Do you really need a new phone?
If you’ve been thinking about upgrading phones recently, you may want to step back and take a moment to reconsider. While there are many perfectly valid reasons to purchase a new device, it could very well be worth saving your money to wait.
In the last year, the smartphone industry has hit a stalemate. Older devices released in the last two years can still work great – and in many cases, the performance upgrade for new devices is minimal. New devices do all the same things as old ones and are not necessarily much faster.
Mobile devices have hit a metaphorical wall when comparing performance and real world usability. Many components are at a point where the higher specifications are near meaningless: screens are such high resolution that we cannot see individual pixels and processors run the most challenging programs and games smoothly. Cameras are great in daylight and acceptable in low light. Modern devices are fast, have excellent cameras and great screens. The batteries last for more or less a day while doing all the things we need.
So why upgrade? For most users at this point in time, there is almost no reason to if your phone is still working fine. Sure it’s cool to constantly have the newest thing, but when looking at it from the perspective of real world use newer devices often sacrifice the important things such as battery life in the name of specifications and features. Cramming more pixels into a screen looks good on paper, but more pixels suck more power. This leads to devices running less smooth and batteries draining quicker. What we really need from a device and what we are getting in devices are starting to drift apart as the mobile arms race for the most cores in a processor and the highest resolution cameras continue. In reality, these higher specifications do not make much difference when considering how the device performs day to day tasks. Even a modern low-end phone can take adequate photos, watch Youtube, browse social media and look good while doing it.
Certain new features are useful though: for example, many new phones offer significantly better camera performance than their older editions. If you’re coming from a phone that is three years old or older, you will likely notice a big difference in terms of performance but most devices that are within two years feature similar processors, similar amounts of ram, similar screens and similar specs. Using an older device can lead to less expensive plans too. If you’ve ended your contract and you no longer need a subsidy, the monthly savings can be immense.
The mobile phone industry has hit a point where the incremental upgrades in new releases barely make a difference. Challenge mobile phone makers to innovate and not keep recreating the same devices with inane specification differences by not purchasing a new devices while your old one still works. Until something truly new arrives with the features and innovation you really want you may as well wait.
Derek
January 16, 2016 - 1:10 pm
I don’t really agree with you. I had the Samsung S4 and upgraded to the S6 and the difference was crazy. So much better running, better camera, nicer build, but I guess the difference from the S5 wouldn’t be as big, more of a cosmetic upgrade.
Robert D.
January 16, 2016 - 1:38 pm
You’re totally right that there are times when the performance upgrade is quite significant, but the reason I wrote this article is that when I moved from my HTC to my LG there was basically no increase in average performance: web pages load at about the same speed, U.I. elements still stutter a little and basic things like calling, messaging and battery life are very similar. The one place I did notice a big improvement between the two phones is the camera – and that isn’t surprising as the HTC camera was pretty awful. I feel like if your older phone is still running well and you’re happy with the way it works, buying a new phone is pointless since no devices released in the last few years have changed the game. Sure there’s more megapixels and more processor cores, but these specs aren’t always meaningful in relation to how well a device actually works.