It's a shame, but in my case, my $130 Android phone, does all I need. My next phone, may be a flagship phone, that is a few years old, so it will cost under $200. I have no need, to have a current model flagship phone.
I don't think that's a shame. I think that is wise shopping! I will never have a "flagship" phone. The biggest reason is for me they are all way too big! I don't want to lug around a mini-tablet. I want a nice phone I can stuff in my shirt pocket. All it needs to do is text, occasionally surf the net via the nearest wifi access if available, take an occasional photo in decent resolutions, work as an alarm clock, support that cool flashlight app, hold and play (with 3.5mm earbuds) about a 1000 songs for when I am riding my bike and, what are they called? Oh yeah! Make phone calls. My Samsung S4 Mini is getting long in the tooth and some of the display buttons no longer light up. But I am having a hard time finding a suitable replacement. I've been looking at the Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact, but it is not exactly cheap and no local carrier has it - so I would have to buy it outright. But then the S4 Mini is still working and supporting my needs so... I might just hang on to it until it dies.
I meant that, it is a shame that the prices for flagship phones are rising. I don't mind larger screen sizes, but, in terms of functionality, I sure that the average user, does not need a high end phone. I'm breathing new life into my phone, by upgrading from Android 5.1, to custom Android 7.1 firmware.
I don't own a phone. I was on call during my working career and it's nice to not be available. We have a landline phone at home.
I never wanted a mobile phone and resisted for many years... until someone told me you could turn them off.
Yep, that makes sense. I like to be able to contact 000 or whomever if I'm out in the bush somewhere, or have car trouble etc.
It's a prepaid, prepaid minutes are so cheap I don't think service contracts are worth it any more I spend about $30 a month
Yeah. I think the problem is self-induced by the makers and the competitive nature of the business, and now it is a vicious cycle. It is similar to graphics cards. With graphics cards, you really only have two major players; NVIDIA and AMD. That's not a monopoly, but not far from it. And NVIDIA makes the GTX 1080 Ti, for example. But Gigabyte, EVGA, MSI, ASUS, and others make cards using that same 1080 Ti processor and chipset. All the cards have pretty much the same specs. So to make theirs stand out, extra features and tweaks are added that we have to pay for. At the same time, it costs lots of money for innovation and R&D. But most consumers are not willing to pay for that so they demand lower prices. The makers are then forced to offer products for less money, forcing them to charge top dollar on their flagship models. With phones, you have, for the most part, Apple and Android. Same thing. With the same OS, processor and chipset, there is little to distinguish between brands. And most consumers are not willing to pay top dollar for features they will not use. I guess it is the same in every industry. In the automotive, all the expensive, fancy features first appear in the flagship models, then eventually trickle down to the entry levels. **** I don't mind the scree size either. I just don't like lugging big ones around - if it doesn't fit in my pocket, then it is something I have to carry in my hand. And if it is something I have to carry in my hand, there is a good chance it is something I might sit down and forget. Plus, I just don't have the need to feel that "connected" all the time. I hear you there. I too was on-call, almost all of my 24 year military career, and much of my civilian career too. Even if you don't get called out, you still have to be glued to that communications devices - whether it be a beeper, 2-way radio, or in recent years, a cell phone. While I have a cell phone, I still have a landline phone too. I have noticed with my kids (who are all adults and on their own now), even in their own homes, they carrier their cell phones around with them, or are constantly checking it to see if someone called or texted. No thanks. Everyone knows to call me on my landline number. And if it rings, I can hear it, no matter where I am in the house.
Then $20 for the phone and $30/month is a very good deal - assuming you don't run out of available minutes or data and don't have "no service available" problems.
I have never had service problems, I usually run out of data long before I run out of minutes. The minutes roll over so some months I just by data only cards they are $10 each because I still have thousands of talk minutes and text messages.
I recently surrendered and we have smartphones now. We got ZTE ZFive G for about $30 each on WalMart's Family plan which runs $53 a month for both phones. It offers unlimited calls, texting, Internet for both, using Tracphone's service. So far, in two weeks, I've used it about an hour. No phone calls yet. Reason for them is, my wife had an ancient 12 yr old cell and the battery was dying. No replacement available. When we got to WalMart she decided I should have one. I said I didn't need one. She thought it would be a good idea, just in case something happened. I said I'm fine. She replied that I was not 22 anymore, I was 72 and I would get one and would carry it. So, I've got one.
