There was a time when I needed to have the latest and greatest smartphone out there, regardless of whether there were still kinks to work out with it – I just needed to have it! Forking over for the investment was a satisfying thing back during those days, more so when there was a significant disparity between entry-level, mid-range, and flagship devices. Looking back now on it all, it’s unbelievable to realize why I was so intent on upgrading each year.

Those were the days indeed! In recent years, however, my desire to get the latest and greatest each year has been diminishing. You could argue that I’ve been increasingly jaded by all the competition floating around, but even with each new phone, each successor, each evolutionary iteration, I soon had this clearer realization about what I really want in a phone – and that was just something that covers the bare essentials. Sure, others may have different priorities, but the more I kept on really uncovering what I use my smartphone, that’s when it occurred to me that I don’t need a flagship to satisfy my requirements. My points why my next phone won’t be a new flagship......

Cost

Without question, the biggest drawback I feel about the majority of today’s smartphones is that they’re ridiculously expensive. Some folks will argue that inflation may have a direct impact on today’s prices, which can range anywhere from 200k to 400k+. In comparison, flagships back 5+ years ago on the average topped out at roughly 100k. Those prices were still considerable, but looking at how the iPhone X and Samsung Galaxy Note 9 currently start out at 400k+, the extra few thousands of naira you’ll need to shell out makes me cringe.

Significant price drops with last year’s models (and more deals)

Naturally, when a new smartphone is finally released, it’s typical for last year’s model to receive a generous price drop. It may not always be the case for the iPhone, but when you look at many other Android smartphones, they tend to get the most love – often being given extra goodies in the form of BOGO offers, service discounts, gift cards, and much more. These are all incentives that I feel make last year’s flagships far more logical to choose over their newer counterparts. Factor in that they still perform reasonably well in a variety of areas, it just makes for a more convincing option for me.

Very little difference in build quality & design between flagships & mid-rangers

If you haven’t noticed yet, there’s a particular trend that nearly every phone follows. There was a time several years ago when there was a huge difference in design between mid-rangers and flagships, but that gap has seemingly been leaped in the last year or so. Today’s mid-range smartphones exhibit designs that could easily be mistaken for a flagship, especially when the glass-meets-metal designs became the standard for nearly every recent smartphone.

Nowadays, it’s super rare to find a phone that’s constructed from plastic, which you may find in some entry-level models. Beyond the aesthetics, build qualities have also been less defined between the various class of smartphones. Previously, it was feasible to tell the difference between flagships and mid-rangers by just holding them, but that’s no longer the case because manufacturers have perfected the recipe for crafting smartphones. Usually one can tell because a phone’s construction would be on the “cheap” side, one that traditionally would come with creaky casings, low-quality materials, and be shoddily put together.

You are absolutely right, I just feel flagship is for feel good effect. It really did not worth it since the effect is only for one year b4 another another flagship is telaesed.

You have a point. I decided I'll try an unpopular brand or a popular brand with a very good feature that would still serve it's purpose and become very effective e.g TECNO Spark2 or Camon X pro..