Are high end smartphones worth the money (to you)?

[Centigrade32]

19 minutes ago, jaywalker2 said:

Disagree with that. I have access to a lot more websites on my PC that I can't see on the phone because of the paywalls, I'm not inundated with ads like I am on the phone, and obviouisly the phone isn't much good for watching videos of playing music for that matter because of the small screen and since it eats up battery life. I tend to open most websites in Firefox to avoid the ads, which just doesn't work as well on the phone. And I don't have to worry about data harvesting as much either. And forget about typing. The camera is convnenient but now I have hundreds of photos I never look at.

 

It sounds as if it's your lack of knowledge/experience that is the issue there.

There's no reason as to why you have to use Firefox as a browser on your phone if it doesn't work for you.

If you don't like Ads and Paywalls, choose a Browser that is suitable to that purpose. A couple of examples might be Brave and Snowhaze.

I don't see what a small screen has to do with playing music and due to the phone being close to your eyes when watching videos, the size isn't really an issue. But of course there is the option to connect to a TV or monitor.

 

 

[jaywalker2]

4 hours ago, Centigrade32 said:

 

It sounds as if it's your lack of knowledge/experience that is the issue there.

There's no reason as to why you have to use Firefox as a browser on your phone if it doesn't work for you.

If you don't like Ads and Paywalls, choose a Browser that is suitable to that purpose. A couple of examples might be Brave and Snowhaze.

I don't see what a small screen has to do with playing music and due to the phone being close to your eyes when watching videos, the size isn't really an issue. But of course there is the option to connect to a TV or monitor.

 

 

I meant avoiding the ads doesn't work as well on the phone. Firefox isn't the problem

[ChaiyaTH]

New iPhone every 3-4 years and maybe replace a battery once to just get the 1.5 to 2 days battery life again the entire time I own it. Not always buying the latest model neither never more then the basic model, is like 20K baht only + 5K batteries / 4 years = 6.25K baht a year average for having always the best possible tech and experience within the most recent 2-3 models.

 

Battery life alone is just killing it, with a power bank I last easily 4-5 days without needing to even plug somewhere, I work with it a lot / move a lot.

[Jingthing]

Well I've never bought a high end phone but I used to buy mid level not Samsung androids and then switched to a mid level Samsung. The difference in the experience has been dramatic. Massively better and more reliable. My next phone will be a high end Samsung. My reasoning is that you actually save money going for quality.

[Centigrade32]

10 minutes ago, jaywalker2 said:

I meant avoiding the ads doesn't work as well on the phone. Firefox isn't the problem

 

I disagree. Where do you see Ads? We can test our theories.

[scubascuba3]

5 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Well I've never bought a high end phone but I used to buy mid level not Samsung androids and then switched to a mid level Samsung. The difference in the experience has been dramatic. Massively better and more reliable. My next phone will be a high end Samsung. My reasoning is that you actually save money going for quality.

what was the mid level not samsung android models?

[ukrules]

For me, no - I used to just buy the best top of the range Samsung model every time I needed a new phone then at some point I realised I'm barely using it.

The cameras on the lower end phones were at one point better than my older far more expensive phone - which was already good enough - I don't buy a phone until I 'need' one which might be every 4 or 5 years

I take the occasional photo, receive SMSs, order food and the occasional taxi via apps and my number one use for the phone - checking the time.

So now the cameras are higher quality on the lower end phones I can pick up some Samsung model that costs between 5000-10000 Baht (pocket change) and it's more than good enough for what I need for a few years.

So I stopped paying 20 to 30k Baht per phone a few years back.

I hate Apple and their closed ecosystem from the dev side of things so I always stuck with Android phones. I have owned Apple iPads at various stages but more recently I swapped back to a Samsung Android tablet as well.

[digger70]

Are high end smartphones worth the money (to you)? 

 

No not to Me.

I  only use a Phone for Phone calls and Sometimes send  a Message  and /or take a Picture.  

[Jingthing]

I think I missused the word quality before. Both mid and high level Samsungs are high quality. But now due to my acquired brand loyalty for Samsung and the expectation that I will be happy with my next new Samsung for 5 or 6 years, even though not necessary the added cost of going high end becomes trivial so if you can afford it, why not? As opposed to those who replace every year or two.

[VBF]

17 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I use Redmi 12c and 13c, (android 14) they cost around 2700bht each.

Not sure what extra features a more expensive phone could do? 

Give me a clue please?

Sometimes it's doing the same things better. Ie, faster processor, more memory, multiple SIM options, NFC or not, magnetometer or not, better camera picture quality.

If you don't need an option, why pay for it?

Example, if you want to use Google Pay you need NFC.

if you want to take videos of sports you need a better camera, and so forth.

Like computers or cars.....most tech really 

 

 

[ignis]

8 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Well I've never bought a high end phone but I used to buy mid level not Samsung androids and then switched to a mid level Samsung. The difference in the experience has been dramatic. Massively better and more reliable. My next phone will be a high end Samsung. My reasoning is that you actually save money going for quality.

Not at all sure about Samsung, my Partner only ever buys mid range Samsung and is not interested in an other makes..

 

I have had 2 both appeared to have the same problem battery,  the last one was Android 7 = potluck how long the battery last 30 mins to 2 days, and anything in-between potluck so very unreliable  = had to go and buy another new phone 2 weeks later, so far Vivo has never let me down in 5 years.  The other was a tablet, also battery  - spent more time in the Service Centre  than in my hands = both as new sat in there boxes unusable in a cupboard 

[The Old Bull]

I had an Asus zenphone 3 ,good till the battery died ,would not hold charge. I upgraded to a zenphone 8, a big mistake. Lost my two favorite   features and the screen is smaller ,making it difficult to type messages. I will not buy another  phone online , i will go a shop where I can check it out first.

[Ben Zioner]

13 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Hold the phone closer, get better reading glasses

Sounds like you never went to a movie theatre.

[CygnusX1]

I was forced to buy a new phone when my much loved bottom of the range Android phone was no longer compatible with Australia’s mobile network, despite it being 4G.  Bought an iphone 16 pro for its camera and e-SIM facility, which is great for a frequent traveller who needs to contact Airbnb hosts. I’d say I use less than 1% of the phone’s features. Hopefully a high end phone will also remain compatible with the network for longer.

[jaywalker2]

9 hours ago, Centigrade32 said:

 

I disagree. Where do you see Ads? We can test our theories.

For the most part, I don't use the apps. YouTube is the classic example -- unwatchable in the app because of the ads. I deleted Spotify and Twitter for the same reasons. So I open most sites in the Firefox on mobile. But if you want to  go to a link and read an article, you can't. You either have to sign up for "free" account or it's behind a paywall. And you're inundated with ads, of course  On the laptop, I don't have that problem. All the links work, no ads, and paywalls are usually not a problem.

 

Apps on phones serve two main purposes: data harvesting and the delivery of ads. Functionality is a distant second place, which is why so many people were surprised to see how user friendly RedNote was, unlike most US social media apps.

[JBChiangRai]

Last year my iPhone 11 went pop (literally) as the main board fried.  It was unrepairable so I bought a new iPhone 15 which I’ve been using for 13 months.

 

I’m sure it must have some extra features, but I haven’t noticed them. It doesn’t do anything different to my last phone.

 

Last month I bought an Oppo A3S on Lazada new for under 1,200 baht so I could get 2 accounts on an app.  It looks just as good and useable as my 30,000 baht iPhone 15.

[ronster]

Had a redmi note 10s for well over a year now and not a thing has went wrong with it. Does everything I need it for and is quick with good storage and fast charging. Think was 6000bht new.

Wife wanted a new iPhone a year ago saying she didn't want an android phone as wasn't same to use as her iPhone. I told her the cost difference was insane between the two and I would get her a iPhone if she really couldn't use the android one .Bought her a new redmi note 13 5G and she could use it no problem instantly and she said why do people pay 30-50,000bht for a phone when the one I got her was good 😀

Pretty sure people buy them for show and camera/media functions on higher end phones are better quality usually.

[scottiejohn]

9 hours ago, Jingthing said:

The difference in the experience has been dramatic. Massively better

What were those difference?

[sammieuk1]

Samsung is very good at selling me stuff I don't need 🤔

[henryford1958]

I prefer to buy quality products. Those 5k phones are plastic crap. I would pay 20-25k for a phone, my IQOO12 was 22k, certainly not Apple rip off prices. Considering i use it several hours a day for 3-4 years i don't think 17 baht a day is excessive. The main benefits are a good camera, good screen, fast and plenty of storage.

[jippytum]

I dont fuss about the camera on my phone but recently i have been forced to upgrade my smartphone to contiue internet banking as the bank app would not operate on the old phone. 

[klauskunkel]

I bought an iphone 15 last year, and I have to say I am quite impressed with it's lowlight picture quality:

 

 

 

 

[newnative]

     Spouse has a Samsung S24 phone and he likes it a lot.  He gave me his old--well, not really that old, S23.  He uses his phone a lot for his job--it has a number of features that are useful for him--I know he uses the pen thing and the translation feature and lord knows what else.   He keeps showing me features on the S23 and I use some of them but, for me, I could get along ok with a cheaper phone with fewer features if I had to.  I do like the good camera, though.   I think it boils down to what you'd be using your phone for--I use my laptop much more than my phone and it's the opposite for my spouse.  

[wombat]

it depends what you use your phone for i guess...if you use the high end bells and whistles go for it

[impulse]

1 hour ago, ronster said:

Had a redmi note 10s for well over a year now and not a thing has went wrong with it.

 

Oh man.  You just jinxed it.

 

[JackGats]

I'd like to buy new models more often but the hassle of re-installing banking apps and verification apps prevents me from doing so.

[ryxyz]

21 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

Ive got a S25 Ultra with 1tb storage on pre-order... I hope it arrives soon, shoulld be a decent improvement over my S24.

Nice choice 

 

[impulse]

2 minutes ago, ryxyz said:

 

 

Use it for a few weeks then report back.  Was it worth the extra dosh over my 5000 baht A05s?   If so, why?

 

The buzz that you got unpacking it doesn't count.

 

[Freddy42OZ]

23 hours ago, impulse said:

 

I'm still hoping for input from posters that may be happy they spent the $$$.

 

I recently had a Thai friend ask me if I thought he should repair his older Apple phone for 8,000 baht, or buy a new one for (I think) 24,000 baht.  I conceded he was asking the wrong guy.

 

Reading today, it seems Samsung has released the newest S25 (?) line in Korea, and the pre-orders are mostly around the top of that line.  That's what led me to wonder if I must be missing out on something?

 

 

 

A few of my friends have the Galaxy Fold 6 and all of them say that it has made them a lot more productive. 

One of my Thai friends has both the new Fold 6 and the new S25 Ultra. 

I was considering the fold at 64K THB but have decided the S25 Ultra is probably better for my use case and its cheaper at 53K THB

I'll buy a tablet to go with the phone instead of buying a folding phone.  I'm looking at the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra 14.5" tablet which comes with a keyboard case for 63K THB
 

The screen time monitoring app on my phone shows that my screen is on for an average of 8 hours per day.

 

[tomazbodner]

Worth for me. I have some semi professional video and photo equipment, but it's big and heavy, hence I was looking for something not too far off, and got Xiaomi 14 Ultra. It fits in the pocket and has quite a good low light capability with 1" class sensor. Also the real aperture control makes a nice bokeh. On the flip side, dynamic range isn't stellar, images are very surgical, and while AI can recover some blurred details as well as Picasso... Seriously, on both, Oppo X7 Ultra does a far better job.

 

So camera and solid build are my main reasons to paying premium. But another reason that got me to change was actually security update. While flipping through the settings I noticed my previous phone had last security update over 2 years old. With all the apps we're forced to use on phones, updates are very important. Premium phones generally come with 5 years of updates, so my current phones have last update in January 2025.

 

I'm also using iPhone, alas 14 Pro Max, a heavy brick. But that's for work as I still don't trust Google enough to put anything sensitive on Android phone. Camera on iPhone is of reasonable quality, but a far cry from what Xiaomi produces.