Do You Need To Buy A Flagship Smartphone In 2020?

Smartphones have become increasingly expensive over the last 10 years. The first iPhone, which was released in mid-2007, went on sale for $499. The base model of the iPhone 12, which was launched earlier in 2020, has a starting price of $799.

Of course, the two handsets have very different hardware inside them and the price will have increased with inflation, but that doesn’t explain all of the increase. Accounting for the 25.6% compound inflation between 2007 and 2020, the iPhone 12 should cost $626.66. Yet, Apple (and most other manufacturers) have stuck on more than $100 more.

So with smartphones costing so much more, many people are beginning to ask whether it’s worth buying a flagship smartphone in 2020. Instead, many people are looking to cheaper alternatives like the OnePlus Nord and the Google Pixel 4a.

But can you get away without buying a flagship smartphone any more?

What is a Flagship Smartphone?

Flagship smartphones are typically the ones you see advertised on TV. They’re the ones that phone companies make a big song and dance about when they launch them. They’re the most expensive and most feature-rich devices that each brand (typically) has to offer.

Examples of flagship smartphones are the iPhone 12, the Samsung Galaxy S 20, the OnePlus 8T, and the Google Pixel 5.

These companies have cheaper models such as the iPhone SE, Samsung Galaxy A51, and the OnePlus Nord. Some, also have more expensive models like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold, though these don’t count as flagship as they’re more experimental and aren’t marketed to the general consumer.

Rise of the Mid-Range

Mid-range phones have existed for about as long as smartphones in general. They offer a cheaper alternative to flagship devices, finding a balance between features, power, and cost. Today, they can cost around half as much as a flagship device.

For example, the OnePlus 8T is on sale in the UK for around £649 while the mid-range OnePlus Nord costs £379. Similarly, the mid-range iPhone SE can be bought in the US for $399, half the cost of the iPhone 12.

In the late 2000s and early 2010s, mid-range phones were often slow and frustrating, but they’ve come a long way since then. This is mostly thanks to the improvements in hardware manufacturing that’s allowed more powerful chips to be produced for less money.

In some cases, the CPU (the chip that does all the number crunching inside the phone) are actually the same as what’s found in the flagship. When the iPhone SE launched in April 2020, it used the same A13 chipset as the iPhone 11 (the flagship at the time).

Some companies, like Apple, also continue selling older flagship phones for several years after they were superseded, effectively using the older devices as a mid-range option.

This means that mid-range phones are just as capable of running apps and games as a flagship handset. Simple apps like Gmail, Evernote Food, and Facebook will work just fine on an iPhone 8 as they will on an iPhone 12.

Even games will run without any issues on older phones. The PokerStars app is compatible with most Android devices released within the last five years, while World of Tanks Blitz can be installed on Apple devices running iOS 9, which was released back in September 2015.

Why Spend More?

With this in mind, many people are asking why it would be necessary to spend more money on a smartphone if a mid-range handset can offer adequate performance.

However, there are some things that a mid-range smartphone can’t do that a flagship can. For example, there are no mid-range smartphones on the market at present that offer a camera with optical zoom.

They also typically have smaller screens and/or larger bevels around the edge of the phone. You’ll also be unlikely to find a 120 Mhz display on a mid-range. Additionally, more advanced features like wireless charging are usually reserved for flagship smartphones.

A flagship smartphone is also more likely to last longer, or at least remain capable of handling apps for longer. Over the life of the device, this might actually make it cheaper anyway.

Flagships are still relevant to today’s smartphone market, but mid-range models are attracting more of their customers, especially as the prices of handsets continues to creep up.