Flagship android phones - what am I missing?

searchlight123

Ever since I gave up a company iPhone around 5 years ago I've always bought my own android handset either outright or on an affordable contract. Samsung S7, Moto G7 Power and now Poco X3 NFC. I like to think of myself as tech savvy and I do like gadgets etc but I cannot work out what a handset costing £800+ offers against the £200-£230 handsets I've had.

I watch Netflix or Amazon Prime, IPTV, Youtube etc on decent HD screens. I send and receive emails. I surf the net and social media sites. I listen to music and podcasts. I take what I consider decent quality photos. The only thing I don't do is gaming (and I'm thinking that's where a flagship handset excels?). I always choose a handset now that has at least an all-day battery for heavy / intensive use.

So basically I'm just curious when i see handsets advertised at just under a grand, what better an experience do you enjoy?
This is an honest question and welcome the replies.

Browntoa

Apple and Samsung charge a large premium on their products as they generally get away with it on brand loyalty.

Xiaomi , Motorola etc look at volume worldwide sales. 

My current phone is a Xiaomi 10T lite 5G , bought a month ago , from their UK website, for £179 delivered . I've absolutely no complaints about the quality of it and none of the high end brands offer a phone at all similar in price

Exemplar

Have a look at the Tech Spurt channel on YouTube. Chris really knows his stuff and his reviews are brutal (where they need to be).

searchlight123

Exemplar said:

Have a look at the Tech Spurt channel on YouTube. Chris really knows his stuff and his reviews are brutal (where they need to be).

yep. i subscribe to his channel. he's an excellent reviewer.

pramsay13

Generally there aren't magic features that the more expensive handsets have.
It is normally things like slimmer, larger screen, battery life, front and back camera quality, storage etc.

searchlight123

pramsay13 said:

Generally there aren't magic features that the more expensive handsets have.
It is normally things like slimmer, larger screen, battery life, front and back camera quality, storage etc.

exactly.
so my latest handset (Poco X3 NFC) has a full HD 6.7" screen with 120Ghz refresh rate, 128gb internal storage and 6gb RAM, 64mb quad lens camera and a 2 day battery life. how much more of a better experience could another £600+ bring me??

A_Lert

I've not had a flagship either.

Camera seems to be the number one focus (ba-dum-tsh) at the moment.

Flagships are also often first to offer features that later get into mid-range and budget models. And also the first to offer features that turn out to be dead ends. You should expect high build quality (but some fall short. And some (but not all!) flagships will enjoy long software support. Bottom-end budget phones are often abandoned in terms of security updates before you even buy them.

With computing technology in general, the jump from good to very best costs a lot of money for not much improvement.

searchlight123

A_Lert said:

I've not had a flagship either.

Camera seems to be the number one focus (ba-dum-tsh) at the moment.

Flagships are also often first to offer features that later get into mid-range and budget models. And also the first to offer features that turn out to be dead ends. You should expect high build quality (but some fall short. And some (but not all!) flagships will enjoy long software support. Bottom-end budget phones are often abandoned in terms of security updates before you even buy them.

With computing technology in general, the jump from good to very best costs a lot of money for not much improvement.

i get what you say but aside from those who wholeheartedly buy into the Apple ethos (don't know why but there are loads), i still cannot fathom why anyone would spend up to £1k on an android handset.

JustAnotherSaver

I bought my Galaxy S10 when it was 12 months old via Music Magpie who were doing an offer which meant getting the phone for about £420.

Does me and vs my wife's Galaxy A71 which was £100 cheaper or so, I'm perfectly happy with my decision. 

JJ_Egan

tonygold said:

A_Lert said:

I've not had a flagship either.

Camera seems to be the number one focus (ba-dum-tsh) at the moment.

Flagships are also often first to offer features that later get into mid-range and budget models. And also the first to offer features that turn out to be dead ends. You should expect high build quality (but some fall short. And some (but not all!) flagships will enjoy long software support. Bottom-end budget phones are often abandoned in terms of security updates before you even buy them.

With computing technology in general, the jump from good to very best costs a lot of money for not much improvement.

i get what you say but aside from those who wholeheartedly buy into the Apple ethos (don't know why but there are loads), i still cannot fathom why anyone would spend up to £1k on an android handset.

Same reason as the reasons for paying a lot for I Phones .

Lost on me as well and i don't mean buying Apple but the relatively high prices for latest off the block .

Me gone down the reconditioned route lately .

steviebabes

You pay a £200 - £300 premium for the part eaten fruit logo. I usually have Samsung but their premium range are getting very pricey now. I have the Galaxy S9 at the moment but will replace it soon possibly with a Motorola.