FLYMSY

>>Are we All Suckers for Using Expensive Phones When a Cheap $40 Will Work Fine?<<

No.

PTravel

Phones are NOT one-size-fits-all and modern phones offer a range of features. If you need specific features, you'll need to buy a phone that supports them.

I just got a Note 8 and I'm very happy with it. I use the note taking feature often, I like that it has a good camera, and it is fast at everything it does. One interesting feature is DeX, which is a small dock that turns the Note 8 into a "Android computer." Though it is designed for HDMI, I use it with a Display Link portable USB monitor. I use it with akRDC (a VNC client that runs full-screen on DeX) and VPN so that I can run my Windows 10 computers at home when I'm away. A program called Audio Evolution Mobile gives me a fully-featured DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). ES File Manger Pro is optimized for DeX and gives me access to all my files, both on my NASes at home (via VPN), and in the cloud (I use Google Drive). I use a program called "Office Suite," which is a Word-work-alike and runs full-screen under DeX. DeX isn't going to replace either my laptop or my desktop at the office, but it lets me do 99% of what I need and is much smaller and lighter to pack than my laptop.

Is all this worth $960? Yes -- to me. Of course, if all you do is make phone calls and send texts, then a $40 phone would be just fine. That's my wife does, so I got her a $60 Alcatel from Amazon that shows ads on the lock screen. She doesn't care about them (I offered to pay the extra $50 to disable them, but she said no), the call quality and reception on Verizon are excellent and she's perfectly happy with it.

chx1975

I hate spending money on phones because they are so frustrating to use due to no copy-paste in apps and absolutely inferior input methods -- try SSHing by pawing at a piece of glass. It doesn't work.

Now, https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/p...to-z/x/5633299 is on so I bought a Moto Z Play. From China, when banggood had a sale for $250... Am I a sucker for not buying a Droid 4 for nothing? No, I have two already but by now they are seriously dated devices.

nkedel

There generally is a sweet spot, yeah, although where it is depends entirely on the goods.

That said, timing can make a huge difference in the price -- it's astounding to me that mens shoes go on clearance, since the styles change at a glacial pace. The styles of casual shoes I like not having changed since I was in college in the 1990s, and the style of men's formal shoes I like having not changed since before I was born other than the outsole and lining materials (I'm pretty the design is basically the same since my grandfather was born in 1908.)

But the same set of "new" model sneakers/sandals/hard shoes sells for an SRP around $90, and a "discontinued" model goes for somewhere around $25-$35.

Phones usually change a bit too fast for that, but in a lot of ways they've gotten to "good enough" where the generational changes are not what they were... we were looking for what to replace my wife's Moto X Pure when it died, and the right answer turned out to be "another Moto X Pure, at half what she paid for the original one."

BigFlyer

I'm the original poster.

I have to say, I miss the NFC more than I thought - both for the Android Pay, and the ability to use the Farebot Android app to see the remaining balance and history on my Clipper Card (SF Bay Area stored value transit card.)

kb9522

Yes and no.

Strictly in terms of the utility of the device as a phone, absolutely smartphones are a waste of money. My flip phone works in almost every country, sounds just as clear, and lasts longer on a single charge than a smartphone.

However, there is a productivity factor to consider. I am able to access emails, company resources, etc. on a smartphone that would not be possible on a flip phone.

So I let the company pay for my smartphone and service, and use my own flip phone and service for personal use.

The real problem is the obnoxious trend of increasingly large devices. Life was better when smaller phones were more desirable.

PTravel

Why are larger phones obnoxious? I can't read well without reading glasses. A larger phone (I just got a Note 8) lets me send and receive texts, read emails, write notes, check my calendar, and a whole range of other things without having to fumble for glasses.

The Note 8 is, technically, a "phablet," a cross between a phone and a tablet and has the features of both. I certainly don't think it's obnoxious.

CDTraveler

Because they don't fit in my pocket.

Doesn't matter how big you make the screen, I'd still be hunting for my reading glasses.

Much of the time I don't carry a bag/purse/briefcase, so having a phone that will fit in my left front pocket is crucial. Phone on the left, keys and cash in the right pocket. I always do it that way because otherwise I mess up and forget something.

As to the OP's question: Years ago in my sociology class there was a unit "trend setters", "first adopters", etc. the idea being that there are elements of self worth linked to different consumer attitudes. Some people's self worth is bolstered by being the first to own something, wear something, do something, etc. Others, like myself, are more value conscious, as in I bought an iPhone 5c after the 7 series came out, and got it on Black Friday for less than half its original price. I need the features on it, but I don't need more so rather than chase the thrill of being first I go for the item that provides the features I need, such as fitting in a pocket, document storage, email, texting , and, oh yeah, phone calls.

PTravel

Mine fits in my front pocket just fine. You must have very small pockets.

Yep, that's what I do.

Interesting. I'm not a first adopter and couldn't care less about what is trendy. I got the Note 8 because my venerable Note 3 had become unreliable and Verizon gives interest-free financing. I will make an observation, however: I have never owned an iPhone, and never wanted one. To me -- my opinion, only -- iPhone not only doesn't offer any advantages over Android, it is significantly less capable than contemporary Android smartphone offerings. Yet, it is only the iPhone for which people will camp out overnight so that they can be the first.

estnet

Verizon and tmo use different technology - so your phone works on both cdma AND gsm?

BigFlyer

Yes.

CDTraveler

Or I'm female, petite and have pockets sized to correspond with smaller clothing than the average male wears.

For me, it's a matter of one's native "tech language" as well as only purchasing capability for what I need rather than latest/greatest gadgets. I've been using Mac's since 1984, and everything about the interface of Apple products is completely intuitive to me. I can use a Microsoft based products quite competently, but I find the interface/user experience annoying and counter-intuitive, and that goes double for Android phones and Google apps.

PTravel

I was right -- you do have smaller pockets than I do.

I've had exactly the opposite experience. I've been using PCs since 1982. I don't want to get into the whole Mac vs. PC thing, so I'll just say that the few times I've had to work with Macs, I found them extremely frustrating because the kinds of things that I routinely do on PC couldn't be done on Mac because the OS hid so many functions from the user.

Loren Pechtel

Agreed. In almost all cases you're better off not buying the cheapest versions of something. I can think of one el-cheapo tool I've bought in a long time: a socket set. My car battery died right near--but not at--an auto parts store. If I had been in their parking lot they would have been willing to install the new one. Not being right there I got a $6 set of sockets so I could do it myself. The socket set is still in the car for the next time the battery dies. (Summers here are very hot, car batteries are very prone to sudden cell failure.)

kb9522

Verizon is in the process of refarming their spectrum for LTE. By 2020 (I think) they will no longer be using CDMA at all. The device I currently have is LTE only and works on Verizon.