Thy Hype...why I'll be waiting it out.

[ericlp]

I was really hoping to get a new phone...

Currently I have an S6, that has an awesome screen, fast quad core samsung CPU and a Great Sony Camera....

Ok, maybe it's a 1/8 of a second slower when I open the camera. Then again, maybe not!

Anyway, my point to all this.......

If your waiting for an awesome earth shattering .... ground breaking phone when you already have a flagship phone... Good Luck! You'll be disappointed as the battery life, camera, CPU/GPU/Screen have already been pushed to about as high as they can go. If this is the best that samsung/apple/google can do...I'm not impressed.

I'm not seeing much new from last years phones. This years phones are a wash. I'll be waiting it out for another cycle or two till it's worthwhile.

The next big thing has not come this year.

 

[Crono]

I know people who've had throttling issues with their S6, TouchWiz being laggy over time, and battery life just being average. That said, it's still a good flagship of recent vintage, and it has never been compelling to upgrade to the next model number, but every 2 to 3 years it is. Not sure who's hyping up upgrading from the S6 to S7.

Also, there are plenty of interesting new features in new phones for those who care, including Daydream. The newest processors plus larger capacity batteries (3000mAh+) and type C chargers will be more future proof than the last generation.

No one has to buy into hype, though. The excitement for the bleeding edge is usually tempered by the reality. At the end of the day, upgrade if you need or want to. That's it.

 

[Yakk]

Corporate manufacturers and carriers seem to have sync/agreed on a 2 year upgrade cycle to give time for the average consumer to pay off their device on an installment plan. Then the next best thing just appears at 2 year intervals, even batteries are rated +/- 700 charge cycles for approx 2 years useful life.

 

[Commodus]

The boring answer: you're witnessing diminishing returns in action.

Much as with computers, we're at a point where many phones are "good enough." The interface is fast, the photos are great, there's ample storage and your battery usually lasts all day. I'd argue that there have been some genuinely functional upgrades this year (water resistance without needing a bulky design, dual cameras), but they're more nice-to-have than important.

I don't think companies are holding back on technology, for reference -- it's just that you can only move to denser processor manufacturing so quickly, upgrade camera sensors so quickly, or develop features so quickly. And we're definitely hamstrung by a lack of progress in battery tech. I'm curious to see what happens next year, though! For one thing, Apple may finally have a brand new iPhone design, and the rumor is that it'll push technology through things like in-screen fingerprint reading.

 

[blackangst1]

The boring answer: you're witnessing diminishing returns in action.

Much as with computers, we're at a point where many phones are "good enough." The interface is fast, the photos are great, there's ample storage and your battery usually lasts all day. I'd argue that there have been some genuinely functional upgrades this year (water resistance without needing a bulky design, dual cameras), but they're more nice-to-have than important.

I don't think companies are holding back on technology, for reference -- it's just that you can only move to denser processor manufacturing so quickly, upgrade camera sensors so quickly, or develop features so quickly. And we're definitely hamstrung by a lack of progress in battery tech. I'm curious to see what happens next year, though! For one thing, Apple may finally have a brand new iPhone design, and the rumor is that it'll push technology through things like in-screen fingerprint reading.

This.

 

[Zaap]

For one thing, Apple may finally have a brand new iPhone design, and the rumor is that it'll push technology through things like in-screen fingerprint reading.

Meh. I'll believe this when I see it. Apple's been shown in spectacular fashion that safe, boring, iterative is all they need bother with. Rather than do anything actually innovative they could just remove another feature or two, do a minor update on essentially the same phone they've made for years... and sit back and rake in money. Rest of the industry will respond by just following.

I HOPE to be wrong. But sadly, I think boring and backward wins at least until 2018. Once again, I'll be happy to be wrong, but 'play it safe' seems to be working better than anyone pushing the envelope.

 

[Commodus]

Meh. I'll believe this when I see it. Apple's been shown in spectacular fashion that safe, boring, iterative is all they need bother with. Rather than do anything actually innovative they could just remove another feature or two, do a minor update on essentially the same phone they've made for years... and sit back and rake in money. Rest of the industry will respond by just following.

I HOPE to be wrong. But sadly, I think boring and backward wins at least until 2018. Once again, I'll be happy to be wrong, but 'play it safe' seems to be working better than anyone pushing the envelope.

I understand the skepticism, but rumors from reliable sources (Bloomberg, WSJ et. al.) are promising. Remember, it's the 10th anniversary of the iPhone next year -- Apple has a good incentive to pull out all the stops and redefine what the iPhone is. Not that I'm expecting it to completely redo iOS, but the hardware itself could change a lot.

 

[Zaap]

I DO hope that happens as much as you do.

If the industry is going to follow Apple as much as it has and continues to (and if the leader on the android side, Samsung bows out as a driving force, I dont have much faith in anyone following anyone else BUT Apple after that) then the least we could all hope for is everyone copying Apple into some more interesting future-worthy territory.

Instead, my fear is it'll just be 'innovation' around removing or not removing a freakin' headphone jack sort of thing or 'look! We have a slippery fingerprint magnet glass back too!!'

 

[quikah]

The smartphone industry is begining to face the same reality that the PC industry hit a while back. We are now at the good enough point. You can use that S6 until the battery dies most likely and not be any worse for wear.

Little tweaks will be par for the course for the next few years I am guessing.

 

[beginner99]

There is a reason why they got rid of replaceable batteries. So they can sell you a new phones because if the battery would still be fine, why would you bother? I'm happy with my current over 3 year old "turd". Yeah, a new one is a lot faster on paper but when actually using it (web browsing for example) the speed difference isn't huge. The only reason I'm going to buy a new one is because the battery is getting crappier and crappier (and unpredictable like being empty at 33% or 24%).

 

[Raduque]

I had the Galaxy S6 when it came out - think I bought it the day of it's launch. I liked it for about a month, then AT&T pushed a software update that turned it to sh... It had terrible battery life, performance issues, Bluetooth issues (7/10 times it might have connected to the Sync in my truck)... and no uSD slot. I gave up on it when AT&T refused to replace or repair it, stating there was nothing wrong with it. One day it failed to connect to my stereo 8 times in a row, and I got so upset I slammed it against the arm rest in my truck breaking the camera glass. Ended up trading it to Verizon for a $500 credit and bought another Note 4.

I think I need to stop buying Samsung phones on launch day. Galaxy S6 turned out to be junk, Galaxy S7 was nowhere to be found on launch, Note 7 turned into a fireball. Let's hope my S7 Edge holds up, now that it's been out for 6 months.