately they will come down too as the market and technology mature to the point where people won't pay that much extra for no real benefit (see the PC market for an example), but not in the near future.

And if you want to bring flagship prices down your worst enemy is the carrier subsidy system (which, as noted, is what gave the free phones in the first place). Without that the retail prices of flagship phones would have to be set lower to get the sales. But you aren't ever going to get a new S5, One etc for $200 without subsidy because they cost more than that to make and distribute, even without development and marketing costs plus a return on investment.

 

[CafeKampuchia]

And if you want to bring flagship prices down your worst enemy is the carrier subsidy system (which, as noted, is what gave the free phones in the first place). Without that the retail prices of flagship phones would have to be set lower to get the sales.

^^^ Quoting Steven,

Quoted for truth.

 

[chanchan05]

You forget one thing. Inflation. I remember when a 3310 costs an equivalent of USD200 when it was the latest and greatest, however at that same time, that was equivalent to 1 semester tuition in the state university of my country. Fast forward today, where an S5 costs USD600, which is interestingly, equivalent to 1 semester tuition in the same state university. Phone prices didn't get more expensive, the value of money just got smaller.

Comparing prices then and now without taking inflation into account is misleading and does not reflect true values.

In other words the 'true price' of cellphones hasn't changed.

 

[Tsepz_GP]

I'd say Smartphones have become cheaper, even top smartphones. Remember the days of Sony Ericsson P990, Nokia E90 and so on? I remember those things going for over +$1100. Smartphones used to be ridiculously expensive.

These days you can get a decent smartphone, with top end specs like the Nexus 5, Moto X etc.... for $350.

Where I am, the Galaxy S5 goes for about $850 and we don't even get the Nexus 5s, Motos, OnePlus Ones etc... Whats really killing though is Data prices.

 

[dibblebill]

Top of the range smart-phones have always been rather pricey. For a reasonably priced but still high-specced smart-phone have a look at the Oppo Find 7a? :thumbup: ...and to be frank even the most basic smart-phone does a heck of a lot more than a Chromebook, which is just a browser.

Do you want to drive the Honda Civic or do you want to drive the Lamborghini Aventador?

I'll take a Porsche 918.

 

[hiredgun]

I think it's all relative, I have two friends with a samsung S5 and 3 friends with a Sony Xperia Z1S, and I could personally never even come close to justifying spending all that much money on a phone while they obviously can!

 

[MLSS]

The demand is their so the prices will be high. I would never spend over a couple hundred bucks on a phone, but that's just me. Some people love to run out and have the latest and greatest and I think that's great for them. To each their own.

 

[Shocky]

The price hasn't increased that much over the years, the high end devices have got a little more expensive but at the same time if your on budget you can get much better devices for your money than you could before.

 

[breadnatty08]

My LG G2 costs more than 3x my Moto G but the G can do pretty much everything I need a smartphone to do. The screen and camera on the G2 are definitely better, but it's all relative.

 

[codesplice]

My first true smartphone was a Palm Treo 650. I think I paid $700 for it. In 2005.

My next true smartphone was an HTC TyTN II (AT&T Tilt). That was $550.

Followed by an HTC Diamond. Which was $600.

Then I got a Nexus One, for $530.

I paid $560 ordering a GSM Galaxy Nexus before it was available in the US (damn Verizon exclusive...).

But I only paid $350 for my Nexus 4.

They're definitely not getting more expensive; if anything, I think the trend has lately been for a lot of them to get cheaper (see: Nexus, OnePlus, Moto X/G).

 

[nullBot]

Thanks to all who read and posted

Anyway, I have nothing against low to mid end smartphones. But, I feel the high end models are better and would probably get more frequent updates ( i.e android releases ) from their carriers. People who owned Nexus 4,5 smartphones get android upgrades as soon as Google releases it.

I could wait a while for the galaxy S5 to come down a bit in price but that could take a year or more. Maybe the nexus 5 which is at $350 is my alternative.

_Cheers

 

[kate]

If you're old enough, you probably remember when carriers offer cellphones for a penny because they made their money from you using their services. I wish smartphones would follow that old trend again.

Free phone + $90/month 2008 contract plan (with limited talk/text/data) X 24 months = $2160

$350 to $600 smartphone + $50/month (~2014 average) X 24 months = $1550 to $1800.

Current trend looks better

 

[Medion]

Hi

I love smartphones and they're the greatest invention in this generation. I was looking at the new samsung S5 and the price of $599 is just to steep for me. ( Heck, for that kind of money, you can buy two chromebooks or a mid-power laptop )

In my lifetime, I have owned only 3 smartphones and each were under $200 or less. I could never get the real good ones like the S4 , HTC One and now the S5.

Sure, I can get the S5 for $200 or less, but there is a catch and you have to sign a contract with the devil for twos years. :evil:

If you're old enough, you probably remember when carriers offer cellphones for a penny because they made their money from you using their services. I wish smartphones would follow that old trend again.

Anyway, what is your take on these high-end smartphones -- are they getting too expensive?

- Cheers

Many carriers still offer subsidies. But if you want to pay $200 on contract, then you're going to pay much more than the sticker price. Also, smartphones have generally cost the same over the past 6+ years. Too many people compare on-contract pricing to up-front pricing not noticing the difference.

For me, my unlocked smartphone history (interrupted briefly by an on-contract Verizon device) is:

2009 - Nokia E71, purchased way after release, think I paid $540 for it.
2011 - Purchased a Galaxy S II (UK model) shortly after launch and before it came to US shores, paid $540 after a discount
2013 - Galaxy S4 Google Play Edition on launch day, $649.

The first two times I purchased after launch, which explains the price difference.

 

[breadnatty08]

Keep your eye out on the Moto devices. Both our X and G are on the latest firmware.

 

[AnonGuy]

Nexus is an outlier. Yes, phones are too expensive, which is why I'm going back to a two year upgrade cycle . Even midrange phones these days are much superior to flagships two years ago so there is very little incentive to upgrade these days.

My needs are pretty static these days no I feel less need to go above and beyond to leave room for changing requirements.

 

[WA_Bob]

Nexus is an outlier. Yes, phones are too expensive, which is why I'm going back to a two year upgrade cycle . Even midrange phones these days are much superior to flagships two years ago so there is very little incentive to upgrade these days.

My needs are pretty static these days no I feel less need to go above and beyond to leave room for changing requirements.

That's funny - I thought I was the only one thinking that. I've got my N5 running CM 11, but my daily driver is my One (M8) and I haven't bothered rooting it yet. It's not as bloated as any Samsung I've tried and it'll still do all I want.

I can't tell if I'm getting old and boring or if the phones are good enough now that I don't need to tweak them as much. cguru: