Why I Won’t Buy Another Flagship Phone

Expensive flagship phones are fun. The problem is they’re, well, expensive. When you consider most midrange phones today are more than fast enough, have most of the features of flagship phones, and in some cases are half the price of their more expensive siblings, it really makes you question why you’d want a flagship phone. I attempted going the midrange route with my Moto G6 back in January 2019, but then in April, I decided to get a Samsung Galaxy S10e. I did this for a few reasons:

1. I wanted Samsung Pay. At the time, there may have been a cheaper new phone with Samsung Pay, but that may have not actually been the case.

2. I wanted a faster phone. My Moto G6 was fairly quick, but I could tell right away the S10e was a little faster (it better be at three times the price).

3. I wanted a better camera. Motorola always seems to have a common trait of lesser quality cameras, and the Moto G6 was no exception. It did okay in good lighting conditions, and it had a front-facing flash which was nice, but otherwise the cameras weren’t so amazing.

4. The S10e’s borderless display was cool. Sure, the S10e was a bit smaller, but it also had a display that reached the top and bottom of the phone, all with no iPhone notch!

5. Wireless charging seemed cool at the time. I can count how many times I’ve actually used it, though so it’s not a priority for me. It’s one of those what-if things where if the USB-C port dies, I have another option.

6. Samsung’s audio output menu is the reason why I don’t mind manufacturers doing different things to Android. Stock Android didn’t, and probably still doesn’t, have a panel in the notification tray that lets you choose the output of the audio when you are connected to Bluetooth. Samsung’s do, and I cannot fathom why stock Android is missing this.

Of course there are some things I love about Motorola, like the Moto Actions where you physically move the phone to turn on the flashlight, or the camera, something even after a year I still try to do on the Samsung. Motorola’s always-on display gives you more information than other phones. And the battery life was a bit better than my S10e. I could’ve easily lived with the Moto G6, and this article would have a lot more credibility, but I was too enticed by Samsung Pay, and too lazy to do more research into a cheaper Samsung with that feature.

The S10e wasn’t my first choice, as I really wanted the screen size of the Note10+, in addition to the stylus which comes in handy more often than you think. However, I was not going to spend over $1,000 for it, as I barely wanted to spend the $750 on the S10e. After a year of use, the S10e is still going strong, so it’s very likely I’ll be keeping this phone for another year, making this the longest I’ve owned one phone in years.

Although I have no plans of replacing this phone right now, I’ve still got my eye on a few possible options. Like the rumored Pixel 4a, as I really considered the Pixel 3a when I got this phone. Plus Motorola’s midrange phones, and the Samsung Galaxy A phones, like the A51. All $500 or less, which is a lot better than spending at least $700 on a flagship.

We’ll see what happens in a year, but especially as midrange phones get even better, I think I can safely say my next phone won’t be a flagship phone.