There are 2 types of people in this world when a new flagship comes out :
1. Lets pre-book this new phone
2. Lets get the last year's device for a lesser price
Well, I understand that not all brands make use of prebooking for their flagships but this was just a case. Personally speaking I would prefer to get an older flagship for a lesser price however considering that its not too old.
Consider a universally approved example of owning an older flagship i.e of Apple. There are people in 2017 where the 10th anniversary iPhone has been launched yet they tend to purchase the iPhone 5S that is 4 years old. The 5S's Android competitor was the Google Nexus 5. This device has almost become obsolete where its owners are already upgrading or have already upgraded and inspite of that some e-commerce websites promote the iPhone 5S although it retails for about just 1/4 the original price. The main question is, whether does it make sense to own an older flagship or rather get the latest device which even could be a mid-ranger.
The answer here is a YES and even a NO. perplexed, Isn't it?
Lets take a case. Samsung's 2017 flagship under the S series was the S8 and S8 Plus. The S8 was announced for approximately Rs. 58000. The S7 and S7 edge were the flagship for 2016. At the time of S8's launch the S7 was retailing for around Rs. 45K, about Rs. 10K lesser than it's launch amount. Now, does it make sense to get the S7 here? The answer is yes since the hardware is still powerful and the camera quality is better than most other devices also Samsung will support the device for about 2 years since the launch which is also the norm with most manufacturers like LG, HTC, Nokia, Huawei, etc. So, the user will get constant updates for more than a year and will overall get a device with great value for money.
Now consider the S6. The S6 was the flagship for 2015. By the time S8 was launched, the S6 was already 2 years old. The hardware would have been equivalent to a mid-ranger and also there would be no guarantee of updates although the fact is that the S6 got updates and there are chances of it being updated to Oreo. Lucky S6 users!! However, it might not be the case with every manufacturer barring Google with its Pixel lineup and even Apple considering devices upto 2 years i.e the iPhone 6S in 2017.
The whole point of the above discussion was to not waste your time but to clarify certain things. As the devices age, there will be a degradation in terms of software experience as well as the hardware ages. At times, even if the devices come with top end specs yet because of their hardware being older they don't tend to support some apps and games ( this is with respect to a 2 year or more older phone ). This will be annoying especially when you get the device and then realize it since like any other average person, you may have to use it for at least a year or in worst cases more than 2 years.
Speaking of the iPhone 5S, Apple did support the device for quite some time and much longer than expected yet just to have an Apple logo at the back and for the mirror selfies, people are spending their bucks on a device which is outdated in terms of design, hardware and soon, even software will follow.
Consider a few guidelines before making a decision :
- If the device is more than a year older then do not opt for it
- Even if you prefer an older device do check whether the brand would provide updates or not
- Do check the day to day usage experience of the device through forums. Usually the Android upgrades (for eg. From Nougat to Oreo) takes a toll on battery in many cases.
- Do check out whether the hardware supports the latest apps or not.
Whether these points make sense or not, they can be considered as basic guidelines or checkpoints that the device you intend to buy should satisfy.
If you agree to what I said and have some more points to add then do let us know about it in the comments below. Do remember that the examples taken above especially related to Apple products are merely based on actual facts and have nothing to do with any brand in particular. No doubt their devices are good and Apple does support them for much longer however people end up buying much older devices which usually do not be of any value based on the present standards.
Image source
Image source