Is there any point in buying New phones at the moment?

[bagusbagus]

Personally I'm waiting for the day when they will be able to stuff a desktop-pc CPU power in a phone so we can just plug a phone to monitor and have a desktop pc power but until that....

More or less everyone I know have the latest and the best phones, so I have toyed around with all of them but seems like any progress has stopped in the last 3-4years? Sure more ram gets stuffed in phones, a bit faster cpu's but still I have a cheap Moto g 3rd that is able to do everything that the latest flagship can, there's not a single thing that I'm really missing out on, ok you can take 10% better pictures , can load a game 2sec faster than my cheap old phone but that's about it really?

[Hoofy]

bagusbagus said:

Personally I'm waiting for the day when they will be able to stuff a desktop-pc CPU power in a phone so we can just plug a phone to monitor and have a desktop pc power but until that....

More or less everyone I know have the latest and the best phones, so I have toyed around with all of them but seems like any progress has stopped in the last 3-4years? Sure more ram gets stuffed in phones, a bit faster cpu's but still I have a cheap Moto g 3rd that is able to do everything that the latest flagship can, there's not a single thing that I'm really missing out on, ok you can take 10% better pictures , can load a game 2sec faster than my cheap old phone but that's about it really?

I guess if you're not really using your phone to its fullest ie just doing stuff like Facebook posts or making calls (crazy, I know!) then whether you have an aging Galaxy S3 or the latest iPhone is irrelevant (except to your bank balance).

[Matt100HP]

bagusbagus said:

Personally I'm waiting for the day when they will be able to stuff a desktop-pc CPU power in a phone...

Depending on how you look at it, this is either never going to happen, or has already been achieved.

A decent desktop CPU from any given year will always be significantly more powerful than the CPU in a decent phone from the same year. The desktop CPU has access to far better cooling, allowing much higher clock speeds, and can use far more power as it doesn't have to worry about draining a relatively small battery.

However, high end phones already have CPUs which are as powerful or more powerful than decent desktop CPUs from a few years ago. The only benchmark I know of which works across pretty much every platform is Geekbench, have a look at the overall CPU score for something like a Galaxy S7 or S8 and then compare that to some desktop CPUs (Geekbench have charts).

I believe the Galaxy S8 has a dock accessory thing which can be used to connect your phone to a monitor and use it with a mouse and keyboard, like a PC.

[RJO]

The later and more powerful Windows 10 phones have continuum, which scales up to HD so you can run apps on a monitor, and use a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Phone still works for calls and sms while you use it as a pc due to dual screen technology. You can use a dock or a miracast dongle.
I have a Lumia 950, well over a year old now while we wait for winhdows mobile on arm, but the HP X3 is about 6 months old.

[wong]

I probably change phones every 3 years and buy outright. After a few years the OS stops supporting older phones so your apps dont work. The battery life comes down.

I agree inthat there has been no real innovation for a few years, just incremental improvements - screens are getting so many pixels, the limiting factor is your own retinas!

Currently have a Oneplus 3T. The one "new" feature I like is the rapid charging.

[GT03ROB]

For 95% plus of users each new phone that comes out has no real difference over the previous version.

As an example I'm sat here with Iphones 6 & 7, can't tell the difference in performance, size or appearance.

I keep them until the battery cannot hold charge or they simply do not work then change to the latest model.

[AJB88]

Mate of mine has just got his S8 to replace his S6 Edge and honestly its no different.

My Nexus 6P, I was going to replace it with a Pixel XL but after having a play with one and then looking at the specs decided to save the money.

[HotJambalaya]

Not really, I used to change from things like the iphone 3 to the 4 skipping the 's' in the middle, now I go 3 cycles, and even then there's not a huge difference. You sort of notice it on start up, or opening more web pages, but overall, not really.

[jamoor]

AJB88 said:

Mate of mine has just got his S8 to replace his S6 Edge and honestly its no different.

My Nexus 6P, I was going to replace it with a Pixel XL but after having a play with one and then looking at the specs decided to save the money.

Better battery life and better build quality to start.

[jamoor]

bagusbagus said:

Personally I'm waiting for the day when they will be able to stuff a desktop-pc CPU power in a phone so we can just plug a phone to monitor and have a desktop pc power but until that....

More or less everyone I know have the latest and the best phones, so I have toyed around with all of them but seems like any progress has stopped in the last 3-4years? Sure more ram gets stuffed in phones, a bit faster cpu's but still I have a cheap Moto g 3rd that is able to do everything that the latest flagship can, there's not a single thing that I'm really missing out on, ok you can take 10% better pictures , can load a game 2sec faster than my cheap old phone but that's about it really?

Isn't this sort of impossible as the desktop will always be more powerful than a phone that fits in your hand?

[AJB88]

jamoor said:

Better battery life and better build quality to start.

Had no issues with my Nexus at all and battery is fine after 2 years.

worth forking out £7XX for "better" no way.

[louiebaby]

Say for instance I had a new job starting, that would require me to work at home in the evenings as well, but I commuted by bike, what I'd really like is a phone docking station at work and at home, so I could carry my phone home instead of a laptop.

Which is the best platform for this, Windows, Android or Apple?

I would need to work on Excel, Word and Powerpoint, as well as emails, at either location.

Just a thought currently...

[Bikerjon]

louiebaby said:

Say for instance I had a new job starting, that would require me to work at home in the evenings as well, but I commuted by bike, what I'd really like is a phone docking station at work and at home, so I could carry my phone home instead of a laptop.

Which is the best platform for this, Windows, Android or Apple?

I would need to work on Excel, Word and Powerpoint, as well as emails, at either location.

Just a thought currently...

This is really the way things should be heading, but unfortunately we seem to be in a stage where wraparound screens and batteries that last 1 hour longer than the old model are deemed more important.

IMO Microsoft could fast track right back into the mobile market if they managed to do this with continuum, but I honestly can't tell what the current strategy is with windows phone right now - it feels like it's almost been abandoned?

[768]

Costs do seem to be spiralling faster and hardware improvements slowing.

Having just bought a OnePlus 3T I'm quite content to have the latest software on a phone .

[CaptainSensib1e]

I faced a similar dilemma. Was waiting for the new S8 to be released, but when I saw the price I went on Amazon and found a new S7 Edge for £450. It's certainly better than the S5 it replaces, mainly from a UI/speed/battery life point of view and a clearer screen, but there's no ground breaking improvement.

[jamoor]

AJB88 said:

Had no issues with my Nexus at all and battery is fine after 2 years.

worth forking out £7XX for "better" no way.

Probbably less than that at the 6p will be worth good money.

[dieseluser07]

Just got a galaxy s7 on contract for 26 a month.

The s8 cheapest was 40 odd.

Literally dont even know whats better, slightly better camera and bigger screen, not worth the cost

[bloomen]

My current phone is now two generations behind and I still can't figure out what benefit I'll get if I lay out several hundred pounds. I think I'll wait another five or six generations just to be sure.

It's going the same way as computers now. A 5-8 year old machine barely loses out on spec compared to a brand new one any more.

[GTIAlex]

Still got an S5 and find it no problem.
Does social media in a flash, plays games for when im on the loo, or I can read the paper.
It bluetoothes to the car for the sat nav audio/spotify etc
Links to the Sonos player
Camera is fine for what I use it for
Battery life reduced? Just replace to battery with a brand new one.

Really dont see what a newer model would offer me.

[alock]

I have a Galaxy S5 coming up to 3 years old that has just started randomly rebooting. Looked around at new phones and they are just uninspiring.

I've actually started enjoying the fact that my current phone is on its last legs and isn't worth pampering. No cover. No screen protector. No fear of accidental damage. If I buy a new phone I will lose these benefits.