Today's mid-range vs last year's flagship

[v-600]

My wife is after a new phone, but money is a bit tight at the moment (new baby and one of us off work). She currently has an S5 that's on its last legs.

I'm starting to do a bit of research but wondered what you all thought about the differences between a brand new midrange phone (£250-400) as compared to a previous gen flagship. How would the S7 compare to the A8, what about an iphone 6(s) vs a Motorola g5 etc etc?

Assuming both bought brand new with comparable warranty, battery lifespan and so forth.

 

[lopri]

Last years flagship, used or brand new? If used, keep in mind that it might incur cost for battery replacement depending on how it performs. Lithium-ion battery degrades over time, and the longer the phone has been used, the shorter the battery life will be. It should not cost much to have battery replaced, but since your objective here is to saving money you should do some research on how much battery replacement is going to cost for the phone you have your eyes on. It is not going to be pleasant to have purchased a phone for $100 less and find out a battery replacement is $150.

Mid-range phones should in theory have better battery life due to frugal SOCs, but in practice that depends greatly on each phone's configuration. You will get better answers here if you tell us what phones you have in mind, since some of use might have experience with the said phones.

In general, I would go with last year's flagships. They tend to be built better, their screens and cameras are nicer, have extra features, and you will have more support from the manufacturers as well as from the community. But avoid flagships that were built on SD810 and SD808. Actually, avoid the flagships that were released in 2015 altogether. That year was a transitional period in manufacturing (FinFET), and no major SOCs from that period are great performers. Exception is the iPhone 6s (which should be your choice if your option comes down to the 6 and the 6s) because it is the first phone to be equipped with an SOC manufactured on the 2nd generation FinFET manufacturing process.

P.S. Congratulations on the baby!

 

[StrangerGuy]

For me I'm liking midrangers less and less: Either they are priced too close and also don't perform that well versus a brand new discounted S7, or they are significantly cheaper but with even worse A53-only SoCs. Either case the GPUs are also subpar if you happen to like the popular 3D games.

 

[Insomniator]

For me I'm liking midrangers less and less: Either they are priced too close and also don't perform that well versus a brand new discounted S7, or they are significantly cheaper but with even worse A53-only SoCs. Either case the GPUs are also subpar if you happen to like the popular 3D games.

Completely agree, of course depends on price but in the OP's example a Galaxy S7 blows the Motorola G5 out of the water. 1440p OLED vs 1080p LCD. Double the ram, double the storage, nearly 2x more powerful SoC etc. Moving up to a Moto G5 Plus doesn't change much either.

However the S7 is still at least 100 dollars more expensive if both are bought new. G5 plus is ~$250-300 and the cheapest new S7 I see is $400.

 

[StrangerGuy]

I will still pay extra for the S7. The camera is also head and shoulders above any budget phone, and IP67.

Don't make sense to be penny wise pound foolish for something you touch for hours everyday.

 

[Red Storm]

I would almost always go with last year's flagship vs. today's midrange.

 

[Oyeve]

The s7 camera tops many flagships today.

 

[v-600]

I made a few suggestions to my wife. She doesn't like the S8 (its too tall and the wrong shape). She wants to stick with samsung for familiarity if possible.

I saw a second hand S7 (non edge) in pink she likes, but I'd like to buy new if we can find one. I had a J5 as a loaner replacement for a bit and was surprised how good a cheapo phone is. Anybody have any experience with the Galaxy A series?

 

[Oyeve]

I made a few suggestions to my wife. She doesn't like the S8 (its too tall and the wrong shape). She wants to stick with samsung for familiarity if possible.

I saw a second hand S7 (non edge) in pink she likes, but I'd like to buy new if we can find one. I had a J5 as a loaner replacement for a bit and was surprised how good a cheapo phone is. Anybody have any experience with the Galaxy A series?

What carrier? I recently got my hands on a gold verizon s7. Only opened to see if it works.

 

[v-600]

We're in Australia so postage may be prohibitive,but for what its worth she's on Optus.

 

[bononos]

I made a few suggestions to my wife. She doesn't like the S8 (its too tall and the wrong shape). She wants to stick with samsung for familiarity if possible.

I saw a second hand S7 (non edge) in pink she likes, but I'd like to buy new if we can find one. I had a J5 as a loaner replacement for a bit and was surprised how good a cheapo phone is. Anybody have any experience with the Galaxy A series?

Never used the A series but I prefer budget/mid range phones because after uninstalling/disabling all the bloatware and crapware, they are totally usable. The biggest thing I miss by not having a high end phone is camera stabilization.

 

[spdfreak]

I keep looking at LG G6's as a good used flagship phone. S7's are nice too. Generally, nice used ones are about 250.00 on CL and ebay. Not sure about Australia, though. My Nokia Icon is a great phone, but WP isn't supported by anyone, anymore so I will have to do something pretty soon.

 

[v-600]

I keep looking at LG G6's as a good used flagship phone. S7's are nice too. Generally, nice used ones are about 250.00 on CL and ebay. Not sure about Australia, though. My Nokia Icon is a great phone, but WP isn't supported by anyone, anymore so I will have to do something pretty soon.

Tell me about it. I had a Windows phone for a bit and liked it but ultimately went for my current pixel. I've got to find a way soon to move dad off his trusty Windows phone but that's another battle.