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

[JaxxBKK]

21 minutes ago, gk10012001 said:

Absolutely not worth the money to me.  I have a Motorola G7 Power I bought in 2021.  Cost $240 as I recall.  Plenty of memory for my purposes.  Plenty of battery for my purposes.  Google Play store has all the apps I need which are very few.  I do not rely on my phone for much as I prefer to use my computer for the few online things I do which are some basic banking now and then,.  The Etrade app has come in handy as I electronically can deposit checks.  What checks you ask in this day and age?  Well slot machine jackpots from some casinos I have been to either pay in cash or check.  I take the check and electronically deposit very quickly.  

 

I remember that era of moto phones and specs were great for price. Not easy to find in Thailand given the phone monopolies. Moto doesn't update, upgrade SW much if at all.

[JaxxBKK]

On 2/5/2025 at 1:56 PM, scubascuba3 said:

Most people probably don't even know what their new phone does over a cheaper one. They all seem to charge very fast now, who cares about that, i charge at night, couldn't care less

 

Yes, that's you. Me too. Fast charging can have some real value especially when phone gets old and battery gets shonky. When you're on the road fast charging also helpful.

 

 

Unrelated: wife's lastest 1+ 13 has Hasleblad camera. Fantastic. I tried to talk her out of me buying a new phone 😂 because comparing specs on GSMArena the 13 was negligible real world difference from her 7pro. She never pesters me for anything so I did her the upgrade. Her family was burning through phones misfortune. I'd given away all my old spare phones so I ponied up.

 

I think phone requirements for cranky old men are minimal judging by this thread.

[JaxxBKK]

On 2/6/2025 at 8:21 PM, CFIAM said:

 

If Firefox is the best, then why are you suffering issues that people with the other browser aren't having?

It seems that you have convinced yourself of something that isn't necessarily so. Which add-ons do you use with Firefox on the cellphone?

 

Yes, add ons definitely slow things down.

 

I'm die hard ff fanboy back to Mozilla Netscape

[scubascuba3]

6 hours ago, JaxxBKK said:

 

Yes, that's you. Me too. Fast charging can have some real value especially when phone gets old and battery gets shonky. When you're on the road fast charging also helpful.

 

 

Unrelated: wife's lastest 1+ 13 has Hasleblad camera. Fantastic. I tried to talk her out of me buying a new phone 😂 because comparing specs on GSMArena the 13 was negligible real world difference from her 7pro. She never pesters me for anything so I did her the upgrade. Her family was burning through phones misfortune. I'd given away all my old spare phones so I ponied up.

 

I think phone requirements for cranky old men are minimal judging by this thread.

My Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 5G isn't very good at casting, so I had to use my 9 for casting, much better. Just bought a 13 Pro+, best phone so far 

[JaxxBKK]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

My Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 5G isn't very good at casting, so I had to use my 9 for casting, much better. Just bought a 13 Pro+, best phone so far 

 

It's a sweet phone. I'm actually as excited as I can be about phones to inherit it ... in two years 😂 I just asked my wife the other day how long ago did I buy that phone for you?? Hoping it was 3 years not two.

 

Too bad 1+ sold out. Using Color OS, basically another Oppo.

 

I have my eye on Nothing phones. Pei is going to produce a flagship level phone sooner or later.

 

If you've not heard of Nothing and want a great value phone look at the brand. My only concern is being able to actually buy them in Thailand. The entire Market is controlled by about three or four manufacturers now.

 

The Chinese phones are quite good, but they run their own operating systems not android. I do not keep anything financial or confidential on my phone I still don't feel comfortable with these phones and know that they can and do feed data back to Chinese manufacturers and the government.

 

I don't want to squeeze Trump into the conversation, but he's absolutely correct about his assessment of Thailand. Extremely uncompetitive on so many levels

[JaxxBKK]

On 2/6/2025 at 8:21 PM, CFIAM said:

 

If Firefox is the best, then why are you suffering issues that people with the other browser aren't having?

It seems that you have convinced yourself of something that isn't necessarily so. Which add-ons do you use with Firefox on the cellphone?

 

I think it's best. Non profit corporation dedicated to privacy.

 

Microsoft is an absolute abortion and gets more invasive by the month. I'm so close to ripping out W11 off my laptop. Edge and now with copilot freaking everywhere. Killing off Skype. Fitting a monster like Gates owns it.

[mogandave]

I do not trust non/not for profit companies. 

[lamyai3]

On 2/5/2025 at 9:48 AM, impulse said:

My current phone is a Samsung

 

For a few years already quite a common issue with the screens on the flagship Samsung models is vertical lines appearing and proliferating. Very expensive fix, and something that doesn't seem to affect the midrange and budget models. Buyer beware! 

[HappyExpat57]

On 2/6/2025 at 12:52 PM, impulse said:

 

One of the things I love about Thailand is how cheap and easy it is to get a battery replaced, even on the models where the manufacturer tried to make it hard.  Crafty devils, those Thais...  They'll bend over backwards to make a transaction work.

 

What I find disconcerting is how all-too-frequently I've had to have the batteries replaced in ALL my Samsung phones. Almost as if it was a planned obsolescence.

[scubascuba3]

2 hours ago, mogandave said:

I do not trust non/not for profit companies. 

Yep, like the PGA

[impulse]

2 hours ago, HappyExpat57 said:

What I find disconcerting is how all-too-frequently I've had to have the batteries replaced in ALL my Samsung phones. Almost as if it was a planned obsolescence.

 

I'm well over 18 months on my cheapo A05s and I still get the full day out of it.  I rarely get below 75% left at the end of a day.  Even on travel days when I'm flying and using it relentlessly, it lasts the whole day with lots to spare.

 

Of course, YMMV.

 

[xylophone]

On 2/6/2025 at 4:30 AM, digger70 said:

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.  

Sounds as though I'm a lot like you with my smartphone use, although my "smart phone" is an Apple iPhone SE from 2015 and it doesn't get any system updates because it's way past that now.

 

I probably take a picture once a month if that and the rest of the time it is used for phone calls. I occasionally look at updating it with something other than an Apple, however I can't find anything which is the same size, because I don't want a phone which is about the same size as a small book, just something that fits into my little clip-on "holster" (on my shorts) and I don't have to worry about it falling out of my pocket.

 

I could well go onto eBay and pick up another second hand one (which this one was a few years ago) and I may well do that in the near future. For me it is "size that matters"!!

[unblocktheplanet]

Anybody got an iPhone 11 for sale? I'm using an iPhone 5c...

[Yellowtail]

I have my wife's hand-me-down iPhone13 pro-max, it will be 4 years old in December, and the battery is still at 84% max capacity, and it lasts all day. 

 

I guess I'll get her 15 this Christmas if the 17 comes out in September...

[K2938]

18 hours ago, JaxxBKK said:

Yes, that's you. Me too. Fast charging can have some real value especially when phone gets old and battery gets shonky. When you're on the road fast charging also helpful.

Fast charging is not good for your battery.  Will reduce its life quite significantly

[richard_smith237]

Has anyone used one of these 'Nothing Phones' ??

 

https://nothing.tech/pages/phone-3a

 

I'm quite interested in them...  but real world comparisons (on here) would also be useful..... 

 

Even though iPhones are the clear winner for usability for me, I'll probably tear myself away from them and any other brand which now charges a fortune...     IF the Nothing Phone tech works as seemlessly.

[Yellowtail]

As I use my phone for banking and whatnot, I'll stick to the iOS. 

[geisha]

On 2/5/2025 at 4:16 AM, scubascuba3 said:

Memory and speed seems to be non issues, the thing to pay extra for is better camera, NFC, esim etc, depends what you need, if nothing special 5k baht is about right

I have a Hua Wei about 5/6 years, and it does everything I need .and also has a good ish camera .i don’t do banking on it. What would be the best camera that does not cost a fortune , is easy to use , and a great camera , thanks. I gave up on apple before that and would never buy one again. I do have an iPad mini tho. 

[topt]

14 hours ago, JaxxBKK said:

 

I think it's best. Non profit corporation dedicated to privacy.

 

Microsoft is an absolute abortion and gets more invasive by the month. I'm so close to ripping out W11 off my laptop. Edge and now with copilot freaking everywhere. Killing off Skype. Fitting a monster like Gates owns it.

Possibly not so much anymore. Have you read this or similar -

https://securityboulevard.com/2025/02/mozillas-data-practices-and-privacy-evolution-recent-developments/

 

And with tech oriented commentards (read the comments)

https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/02/mozilla_introduces_terms_of_use/

 

Especially note the last line in the article........

 

I am surprised if you feel the way you do that you are still using Edge? I ripped that out of Win 10 and will not be going to 11...........

[shdmn]

The only reason I have purchased the higher end phones (Samsung Galaxy S) in the past is because they support most of the international frequencies, so they will work well just about everywhere.  Another reason to purchase them nowadays is because they support eSIM.