Why phones cost, like, three hundred dollars, man?

I bought a phone or two before. Maybe one was one of those clear corded phones, but it counts. I've had my basic bitch iPhone 4 for, like, four years. Okay. Not four years. But it feels like it. And four sounded funnier in that sentence.

Ass.

I need a new phone and it's a bunch of fundage. And I'm the kind of idiot who feels like they need to get the newest one. If I don't get the newest one I'll need to upgrade sooner. In, like, four more years. Or less, maybe. Damn, I hate that I said "fundage" earlier.

When did phones get complicated? I like my iPhone bullshit, and I don't feel like "learning" an Android, even if all my old shitty coworkers thought they were rad. But they all still used that default "drrroid" text tone, so fuck them anyway.

Somebody just tell me what phone to get. Do I just get a iPhone5 S? C? Or, normal ass 5? Which of those is even best? If my years in video games has taught me anything, it's probably S.

iPhone 6 is the newest iPhone. iPhone 6 Plus is the bigger version of it.

iPhone 5S was last years model. The iPhone 5C is the cheap "budget" version of the 5S. IIRC, the iPhone 5C is just the iPhone 5 (released two years ago) in a new casing.

I don't know how it is with Verizon, but on AT&T their new "NEXT" plans basically make you pay for the full price of the phone. So you aren't paying $300 up front for a phone, you are paying +$600 for the phone over the next two years. It's a god damn scam.

What do you use a phone for? Does size matter? Do you like iOS and are you already entrenched in that ecosystem?

And to answer your question about when did phones get complicated, mobile phones have been complicated since you could buy mobile phones.

The price of phones is too damn high. Whoever runs under that slogan will win all the elections.

As someone who using both iOS and Android, Android isn't that bad but considering that you've been in the iOS ecosystem this long you might as well stick to it. Get the iPhone 6, it's newer, has a bigger screen, and will last you way longer than a 5/5S. If you're staying with Verizon for multiple years then I personally would just do the standard 2 yr contract price when you get the phone

Well, phones are small computers now. Price doesn't seem to astronomical for a device that could last you 2 or 3 years with constant use.

I can't speak for iPhones, but the Android "learning curve" for me was like 5 minutes. But you really can't go wrong with any OS at this point, so just go with what you prefer and find a price range that you can live with.

This is why I don't even own a smartphone. $300 for a new phone every couple years? Fuck. That.

It's your fault if you feel like you have to get the latest version of the latest whatever. I just got my first smartphone for $300 and I don't plan on getting another for a very long time.

Here in Brazil they are even more expensive, a iPhone 6 16GB costs R$ 3.600, which is around U$ 1.300. It's really absurd.

I got my first smartphone for PAX 2014. It's some cheap Samsung thing that I got on sale for about $40, and I pay $40 a month for unlimited talk, text, and data. I have no idea why people spend so much on their phones.

Smart phones have been around long enough now that you can get an older one that runs just fine for pretty cheap. You're only forking over huge cash for the newest models.

I can justify a bi-annual $300 for a magic pocket computer I use all day, every day.

Aren't we video game people? We spend $140 on a special edition pre-order that comes with a plastic dragon statue and a notepad to document your feelings about the plastic dragon, and nobody bats an eye.

And people wonder why I've never owned a phone before.

"I won a bid for a partial-mint copy of Chrono Trigger for only $248! I can't wait to peel off the Hollywood Video sticker then put it on my shelf and let nobody touch it ever"

Don't get the iPhone 5c, the only version available has a uselessly small amount of storage (8GB). They used to come with 16GB or 32GB, if you could find one of those used, they'd be okay.

I'd say get a 5s I suppose. You can get it in 16GB or for $50 more 32GB.

@ekami: $140 special editions are also fucking ridiculous, but even if I did go crazy and decide to buy something like that it would be a very rare occurance. Like, maybe only a couple times in my whole life would I find a game I was crazy enough about to justify that.

$300 is more than I spend on average in an entire year on video games, and I use those way more than my phone.

@zeik: if you had a smartphone you'd use it way more than any video game.

I rarely use my phone for the phone, it's my GPS, my map, my flashlight, my computer, my guitar tuner, my train schedule, my calendar, my calculator, a video game system, my MP3 player, my camera, my photo album, my newspaper...all in one machine. It's one of the best inventions ever for me, I never have to worry about anything because I probably have an app for that now.

And why would you buy a new phone every few years? Only people who want shiny new things do that. Your smartphone will work fine for years, mine has.

This. There are plenty of providers--including Verizon-- who have prepaid phones that are decently priced. Granted you won't get good deals on Apple products but whenever you buy anything Apple you should always expect to spend a quite a bit of cash.

As someone who only uses a phone for Calls/TXT/Twitter/Web surfing, I rarely spend over $150 on a phone at the very most. Though I'm not attached to my phone as most people are.

Three hundred dollars seems pretty cheap for an iPhone 6, and the deal is probably subsidized by your contract. An unlocked iPhone 6 costs around 650-800 euros over here in Finland. If you're just looking for something simple and cheap, you can probably get a Lumia or an older Android model for less than a hundred bucks.

Doesn't really seem to be a good idea to get the newest of the new phones. You're always going to be paying an inflated price for the sheer novelty, and the technology seems to have kind of peaked in the past couple of years anyway. You can get a 2013 Moto X for less than $200 new off contract on ebay, and that'll feel like a massive upgrade from the iPhone 4. I didn't like Android at all for years, but a) a lot of the stuff I didn't like about it were manufacturer skins (like Samsung's Touchwiz), and Moto phones are stripped down bare Android like Nexus, and b) the overall quality and usability of the OS has increased dramatically from Jellybean onwards to where it's a genuine iOS alternative.

Don't get the 5C. It is, from what I know, just an iPhone 5 with a plastic back.

@counterclockwork87: Yeah, I use my phone all the time, but when it actually rings and serves the function of a "phone" it's a surprise. Usually work, so not even a good surprise.

For what you get that's not much at all.

I use that shit daily. I want top end shit, I'll even pay out the ass.

@counterclockwork87: I 100% guarantee you I would not. Now I'm not saying other people don't get lots of use out of their phone, and maybe those people can justify spending that kind of money, but those extra features would be an unnecessary luxary for me at best. Even if it lasted me more than a few years, I just can't bring myself to justify that kind of money on something that I don't need or desparately want.

@bigjeffrey: I'm not sure if that's still legal tender.

@hatking: Update your plan, go on that no contract stuff they're trying to sweet talk you into. They usually have a cheaper price point to start from and with the phone payment added in its the same price as a 2 year contract plan except you didn't shell out 300 bucks plus tax to start with.

I went from an iPhone 4 to LG G3 last year, pretty happy with the move because of that iOS update that made it slow as shit. Moving to android isn't hard as long as you have a little brain power, the biggest problem moving for me was moving the music but there are apps for that which made it super easy, I still buy music off itunes because google play is garbage. If you're set on iPhones just get the 6 and don't update it to the next "big" also, 300 bucks seems pretty cheap to me.

I went from an iPhone 3G to an LG Optimus G Pro. That's a quad core, 1.7GHz, 2gigs of RAM, 1080p, 5.5 inch beast that I use to send the occasional text message, take the occasional phone call, solve some Picross rip-offs and mostly read ebooks. It's supposedly "dated" at this point. Modern phones almost have the power to run something like Portal 2 at 1080p, 60Hz and are most often used to settle pub arguments over who that guy who was in that movie's name was.

@sinusoidal said:

That's the sad reality: give people all the space-age technology you can imagine, and we don't suddenly become Star Trek's Federation. Most people are rubes, and having a highly sophisticated miniature computer in their pocket just better enables them to be rubes-on-the-go.

I personally do not buy phones on contract from carriers. I prefer to buy them outright from sites like glyde or eBay even. I recently purchased an HTC One (m7) for like 150. That phone is still pretty solid as far as specs are concerned, as far as what to get that is personal preference. If you just need to do certain tasks, watch movies, make calls, some mobile gaming I'd say an iPhone or a Windows phone are up your alley as both OSes don't do as much as android, but the things they can do are performed simply and quickly. Android is literally a PC in your pocket, there is almost nothing an android phone can't do in regard to computing.

Too lazy to open up xe.com and do a currency conversion but I bought my Sony Xperia M2 in January for about £150. First smartphone I'd ever used. It's midrange and I don't really know why I'd need a fancier phone. This does everything I need really, except 4G but seeing as where I live doesn't even have 3G enabled yet (hooray for rural Scotland) it's not a big problem. MP3 player, decent camera, Twitter, simple games, Facebook. Assuming I don't somehow break it I don't really see how I'm going to need to replace this for a minimum of 3 years, probably even longer. I mean are we expecting 2018 Twitter replacement to be super intensive?

Don't buy a high range phone unless you have an actual reason to buy one.

Like others have said, you aren't really paying 300 dollars. Youre paying that upfront plus another 300 or so dollars spread out over 2 years on your monthly bill. I'm not a smartphone expert, but if you want a nice phone without breaking the bank the one+one is a nice option. Its 300 dollars off contract and its got the guts of a much better phone. You used to have to wait a long time to get an invite to even buy one, but they recently opened up the chance to buy it to every Tuesday.

Edit: oops, looks like they opened it up to everyday a few days ago. So yeah, that's my recommendation.

@hatking: Be a cool guy like me and use a shitty $20 pay-as-you-go phone.
No one wants to steal it. If you lose it or break it who cares. It's a simpler life. A better life.

Anytime I upgraded, I'd always go with the last round of phones, because they're usually a decent discount with a new contract. The upfront cost of the newest model looks rough but like everyone else has said, for what these things do now, the price makes sense.

Also don't the materials needed for production come from remote locations, in countries with really bad labor laws? I can see why manufacturers hike up the price.

Because people are willing to pay hundreds for what is basically a watch. It seems that for some people it being an apple product is enough. People really dont need to upgrade their apple product every year but they seem to do it anyway. Well not all of the people but enough that Apple is swimming in cash atm.

I spent $1000 on my phone a year and a half ago. 5s, from Apple.

Be happy you're getting a price cut, be unhappy you're paying more over the next two years to own it than I will have once two years hits.

It's way less money if you don't buy the newest, hottest shit.

I'm tired of smartphones. Always looking for your attention. I miss my sony ericsson S500i.

I could actually type sense with those buttons. None of this smart phone autocorrect bullshit

I don't get why people are surprised that miniature computers with specs that rival desktop computers from a few years ago, that also make phone calls, are expensive.

I'm using a Nexus 5 right now and for $400, it's probably the best $400 I've ever spent. I don't plan on upgrading it any time soon.

If you upgrade your phone every year/two years and complain that it's too expensive, you only have yourself to blame.

I'm thinking about keeping my 5S and not upgrading this year.

But that's also something I've been telling myself every two years when my cell contract runs out

In fairness, smartphones do some fucking amazing things these days. It's portable access to the internet at your fingertips, which is a ridiculous wealth of information. It's an interactive map that can point to anything via GPS. It's a camera that allows you take a picture in Utah and send it to f***ing New Zealand in a few seconds. It plays games that used to require entire consoles a few years back. It's an MP3 player, a flashlight, a sound recorder, a barcode scanner, etc., etc. You can voice text. You can voice dial. You can ask it just about any question and have an answer immediately.

A good smartphone is worth every penny. It's basically magic. If you brought a mediocre smartphone from today back to 1995 and showed it to people, you'd be considered some kind of deity. So, a few hundred bucks? That's not what I'd call unreasonable for a device that's literally life-changing. And someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe many phones actually cost more than they sell for and have the difference made up for by cell phone contracts. Not to mention that you can get, say, a Samsung Galaxy SIII now for next to nothing, and it will do just about everything you can ask from a phone.

So, yeah. There are a ton of things that are WAY overpriced, but smartphones aren't one of them. Also, go Android because Apple is terrible for a lot of reasons.

Check out h2o wireless, they have ok phone prices, but great low monthly costs.

It's not necessary to pay that much for a phone. I bought a Samsung galaxy light from metro pcs for $29 and I pay $50 a month for unlimited 4G LTE data. No contract to worry about either.

I use my smartphone alot but I cannot justify the purchase of a new phone every time a new generation rolls out. I am perfectly fine staying one or two generations behind as nothing I use puts a strain on my phone such that it cannot run it. I currently use an LG G2, but I have no intentions of moving up to a G3. I think I can squeeze another two years out of this phone before the times demand I upgrade.

Definitely keeping my 5S. The larger screen size of the 6 doesn't interest me at all.

I payed $800 for mine, I wish phones only cost $300!

I paid €120 for a 1st Gen. Moto G and that's all I need.

You know you can turn all that stuff off, right? Smartphones are tools, and tools are only as good as the person using them.

I don't mind the price as long as they were honest with it. With Verizon they jack up the price, charge you a $40 "upgrade fee" to even have the ability to pay them $399, and then pretend to give you a rebate when they could have just charged you $49 less in the first place.

But, I have to get a new phone and I don't have the energy to switch carriers....I am world weary and just want to get a damn phone.

I'm going to get my Samsung S6, not teh edge, but I liked my S3 so I will go with Samsung. I only buy phones every 4 years anyway, so paying $300 could be worse I suppose.

I just got a Moto G for $180. It does everything I need a phone to do.

I'm okay with spending whatever on a phone. It's an electronic that I will use damn well everyday for three years.