Smartphone prices have been steadily creeping up with many modern options now crossing the four-figure price mark, and with many users now holding onto their older devices for a much longer period of time because of this change – but eventually it may be time to upgrade, if you haven’t changed for a while or don’t keep up with mobile news it can be difficult to know what to choose, so what should you consider before upgrade your device?
Old necessities are now optional extras – It’s hard to miss the news that has been bombarded on us over the past few months as the big manufacturers in Apple and Samsung have both decided to ditch including a charging plug and set of earbuds with the purchase of a device – these old necessities have become additional purchases that are heavily marked up. Similarly, extra features such as expandable memory and the headphone jack have been taken away from each new release of device – it’s important to understand what you are, and more importantly aren’t getting before you commit to such an expense, particularly if some of these features are a make it or break it option for you.
Your hobbies and usage – One of the big changes mobile devices have experience in recent years has included further support to many of our favourite hobbies – gaming has seen a dramatic increase alongside content consumption, the most recent success for example has perhaps been within esports as streaming platforms have grown massively and supporting markets such as esports betting sites have enabled more use than before. With this in mind, understand what hobbies you may be using your device for, as it could have a huge influence over which device you may choose at the end as different features could impact the price of your potential device.
Future proofing is key – If you’re the type to hold onto a device for a longer period of time especially, ensuring you’re future proofed is more important than other factors as you’ll want to make sure you can get the most usage for a longer period of time. Things like 5G capability for example are a most recent example as whilst it is becoming a standard edition on newer and flagship devices in particular, it still isn’t a given that your device will have it but should certainly be something to look for. Keep an eye on any feature that is going to be important moving forward, that way when you pick up your new device you won’t be taken by surprise for anything new that may become available in the next year or two but would otherwise remain unavailable to you.