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I have a Samsung Galaxy S5 that I bought in May of 2015, and it now has to be replaced. The battery stopped holding a charge, I bought a new battery, and it has the same problem, plus people are complaining about an echo when they talk to me.
I have insurance on it, but when I tell T-Mobile that the camera lens is cracked, they'll probably want to charge me full price for another S5, so I might as well go get an S6.
If you have insurance, you just pay the deductible and get another S5. I'm not sure how to get an S6 other than buying it the normal way, but the S5 through insurance will be a better deal..
I'm getting another S5 through the insurance company, but the date of the incident has to be within 90 days, and the date that I gave them wasn't. I called back and the rep wouldn't budge on the date, even though I told her that it was wrong, so I asked to speak to a supervisor. I told her what happened, the hours that I was working, and offered to fax her my calendar and pay stub for proof. So she changed the date, and a new S5 is on the way which cost me $175.
T-Mobile said that when a used phone is returned to be replaced they inspect them for damage. So since the S5 has physical damage, I would have been charged the full amount for it. I was only going to get an S6 if I couldn't get the insurance company to change the date.
Is a $500+ phone really 5x better than a $100 (or less) phone?
Do most people really need a high end phone?
Do they just buy what the salesman tells them to buy?
I am a bit of a phone collector but I buy them when they are on sale for less than $50. They aren't the latest and greatest, but a new high end quickly becomes an old high end phone. I see lots of people slinging their fancy $$ phones around, dropping them, and putting them in their back pocket and sitting on them.
I don't want to carry around an expensive phone that is easily lost, broken or stolen.
My current main phone is a Verizon Samsung J1 that I got for $30. It seems to be a decent phone. I use Tracfone service because it's less than $10/mo for my light phone use. (I use my phones on wifi mostly). I can move my SIM card around to use in my other phones that I have on hand. I have an unlocked AT&T Kyocera Hydro Air that I got for $30. It's a pretty nice waterproof, dustproof, shockproof phone for $30. I'm just using it at home for wifi and reading books right now but it may work it's way into my lineup if I switch to a Tracfone GSM SIM.
I bought some other phones cheap, $20-30, and played around with them a bit, didn't like them a lot and sold them on ebay for $50-60.
There are always phones on sale cheap to try out. And if one of my phones stops working I can move my SIM to another one and be up and going in a few minutes.
When I had to replace my Galaxy Blaze, I opted for a less expensive phone, and it was terrible! The camera didn't take good pictures, when I was on the phone, and people complained that there was an echo. So I upgrade to a Galaxy S5, which I've been very happy with.
These days people are actually realizing the insanity. Now that carriers are actually broadcasting the retail prices of devices, they're hitting home, even as part of a payment plan "contract." Plus, we have a growing unlocked phone market in the US< which was WAY overdue. You can now buy a ZTE Axon 7, OnePlus 3, Alcatel OneTouch Idol3, Google Nexus, or Motorol X/Z without even going through the carrier (or carrier update delays), and they're all around a much more digestible price point of ~$400.
Not all smartphone prices are insane.. ZTE's phones are amazingly sold cheap yet have such nice hardware.. bought the ZTE MAX Pro the other day for $70 nice hardware! as johnny-5 would say
I don't think the phone prices have really changed over the years. Instead, in the past the carriers subsidized the phone price with a contract obligation. Just ask anybody who damaged/destroyed a phone without insurance, wan't eligible for an upgrade available and didn't have a replacement phone available. If they couldn't find a phone at a reasonable price, they paid full retail price to the carrier as a last resort.
I remember paying $400 for an unlocked phone without contract almost 9 years ago. Did I need it, No. Did I want it, Yes. Did my carrier even sell the same phone, No.
Another thing is some folks can afford $650 to $850 phones because they budget and save. I now some folks who ripped on others for spending so much on a smartphone, but the same people levying such remarks, easily blow off $15 a week on booze. For those who don't drink, at least that's one less expense they don't have to worry about when buying a phone
Quote:
Originally Posted by eofelis
Is a $500+ phone really 5x better than a $100 (or less) phone?
Do most people really need a high end phone?
Do they just buy what the salesman tells them to buy?
I don't know if the LG G5, Samsung Galaxy s7, Galaxy s7 Edge, or Note 7 are twice as good as the LG G4. All I knew was the LG G4 works great for what I'd like out of it with the appropriate features. No point in paying more when we're now going past the budget.
Quote:
Originally Posted by eofelis
I am a bit of a phone collector but I buy them when they are on sale for less than $50. They aren't the latest and greatest, but a new high end quickly becomes an old high end phone. I see lots of people slinging their fancy $$ phones around, dropping them, and putting them in their back pocket and sitting on them.
I don't want to carry around an expensive phone that is easily lost, broken or stolen.
I have no insurance on my phone, but it's only $220 to replace, so I'm not TOO worried.
My car OTOH is expensive and I do worry about. However THAT has insurance
For both items, I do try to take better care of them than not.
The OnePlus 3 has more RAM than any iPhone or Samsung on the market and looks amazing head to head against any phone you care to name. It also costs $399. It's also not sold by any US Carrier that I'm aware of.
I figure that the manufacturers and the carriers are both holding US customers hostage with high prices, locking people into contracts whenever possible and keeping out manufacturers like Asus and OnePlus and Huawei that are selling great phones for way cheaper.
The OnePlus 3 has more RAM than any iPhone or Samsung on the market and looks amazing head to head against any phone you care to name. It also costs $399. It's also not sold by any US Carrier that I'm aware of.
I wonder why OnePlus has not obtained Fcc approval for Model #3? It seems like they got approval last year in 10 days after the announcement for Model #2.
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