CSA Online by Andrew Moore-Crispin Flagship smartphones The newest, most advanced and most expensive phone in a manufacturer’s lineup is called the flagship. It sets the tone for the whole line. It’s a pretty good metaphor; in nautical terms, the flagship is the best in the fleet. It charts a course and the fleet follows. The latest and greatest smartphones (think that iPhone 11, Google Pixel 4, Samsung Galaxy S20 or the just-announced Note 20) are flagship phones.They are the bleeding edge in smartphone technology. Flagship phones range from $750 to $1,200. They showcase the very best and brightest ideas which the R&D department could get into production. Some of these ideas will be hits. Some will be gimmicks. One thing holds true, though: the best features will make their way down the line, into phones in the $300-400 range which is where, again, I’d argue the smart smartphone money is spent. A couple of examples: Fingerprint unlockstarted as a useful feature introduced in top-end smartphones. Today, it’s all but standard equipment. Rapid charging, where you can get to, say, 80% battery in 30 minutes, was a much-lauded feature of flagship smartphones. Today, a $300 range will often offer this super-handy feature. Multiple-camera arrays looked like a gimmick at first, but this technology is more than the sumof its lenses (or its megapixels). We’re already seeing phones in the mid-range incorporating multiple-lensed cameras, and it’s a trend that’ll continue until some other new latest and greatest feature overshadows it. Edge-to-edge screens were a standout feature for flagship phones. Today, you can get edge-to-edge glass, where the bezel surrounding the screen is practically non-existent, for well below the flagship price range in phones such as the Samsung Galaxy A51, which we’ll talk about in a sec. The list goes on. So, as the major manufacturers unveil their latest and greatest in the latter half − and especially the last quarter − of the year, consider this a sanity check. Phones are like cars (wait, didn’t he just say that they were like boats?). Any decent one will get you where you need to go in comfort, but some people choose to splash out and get there in style. In phones, as in cars, the law of diminishing returns is very much a thing. If you look for luxury and want to live on the bleeding edge of technology, by all means grab any of this year’s hottest flagships. If you want a phone that’ll do everything you need and more, the following come recommended. No need to dip deep into savings for a new phone How much do you need to budget for a brand-new phone that’ll do everything you need…and more? You don’t need to break a band (I think that means to casually spend $1,000 –maybe confirm that with the grandkids) to get a great smartphone. You don’t need to agree to your phone company’s terms or sign a contract either. Today, $300-400 is the sweet spot as far as I’m concerned. 54 | www.snowbirds.org
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