Any point upgrading?

Casper

Casper

Midfield
I'm coming up to phone contract renewal. I've got a Samsung S7 is there any point renewing?

Do new phones do anything different or would it be waste of money?
 


I've got the s7 finished my contract last month and got a SIM only deal as I'm not too sure it's worth upgrading. My wife has the s9 and it is better but mine is working fine for what I need at the minute so better to save the extra £20-25 a month.
 
I’m a non techie but it seems to me that the total wank fest that used to greet the reveal of the latest iPhone (or whatever) is largely a thing of the past now.

Companies like Apple have completely blown it. I’m confident they have some really mind blowing technologies socked away somewhere but instead of piling them all into the latest releases and actually blowing our mind, they give us a new phone and just trickle out an extra megapixel on the camera and a thrilling new processor that makes the internet move marginally faster. While creating new OS updates that gradually make your existing phone more obsolete even though there’s nowt wrong with it.

It must be years since I heard of a new phone coming out and though ‘wow that’s impressive, I wouldn’t mind having that on me phone’.

Just give me a phone that works, with decent internet processing so I can get e-mail and fart about on here, a camera, and GPS for when I’m on the road with work. That’s all.
 
Tex said:
I’m a non techie but it seems to me that the total wank fest that used to greet the reveal of the latest iPhone (or whatever) is largely a thing of the past now.

Companies like Apple have completely blown it. I’m confident they have some really mind blowing technologies socked away somewhere but instead of piling them all into the latest releases and actually blowing our mind, they give us a new phone and just trickle out an extra megapixel on the camera and a thrilling new processor that makes the internet move marginally faster. While creating new OS updates that gradually make your existing phone more obsolete even though there’s nowt wrong with it.

It must be years since I heard of a new phone coming out and though ‘wow that’s impressive, I wouldn’t mind having that on me phone’.

Just give me a phone that works, with decent internet processing so I can get e-mail and fart about on here, a camera, and GPS for when I’m on the road with work. That’s all.
Click to expand...
Apple have completely blown it? Given their valuation has just moved past $1trn, thats pretty worrying
 
chunkylover53 said:
Apple have completely blown it? Given their valuation has just moved past $1trn, thats pretty worrying
Click to expand...
I’m not on about the money man, I’m on about the pjblic’s perception of their reputation in providing cool bits of kit.
They’ve cornered their share of the phone market which might fluctuate a bit but I would guess is relatively stable and thus a licence to print money, but their phones which were once mind blowing and their releases were a big event that people looked forward to and queued up for ... is that still happening? Seems like ages since a new release even made the news, never mind had punters lining up for them. I’m sure there’ll always be a few fanboys and geeks but surely the bloom is off the rose now?

Or a slice of key lime pie?
 
Tex said:
I’m not on about the money man, I’m on about the pjblic’s perception of their reputation in providing cool bits of kit.
They’ve cornered their share of the phone market which might fluctuate a bit but I would guess is relatively stable and thus a licence to print money, but their phones which were once mind blowing and their releases were a big event that people looked forward to and queued up for ... is that still happening? Seems like ages since a new release even made the news, never mind had punters lining up for them. I’m sure there’ll always be a few fanboys and geeks but surely the bloom is off the rose now?

Or a slice of key lime pie?
Click to expand...
The money defines their success

I get the perception, but they’ve hardly fucked up
 
Tex said:
I’m not on about the money man, I’m on about the pjblic’s perception of their reputation in providing cool bits of kit.
They’ve cornered their share of the phone market which might fluctuate a bit but I would guess is relatively stable and thus a licence to print money, but their phones which were once mind blowing and their releases were a big event that people looked forward to and queued up for ... is that still happening? Seems like ages since a new release even made the news, never mind had punters lining up for them. I’m sure there’ll always be a few fanboys and geeks but surely the bloom is off the rose now?

Or a slice of key lime pie?
Click to expand...

There is only so many game changers that can ne done with the phone. Like manned flight. Went from wright Bros to 747s in a couple of generations. Then nothing but tinkering.
 
Tex said:
While creating new OS updates that gradually make your existing phone more obsolete even though there’s nowt wrong with it.

It must be years since I heard of a new phone coming out and though ‘wow that’s impressive, I wouldn’t mind having that on me phone’.

Just give me a phone that works, with decent internet processing so I can get e-mail and fart about on here, a camera, and GPS for when I’m on the road with work. That’s all.
Click to expand...

That to me has been the only reason I have needed to upgrade a phone for a lot of years (and I am sure Google and Apple know this).

My previous phone (Samsung Galaxy S3) had nearly all the same features as my current phone, but of course the OS upgrades were no longer issued for it and more and more apps wouldn't work on it because they needed the latest OS. It had a long-lasting replaceable battery, expandable SD storage, NFC, decent camera, Low Energy Bluetooth, No 4G - but high speed LTE. Basically pretty much everything that my current phone has and more, but the releases of Android (which don't seem to do anything much extra in the last 4 or 5 releases) had killed it.
 
Can get decent sim only deals if phone is working fine, just get a month by month one, then not tied in. Once it does show signs of packing in then take out a new contract. Was going to do the same this time but mine has just started playing up (turning itself off at 30%) and not due until November, so going to push work for a phone so i save the money :lol:
 
There are very few minor changes between generations these days. I think phones are going the way of laptops where you keep them for 3-4 years, that can be seen in the longer 36 month contracts coming out. The devices from both apple and samsung, though apple being worse, are both passing the £1000 mark for which you'd get a good laptop for, so it makes sense to keep it for about the same amount of time.

If you were to update your laptop what would you normally look for? Better screen, faster processor, more memory, better webcam? All the kinds of things you'd get in a new phone these days. There isn't much else left they can put in now they've replaced our sat navs, our cameras, our handheld games consoles and our portable media consumption devices (think those portable dvd players with the flip up screen)
 
Get a sim only plan and buy a Xiaomi phone for £100 - £150 when it eventually dies (cheaper than a decent phone insurance policy). Samsung, Apple, Sony phones are extortionately expensive on contracts and mobile technology has just about plateaued anyway.

anth said:
There are very few minor changes between generations these days. I think phones are going the way of laptops where you keep them for 3-4 years, that can be seen in the longer 36 month contracts coming out. The devices from both apple and samsung, though apple being worse, are both passing the £1000 mark for which you'd get a good laptop for, so it makes sense to keep it for about the same amount of time.

If you were to update your laptop what would you normally look for? Better screen, faster processor, more memory, better webcam? All the kinds of things you'd get in a new phone these days. There isn't much else left they can put in now they've replaced our sat navs, our cameras, our handheld games consoles and our portable media consumption devices (think those portable dvd players with the flip up screen)
Click to expand...
This, unless you are of course an obsequious follower of trends and think you have zero chance of a leg over without the latest Samsung.

When I worked at EE, Samsung showed us that you can use the latest galaxy phone to scroll through web pages using facial expressions and head movements. Utterly useless and likely to get you certified if used in public.
 
Last edited:

Back
Top