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

[scubascuba3]

22 minutes ago, treetops said:

 

What spec of the 14 is that price?

 

Just look on Lazada and you'll see it

[treetops]

Just now, scubascuba3 said:

Just look on Lazada and you'll see it

 

12/512 same as the top spec one in my screenshot, where it's only 11,800 THB from a reputable dealer in Bangkok (Sala).

[scubascuba3]

5 hours ago, Madgee said:

Must be your ancient phone ...Even on lazada!

Are you special needs? There is no Xiaomi Redmi Note 15 yet, post a Lazada link if you can work an app

[scubascuba3]

3 minutes ago, treetops said:

 

12/512 same as the top spec one in my screenshot, where it's only 11,800 THB from a reputable dealer in Bangkok (Sala).

That's no use to us not in Bangkok. Usually these good dealers will be a seller on Lazada and Shopee, used phones seem to be sold cheaper

[treetops]

13 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

That's no use to us not in Bangkok. Usually these good dealers will be a seller on Lazada and Shopee, used phones seem to be sold cheaper

 

These are brand new, real ones and can be shipped to you anywhere in Thailand.  It's just a no bells and whistles, no fancy displays, no gimmicks shop with reportedly good prices.

 

I don't know if they are on Lazada but I couldn't find them, although that could be down to me.

[jaywalker2]

On 5/30/2025 at 6:51 AM, 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.

True, and google is just as bad. Gemini was installed on my phone without permission and by using it you agree to let Google harvest data on everything you do on your phone.

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, treetops said:

 

These are brand new, real ones and can be shipped to you anywhere in Thailand.  It's just a no bells and whistles, no fancy displays, no gimmicks shop with reportedly good prices.

 

I don't know if they are on Lazada but I couldn't find them, although that could be down to me.

What's the benefit of the 14 over the 13?

 

I reckon under 8k for the 13 Pro+ is a good deal, definitely better quality than my 12 5G which was 8k

[treetops]

1 minute ago, scubascuba3 said:

What's the benefit of the 14 over the 13?

 

Not sure, I'm still on the 10 5G.

 

A mate replaced his 10 5G recently but I'm not sure if he got 13 or 14 Pro 5G and he's not impressed.  He's back in the UK at the moment and thinking about giving it to his mum.

[scubascuba3]

55 minutes ago, treetops said:

 

Not sure, I'm still on the 10 5G.

 

A mate replaced his 10 5G recently but I'm not sure if he got 13 or 14 Pro 5G and he's not impressed.  He's back in the UK at the moment and thinking about giving it to his mum.

I read some moans about the 13 Pro which is why I got the Pro+, has an esim too which may be useful one day

[Madgee]

6 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Are you special needs? There is no Xiaomi Redmi Note 15 yet, post a Lazada link if you can work an app

https://s.lazada.co.th/s.xnPP6

[Madgee]

6 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Are you special needs? There is no Xiaomi Redmi Note 15 yet, post a Lazada link if you can work an app

I suggest you take a crash course in how to use a search engine! That's if you know what one is? Duh. I always rhought you were dumb. 

[scubascuba3]

7 hours ago, Madgee said:

I suggest you take a crash course in how to use a search engine! That's if you know what one is? Duh. I always rhought you were dumb. 

You are so dumb, where does it say Redmi Note? 

[jimmybcool]

I think a higher end smartphone is well worth the money.  I use mine every single day in multiple ways and it proves very useful. 

 

But they don't need replacement or upgrade often.  I have an iPhone Pro 11 which is now 6 years old.  The newer ones are faster and have better cameras and I guess a few features mine doesn't but I don't seem to miss any of that yet.  Only feature I'd like that I know of is ESIM versus physical SIM.  Certainly not important enough to upgrade for me.  I mean if I do buy another one it would be state of the art which would cost me (looking on Apple right now) $1200.  Yeah, over 5-6 years only $200 a year still no reason yet to buy.

 

 

 

 

[scubascuba3]

45 minutes ago, jimmybcool said:

I think a higher end smartphone is well worth the money.  I use mine every single day in multiple ways and it proves very useful. 

 

But they don't need replacement or upgrade often.  I have an iPhone Pro 11 which is now 6 years old.  The newer ones are faster and have better cameras and I guess a few features mine doesn't but I don't seem to miss any of that yet.  Only feature I'd like that I know of is ESIM versus physical SIM.  Certainly not important enough to upgrade for me.  I mean if I do buy another one it would be state of the art which would cost me (looking on Apple right now) $1200.  Yeah, over 5-6 years only $200 a year still no reason yet to buy.

 

 

 

 

Iphone users often have old phones, one of the advantages of android, cheaper so can upgrade more often

[ExpatOilWorker]

On 2/5/2025 at 11:07 AM, 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?

 

I got the S25 Ultra with 1 T storage. Works great.

I haven't used the build in pen yet, but some of the AI functions are cool.

[JaxxBKK]

On 5/30/2025 at 7:13 AM, lamyai3 said:

 

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! 

 

I'd seen/ read lines appear after upgrade

 

I saw something somewhere that this rando guy had Samsung (no idea model, forget).

 

This guy waited like a year to upgrade bc of this problem

 

He did the upgrade and videoed it. Damn if he didn't get the green vertical line.

 

iphone have this too.

[jimmybcool]

3 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Iphone users often have old phones, one of the advantages of android, cheaper so can upgrade more often

 

Looks like a high end Samsung is about the same as a new iPhone 16 pro max.  Whatever.  I'm not really into different phones or comparing them.  I am kinda locked into apple with ipads, Macbooks, apple watch, all that <deleted> so it all integrates.  Seems like the price delta between Apple and alternate OS systems isn't as great as it once was.

 

[Yellowtail]

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Iphone users often have old phones, one of the advantages of android, cheaper so can upgrade more often

How is upgrading more often something an advantage?

[Yellowtail]

5 hours ago, jimmybcool said:

I think a higher end smartphone is well worth the money.  I use mine every single day in multiple ways and it proves very useful. 

 

But they don't need replacement or upgrade often.  I have an iPhone Pro 11 which is now 6 years old.  The newer ones are faster and have better cameras and I guess a few features mine doesn't but I don't seem to miss any of that yet.  Only feature I'd like that I know of is ESIM versus physical SIM.  Certainly not important enough to upgrade for me.  I mean if I do buy another one it would be state of the art which would cost me (looking on Apple right now) $1200.  Yeah, over 5-6 years only $200 a year still no reason yet to buy.

 

 

I have an old XS Max that I use for my US sim and it still works great. 

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, Yellowtail said:

How is upgrading more often something an advantage?

Better tech usually

[Yellowtail]

12 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Better tech usually

So, a new cheap phone is more technologically advanced than an old cheap phone? 

 

Is a new expensive phone not also more technologically advanced than an old expensive phone? 

 

All you are really saying is that cheap phones are cheaper than expensive phones. I do not think that is in dispute. 

 

[GarryP]

On 2/5/2025 at 12:16 PM, 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.

Just the corners are a great improvement over the S24. But I'm still using my Samsung S21 Ultra and will wait a few more years before replacing it. 

[impulse]

37 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

2 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

How is upgrading more often something an advantage?

Better tech usually

 

Call me a luddite, but I'd prefer a device that goes as long as possible before it's obsolete and I have to spend hours upgrading all my accounts, passwords and apps to a new one. 

 

Even with the zoomy transfer apps, it's still a PITA. 

 

And I always end up losing some tidbits of handy information in the upgrade.  Usually discovered much later when I try to pull it up and it didn't carry over.

  

I'd add that one of my pet (Samsung) peeves is the "system update", after which my phone invariably starts sending me unwanted notifications and I have to go into the system and turn off the notifications for a bunch of apps.  Again...

 

[impulse]

Just now, GarryP said:

Just the corners are a great improvement over the S24. But I'm still using my Samsung S21 Ultra and will wait a few more years before replacing it. 

 

Have you experienced the green line phenomena that's been mentioned on the upper end (OLED) Samsung phones?

 

 

[GarryP]

2 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

Have you experienced the green line phenomena that's been mentioned on the upper end (OLED) Samsung phones?

 

 

No. The Samsung One UI 7.0 update took a bit of getting used to but all good now. There have been complaints about the new update causing battery issues, but no problem for me. 

[impulse]

1 minute ago, GarryP said:

No. The Samsung One UI 7.0 update took a bit of getting used to but all good now. There have been complaints about the new update causing battery issues, but no problem for me. 

 

Good info.  Thanks!

 

[Quentin Zen]

Usually depends on your net worth.  Musk upgrades every year.  Oh, sooo crazy!  Nah.  I'm still using the same spoon from 1963.  Some people use solid gold spoons.  Yes, I would like new almost everything every day, but I only have 45 baht.  So then I explain how that's better doe the environment.  Give me 10 billion,  I'll upgrade stuff.  

[scubascuba3]

33 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

So, a new cheap phone is more technologically advanced than an old cheap phone? 

 

Is a new expensive phone not also more technologically advanced than an old expensive phone? 

 

All you are really saying is that cheap phones are cheaper than expensive phones. I do not think that is in dispute. 

 

What? Obviously when you upgrade a phone you get better tech like, 5G, faster, NFC, better camera, esim etc

[scubascuba3]

22 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

Call me a luddite, but I'd prefer a device that goes as long as possible before it's obsolete and I have to spend hours upgrading all my accounts, passwords and apps to a new one. 

 

Even with the zoomy transfer apps, it's still a PITA. 

 

And I always end up losing some tidbits of handy information in the upgrade.  Usually discovered much later when I try to pull it up and it didn't carry over.

  

I'd add that one of my pet (Samsung) peeves is the "system update", after which my phone invariably starts sending me unwanted notifications and I have to go into the system and turn off the notifications for a bunch of apps.  Again...

 

Upgrading more frequently is less of a jump than waiting many years and things have changed aka being left behind by tech. Security is stepping up fast every time I change phone

[Yellowtail]

My first mobile phone was a Nokia 3210, provided for my job when I was relocated to Thailand. All of my phones until 2020 were company provided, and they were replaced every two years. 

 

First "smart" phone was an HP iPAQ which I thought was largely useless. First iPhone was a 4S and I thought it was great. Once you get used to the iOS, it's tough to go Android. I bought a cheap Android to use as a local phone in the US and could not do anything with it.