Every year we get the incremental next version of our favorite flagship smartphones, whether it’s the iPhone, the next Galaxy note or the next Galaxy S these phones start a buzz in our social circles and eventually we give in to the temptation and end up buying one of these. With the smartphone technology reaching maturity and the mid-range market becoming more and more competitive we have to consider are we paying too much for our phones? In this article we will take a look at current flagship phones and consider if they are worth that price. Also I’ll talk about some great smartphones you can get which give you more or less the same experience in a fraction of the flagship price.

The smartphone technology reaching it’s maturity

What does this mean? To explain this point I’m using the example of Microsoft Windows and PCs. Looking back 20 years in the past the computer hardware world was progressing dramatically, we were getting revolutionary new hardware and groundbreaking achievements in this field then we reached a point where improvements started becoming more and more incremental and less revolutionary. The change from Windows 2000 to XP groundbreaking, then from Windows XP to Windows 7 again revolutionary achievement to make your computer operating system much easier to use. With Windows 7 the PC operating system gained maturity. After Windows 7 there isn’t much ground left to break , yes we get some new bells and whistles every year, some flashy new features but the point remains there isn’t anything particularly special that you can do in the later versions of Windows that you can’t do in Windows 7. This is the reason why still 47.25 % of all computer users are still using Windows 7 and just 22.9 % users are on the latest version Windows 10.

Similarly, what started with the very first phone; the desire to have as much processing power as your computer in your handheld device and an operating system powerful enough that you don’t have to use your computer became true in the last few years with the advent of Android and iOS. After many years of upgrade these operating systems gained maturity but still a lot was left to be desired from the hardware side of things which lead you to buy the flagship device to get the best possible experience. Now in the technological cycle we are at a point where the smartphone hardware has also reached maturity. Lets take the iPhone 6s and the recent iPhone 7, there isn’t anything special that you can do on the 7 but can’t on the 6s same thing in the Android side there isn’t anything special that you can’t do on the S6 but can do on the S7. So why do we suddenly feel that our device is useless when the newer model comes out? Why should we spend 600-800 dollars on a device that isn’t noticeably different than our current device. The answer is we shouldn’t. We should re-evaluate our spending and focus on spending on useful items which help you and not make your device 10 percent faster (which is not even noticeable) for 600 dollars.

The mid-range option.

Ok, lets say you get unhappy with your phone quickly and have to buy a new phone every year. Then my question is should you really buy the most high-end flagship device? Should you spend that much money on something that you will end up getting bored of anyways? Especially now when we have devices that don’t cost as much and provide the same experience.

Whenever we are talking about smartphones and pricing the point always comes up that the flagships are dying and now with devices like the Oneplus 3 and the Honor 8, I think that notion is more closer to reality than we might think. Here are 3 devices that give you more or less the flagship experience without the flagship price.

The Oneplus 3 is the obvious answer for mid-range price and flagship features. The phone’s Snapdragon 820 processor and 6GB of RAM go toe to toe with every other flagship device. The only downgrade of the Oneplus 3 is that you don’t get any special water resistance but other than that everything about this phone screams quality.

The Honor 8 in my opinion is the most beautiful and well designed device Huawei has ever manufactured. Coupled that with their Kirin processor, 4GB of RAM, dual lens setup, type C USB and you got yourself a well rounded package.

This year Motorola has earned the title of being the most innovative manufacture of the year by introducing easily swap-able mods for their phones, but you don’t have to spend 700 dollars for the Moto Z to have all that. The Moto Z play supports all their mods even the Hasselblad true zoom camera and the JBL speakers. a massive battery, type C charging and even a headphone jack that is not available in the more expensive Moto Z.

With all these devices you get all the features you would get on a flagship devices in a fraction of the price and without any compromises. Anyways do you guys think that flagships are dying? and what do you think is the best mid range phone at the moment? Comment down below and let us know and please like our facebook page to stay up to date with our latest content.