When Apple announced the iPhone 12 series with its MagSafe accessories, I felt the writing on the wall. For years, there seemed to be a growing thought that Apple would create an iPhone with no ports. The introduction of MagSafe seemed to solve the last remaining hurdle to this reality by offering a new way to charge to replace plugging in a lightning cord. Whether you think that Apple is doing this merely to sell more accessories or that this is the full manifestation of Jony Ive’s minimalist design dream, the fact remains that this seems to be its path moving forward.
These sorts of decisions have a ripple effect on the industry. Apple removing the headphone jack and releasing phones with display notches has caused many Android manufacturers to follow suit. But the decision to take away more from flagship devices with the rising competence of entry-level and mid-range smartphones has created a question of the true value of a flagship as the smartphone has matured.
The Emergence of the Reliable Affordable Option
Years ago, buying a flagship phone almost felt necessary. More affordable options felt cheap and we’re wildly underpowered. This conversation fully changed in 2019 when Google released the Pixel 3a and 3a XL, two phones that took the core Pixel experience and cut the price in half. The success of those Pixels and their warm reception by reviewers sent a message to smartphone makers that there was an appetite for competent phones in the $400 price range.
The result of this realization has been an onslaught of devices that create a compelling argument to forego flagship devices for mid-range ones. Devices such as Samsung’s Galaxy A52, Apple’s iPhone SE, OnePlus’s Nord N10, and Google’s Pixel 4a have offered an alternative to their more expensive counterparts that is appealing beyond price savings.
As flagship phones have taken away features like the headphone jack, microSD card slot, and charger in the box mid-range phones have kept all of these features while also gaining better build quality and camera performance. The new reality is that these mid-range phones offer a more complete feature set that speaks to the masses whereas the beloved flagships have leaned to the benefit of the fringe enthusiasts. Oddly enough, flagships are still marketed as devices for the masses when the reality of the situation does not line up.
Offering the Complete Solution
There is certain practicality that comes with a modern mid-range smartphone. Where the higher-end phones will use more premium materials like stainless steel and frosted glass, mid-range devices use tried and true plastic. While less visually appealing, plastic phones are still more durable and are not as easily blemished as their glass counterparts. While this is primarily a cost-saving measure it is also a win for usability and logic in the way a phone is designed.
In terms of options for the user, when you consider that most mid-range devices still include the 3.5mm headphone jack and memory card slots an argument can be made that these phones are more consumer-friendly than their more expensive siblings. In the rush to normalize and popularize Bluetooth audio accessories and cloud storage plans, flagship phones lost flexibility.
Fortunately, this fate has not befallen lower price points. Whether this is because manufacturers assume that people buying flagships have more disposable income for expensive headphones and monthly storage plans is up for debate. But what we do know is that mid-range smartphones are getting more powerful with every iteration and are retaining the features that people have become accustomed to.
The Flagship Proposition
With the ever-improving state of phones in the mid-range, the question remains what is the purpose of a flagship? Because we can accept that for most people, a device like a Galaxy A52 is more than enough for their needs. The answer is twofold: computer-level tasks and camera technology. Consider the talking points of flagship Samsung Galaxy phones over the last couple of years. They have focused on mobile productivity through its partnerships with Microsoft and on the pro-level camera performance with technically impressive imaging hardware.
When you unpack what that means in the sense of a purpose, the message from Samsung and others is that these phones are designed for people looking to create content for their livelihood. This means targeting businesspeople and business owners with productivity features and social media influencers and professional photographers with camera features. When you consider that higher-quality gaming can now be done on phones and with the proliferation of desktop modes like Samsung DeX and Motorola Ready For, these devices are designed to be the primary computing device for people on a day-to-day basis.
Smartphone companies have made their flagships the all-in-one device for their users. It is the primary internet connectivity device, music player, camera, and communication device for its users. So if those uses become more advanced then these flagship devices make sense in that context. These advances come at a cost, and that cost is taking away the features that were staples in the past. What this creates is a decision for customers to make. A compromise has to be made regardless because a no-compromise device would cost more than most people would be willing to spend.
What companies have told the buying public is that most phones will handle all of the day-to-day tasks without an issue. The decision that needs to be made is if the priority is flexible usability features such as headphone jacks and memory card slots or a powerful feature set with multiple cameras that showcase the versatility of multiple lenses. Yet dispute these choices being offered, most mid-range devices are considered afterthoughts by the buying public, a mentality that needs to change.
Shifting the Conversation
A good friend of mine has been a dedicated Samsung phone user for the years that I have known him. Like clockwork, once a year he would upgrade to the newest Galaxy S or Note phone. He would always insist to me that Samsung would offer the best overall experience versus the iPhone and other Android phones. That when you looked at the overall package, Samsung gave the user the most full set of features. But this year, he skipped upgrading from his Galaxy Note 10+. The reason being that the features he had grown accustomed to were rapidly disappearing.
The loss of the MicroSD card slot was a big blow to his smartphone needs, which prompted me to ask him about opting for a mid-range device as opposed to a flagship. His response was instant skepticism, as is expected because we have been conditioned to think that we need flagship phones for an enjoyable smartphone experience. This is because for so long mid-range phones were more often than not uninspired efforts riddled with compromises. But now that reality has changed. Gone is the usability argument, instead, the question is one of how extensive is a phone going to be used.
For the day-to-day tasks of smartphone usage (such as web browsing, communication, and social media) a mid-range device can handle that workload with ease. The cameras on these phones have also improved from the perspective of social media shareability, which is what most people use their phone cameras for the most. Add into this renewed sense of competence, that old features that remain on these phones have now become differentiators against flagships. The headphone jack allows for a choice of headphones without dongles. The memory card slot allows an option for a large photo or music library without having to rely on a data connection and paid cloud services (this is especially important with Google Photos no longer offering unlimited backups). And including a charger in the box helps save on costs when purchasing a new phone.
Flagships by contrast no longer seem suited for a majority use case. The DSLR-like camera features are only utilized by a very small niche. Desktop modes are incredibly useful but rarely even known to most buyers. Even elevated gaming performance seems to be for a very select few people that play taxing games on their phones. Yet they are marketed and covered as the commodity option as opposed to the luxury items that they have become.
Changing this reality involves repositioning both expensive and more affordable options. This means more marketing dollars on mid-range and entry-level devices. LG recently exited the smartphone business after years of losing money. Much of their advertising focused on their flagships, despite entry-level Stylo and K series phones being more successful. Perhaps a larger focus on those devices might have ensured a different fate. Samsung has increased the capability of its A-series phones and should give them more attention to draw consumers to the lineup to know that spending over $1000 on a Galaxy S or Note device isn’t always necessary.
Beyond this, when we talk about and cover smartphones there needs to be more of a focus on these devices. Because of the attraction to shiny new features of the expensive models, not enough conversations are had about the feature and value-rich mid-range. By giving these devices more attention, the differentiation that they offer can be showcased.
All of this is not to say that flagship phones are no longer worth the money, quite the contrary. But it can also be true that like $2,000 gaming laptops they are best suited for a small group of people. And for the bulk of the phone buying population, the value addition of lost flagship features on mid-range devices should be a compelling alternative to simply accepting the compromises of a modern flagship. This is a very legitimate comparison that more people should consider, that buying a mid-range phone isn’t as unheard of as it used to be. And that in most cases is the smart purchase.
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May 31, 2021 at 12:36PM
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The Underappreciated Flexibility of the Modern Mid-Range Smartphone - Medium
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