The Trend For Increasingly Expensive Mobile Phones

My current phone (Nokia 3310) cost me £19 to buy and I pay £5 a month. The battery lasts a week and it just does calls and texts. No data, no emails, no anything else. I love it. Initially I was anxious about going out without a smartphone (silly, eh?), but after a while I found it quite liberating to be detached everything. I'd love to ditch the mobile entirely but I don't have a landline phone.

I don't have anything against people that spend a grand on a phone, but I get wound up by people that claim to be skint and can't afford the necessities, but spend stupid money on a high end phone (which is a luxury, nobody NEEDS a to have these high end devices)
 
nope
just paid 160 for a Redmi note 6
good for 2 years
 
£240 for a brick, it does my email, text, phone calls and occasionally browses the Web. It can swim to 2 metres which I've tested, and is reasonably drop proof which I've tested many times. Don't see the point of anything else but I'll will waste money on many other things so I won't judge others for what flicks their switch.
 
Personally I wouldn't pay that sort of money for a phone, however many easily pay that and above for a camera and lenses that can only produce pictures and video.
 
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Personally I wouldn't pay that sort of money for a phone, however many easily pay that and above for a camera and lenses that can only produce pictures and video.
Yes. If I could pay less for the same camera capability I would. There are more expensive cameras with more features that I don't need. So I don't buy them.

Same with smartphones. I've got all the tools I need. Some phone makers add cheesy gimmicks that are effective in attracting those people who believe the hype and marketing BS. And desperately follow "trends" just because other people do. I think it's a condition.
 
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I upgraded recently because the trade in value of my iPhone X was greater than the amount I owed on it.
Maybe I'm being a bit stupid, but can you explain that reasoning for me?

I mean, the trade in value of my car is greater than the amount I owe on it - does that mean I should get a new one? My house is worth more than the amount outstanding on my mortgage - should I be moving to a bigger house?
 
Maybe I'm being a bit stupid, but can you explain that reasoning for me?

I mean, the trade in value of my car is greater than the amount I owe on it - does that mean I should get a new one? My house is worth more than the amount outstanding on my mortgage - should I be moving to a bigger house?

You can do whatever suits you without having to justify your decision to anyone. Just as I did.
 
You can do whatever suits you without having to justify your decision to anyone. Just as I did.
But that's not what you did though.
You said you upgraded your phone because the value was greater than you owed.
Is that not you trying to justify it to yourself?
 
I thought £500 was completely nuts.
I guess I just don't want that lifestyle gadget enough, or at all even.
I'm quite happy to think when I see somebody with a stupidly expensive phone, you idiot!
Its tempered only by those same people seeing a camera round my neck and calling me an idiot to my face...:ROFLMAO:

people in glass houses, an all that
 
Samsung’s latest flagship goes on sale today. Anyone going to get one of the S10 variants?
 
Samsung’s latest flagship goes on sale today. Anyone going to get one of the S10 variants?

They do look good but I've only had my Note 9 for six months, it's a bit early to be upgrading yet. I'd only be doing it for the wide angle camera and I'd miss the S-Pen too much. When the Note 10 comes out later in the year I'll go for it if I can get a decent trade in deal on my Note 9
 
My 1.5p worth (that's inflation for you), if you have the money and fancy, why not? Most people focus on TEH SHINY !!1! and there's something to be said for that, but actually there's also the aspect of security. We (OK, I) rely on phones for an awful lot these days and having the latest OS helps keep you ahead of the game, and is a relatively small price to pay for peace of mind.

You may think, that you haven't heard of many phones being hacked, but you'd be wrong. Many vulnerability exploits originate on phones, where the screen is smaller, information harder to come by and mistakes easily made. Not only that but the latest OS improves your ability to control your data, what and how you share anything for example. Personally, it's one of the reasons I'm a Google fanboi, my Pixel phone is the first with any updates. Oh, and the camera helps, too. I'd change it when it stopped being supported for the reasons stated. Other people may not be happy selling their soul to Apple or Google, but I'm content with the bargain.

As far as buying outright or contract, it is unusual for contract to save money, but each time I compare and for the first time almost in ever I have a contract phone, proving there's no hard and fast rule.
 
I am another that paid £20 for a phone about three years ago - and I spend £10 on credit every three months or so. I cannot image paying hundreds for a phone, never mind thousands as it would not get me a better class of people ringing me up.
 
The U.K. price of the Galaxy Fold is £1799. The only network offering it on contract will be EE.
 
Same could be said of things like...……………….cameras?
 
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We still can't even send a text, no signal.
I do have a refurbished Samsung S5 to run camera apps and such.
 
kinda funny reading of £2000 pound fun,I just upgraded my old phone( sadly essential for my work) ,at the huge cost of 20quid. I also finally started my smart phone journey. Our camper has blue teeth and hands free thingies......... is set up for an app to watch the leisure battery. The smart phone was around £100.

I have nowt against folks spending their own money on what they want, why the hell would I? Certainly the thought of those sums on a phone seems weird at best for me,but we are all different . Each to there own,I've grafted me nuts off for the camera and lens I wanted, blummin expensive but utterly my choice. It won't make me a better photographer but it's a joy to learn and use

stu
 
I use my phone a lot but cannot really see the benefit in most new models. Mine is a few generations old and does everything okay. I'm aware of some things newer models do but everything seems so incremental. There never seems to be any massive developments these days where functionality is suddenly transformed, though I guess folding screens has some potential.

I'm curious to see where we end up with all this though. Phones have killed off so many other things, I do wonder when our phones will eventually be our only computers. Hooked up to external monitors and keyboards at home or in the office but basically dealing with everything rather than just 'integrating'. Folding screen being big enough to use stand alone when needed. At that point, £2k cost might be easier to swallow but even then it still costs far more than my laptop and phone combined.
 
Prices like £500 or more are aimed at company employee phones where the employee doesn't pay. Or for people who are desperate to show off. I'm more than happy with my, non flagship, android phone for less than £200. The gimmicks are not worth paying TRIPLE the price.

I'm definitely more than happy with my little Nokia where the battery (replaceable) lasts almost a week.
 
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