There is always a sense of excitement when you shop for a brand-new smartphone. You look forward to the unboxing experience, and booting up the device for the very first time. Everything feels faster, the display is buttery smooth, and even your selfies look gorgeous.
But as technology advances at a rapid pace, consumers continue to demand a better price-to-performance ratio with each new smartphone release.
So, the big question is: should you pick up a mid-range device, or go for broke and bring home the most advanced, top-end phone, also known as a flagship?
Know thyself
Firstly, it pays to know what kind of user you are. Are you a run-of-the-mill consumer who uses your phone for instant messaging and social media, the internet, and performing the occasional banking transaction?
If yes, then a mid-range is more than capable of catering to such needs, with some power remaining to handle media consumption such as streaming and casual gaming.
Or are you, perhaps, a power user? They can be further divided into three segments, the first being hardcore gamers, who want the best processor and massive amounts of RAM to run their games at the highest-possible graphic settings.
There is no compromise when it comes to performance, where every single frame rate would mean the difference between victory and defeat.
The second sub-group would be the movers and shakers of the business world. You definitely want the best hardware so your presentations can load up in a jiffy, and you’d want a device with plenty of connectivity options, that will not be a slaggard when it comes to keeping in touch with the rest of the world.
Finally, there are the shutterbugs. Smartphone cameras these days feature superior hardware that harnesses the power of computational photography to deliver amazing results.
While nothing can beat a full-frame camera when it comes to capturing important events, a flagship phone with its many lenses offers the flexibility of capturing amazing shots regardless of the time of the day (or night), zooming in from a distance without losing too much detail, and engaging in video shoots that are… well, engaging.
All of the above make flagship smartphones the perfect fit for power users. You generally end up with a high refresh-rate display, copious amounts of RAM, the latest-generation processor, flexible and capable camera lenses, and longer software and operating-system (OS) updates that allow you to hold on to the device for far longer than you would with a mid-range.
Remember, though, that flagship smartphones are not cheap. Prices start north of RM3,000 and can hit the dizzy heights of RM5,000 – given which, you might want to consider a notebook that is far more versatile where gaming and productivity are concerned.
The middle ground
Perhaps you appreciate the kind of power and performance offered by flagship smartphones, yet believe owning one is not really necessary. In which case, it would be advisable to pick up a mid-range phone that offers the best of both worlds.
More and more manufacturers are focusing on the mid-range market – the segment being their bread and butter – so the competition is fierce. Indeed, many of today’s mid-range phones could be considered to deliver flagship-level performance by the standards of just a few short years ago.
Some manufacturers are also offering longer-term software and OS updates on their mid-range devices that rival top-tier ones.
What then?
This might sound like a cop-out, but the ultimate decision lies in your hands. You need to establish which user category you fall under, and work within your budget.
The price of one flagship phone might see you pick up two or even three mid-range ones, which might require a similar amount of OS and software updates over time. Two or three years down the line, a mid-range phone might even catch up with the capability of current high-end devices in certain regards.
That said, migrating from one phone to another can be a tedious affair, so you might prefer the stability of holding on to a flagship device for a solid five years before mulling the purchase of a newer handset.
Edwin Kee dreamt of being a pro-gamer only to have circumstances mould him into a programmer in a past life. He has since moved on to write about consumer electronics and other topics. Check out his blog at manatau.com.