Best camera, highest resolution display, top of the line specs, these are the things that get the tech nerds, like myself, excited. But do you really need or care about that?
At the end of the day do all that matter?
In other words, do the extra money we sink in these phone yield that much better results than the competition?
During my testing of the Motorola One, I noted how it felt like my other phones. I did not experience any lag, slow down, or issues that would make the phone feel “inferior”. In fact, it performed much better than I expected for most of the tasks I use a phone for.
Then this week Marques Brownlee put out a video of the blind smartphone camera test he did. And the “heavy hitters”, like the Pixel 3, iPhone XS, and Note 9, didn’t even make it out of the first round. It came down to phones that you would not think of when it came to cameras.
After seeing that, it just further prove that the specs that matter most depends on what you use your phone for, and why. For most consumers, having the most beast of a phone doesn’t matter except for bragging rights.
Question is, are the bragging rights worth what these phones are costing now?
Every year I look forward to CES to see the latest tech and rumored tech that hits the web. I nerd out about a phone that have benchmarks that blow past the benchmarks of old. I then look for other people to bore to sleep about what the latest phone can do. And for people like me I welcome the talks.
But for most of the people who only see a phone as a tool, these top specs may be more than what they could ever need. In fact, they can easily get away with a mid tier device. If most of your photos taken are just to be shared on a phone or social media, your average phone will likely be good enough. Having extra features and modes can add capabilities that can improve the quality of shots (ie Google’s night sight). But most people barely use (on a regular) 70% of their phone’s full capabilities.
So am I saying not to buy something like a Note or an iPhone?
No, enjoy the device if it’s in your budget. But if not, you can find a number of solid devices that are within your budget, and can do what you need. Or if you buy a phone, don’t feel the rush to run out and buy the “next best thing” that may be less than a year or two old because of all of the hype and advertisements. If your phone is working fine now, it will likely continue to work fine for at least another year.
