Is it really worth buying a costly mobile phone?

[papul1993]

The topic says it.

Do we really need a phone that costs >15k or even >20k? What about those in the 18-25 age group? I am pretty sure you dont have a job, so do you really need such a costly phone?

[desiibond]

If you have money to spend on a smarpthone, yes, it is worth. There are phones like N8, N900, Legend, SGS that are worth every penny. YOu might like this post that I did when I got my first ever smartphone: How 5800XM changed the way I use mobile phone Bandla's Blog

[ico]

People who go for a company's flagship model just want to make sure that their mobile will last long in terms of updates and support. It won't get outdated anytime soon.

I've seen people who will go for a mobile of 6k...then after 8 months...again a mobile of around the same cost. Why not go and buy a decent mobile for 14-15k itself?

I had done that and bought Nokia 5800 at the time of it's launch. (Symbian is , I know..but you didn't have VFM Android fones at that time) I'm still very much happy with it and it is doing it's job well for me. Basically the people who know that they'll "outgrow" their requirements should always go for a decent mobile.

(IMHO)

[papul1993]

My question is that whats there in a phone of 15-20k thats so important to you? And something that a 5-6k phone cannot provide.

[ico]

People tend to "outgrow" their fone and their requirements. Those who know they won't, they'll be happy with a 6k fone and those who know they will, they'll be happy with a 15-20k.

Although from what I've seen, the 6k fone buyers tend to change their fones a lot more frequently. (IMO)

[papul1993]

Suppose I force someone who currently uses a Samsung galaxy S to use a midrange 6k phone. Will that person be crippled?

[ico]

You mean forcing someone who drives an Audi to drive a Maruti 800?? (just an analogy, no offense to anyone)

[desiibond]

Originally Posted by papul1993

Suppose I force someone who currently uses a Samsung galaxy S to use a midrange 6k phone. Will that person be crippled?

Depends. One of my friend own HTC Legend and that person never used internet or any smart apps. all that was done is calling and texting. For such people, a phone is just a phone, period!

Even if you give a phone with superpowers and everlasting charge, it will still be used only to call and text.

[ico]

yup...someone who on wants to go from point A to point B won't be crippled by driving a Maruti 800.

[kbharathb]

if we are using the phone only for calling and text messaging we can go for a mid range phones. if we are expecting more than that like watching movies on the go, internet, music, high quality camera, wi-fi etc. then costly mobiles are really worth.

[pulkitpopli2004]

ofcourse when you want to buy a feature rich quality phone.. u shud always go for phone wid 15k price range.. it cud be possible u will get same features in some low budget phone as micromax and oder brand are offering.. bt dats of no use..

Take an eg of single basic feature which is coming in almost all the latest Mob 'TouchScreen'.... buying a 6k range phone having touchscreen and 15k having same.. you can easily feel d diff... dis is only d one case.. similarly is many oder features like wifi,camera, BT...

[papul1993]

Originally Posted by kbharathb

if we are using the phone only for calling and text messaging we can go for a mid range phones. if we are expecting more than that like watching movies on the go, internet, music, high quality camera, wi-fi etc. then costly mobiles are really worth.

music-ok. even 4k phones provide that facility.

but high quality camera on a phone? sure there are 12mp cams on phone but i dont think them as high quality. and watching movies on a tiny mobile screen? do you really enjoy that??

(IMHO)

[desiibond]

Originally Posted by papul1993

music-ok. even 4k phones provide that facility.

but high quality camera on a phone? sure there are 12mp cams on phone but i dont think them as high quality. and watching movies on a tiny mobile screen? do you really enjoy that??

(IMHO)

yes. I do enjoy watching movies on a 3.5" display. it's not just about movies or music. with a good smartphone, you get good speed, better multimedia capabilities, good browsing capabilities, good UI etc.

[Lucky_star]

It all depends on money and how you prioritize your requirements. For me, calling/texting just takes 10% of the activities I do in my phone. I use it mainly for music/gaming/torrents/browsing/movies/apps and other stuffs .

I've got friendz who got high end ones like SGS, iPhone, HTC etc, and most of them doesn't even know anything other than calling and texting. As others said, for such people, their handset is just an object of status or a lifestyle icon.

[gagan007]

I agree with ico and the logic he gave. Moreover it is all about the spending power of the person as well as usage.

Blackberry is one such phone which is used only to flaunt by highly-placed executives. Many of them do not go beyond using it for calls,sms and emails (BB messenger too sometimes) but the rest of them would just buy it only to make a statement (because their peers do too). I am saying this on my 6 years experience in IT industry.
Next comes spending power. I started with Motorola C-100 (or something like that) because I couldn't afford any other expensive handset and then keep on upgrading not because my requirements grew but because I could spend more. That made me depend on the handset for more and more things such as I depend completely on my mobile calendar to remind me of b'days of my family and friends (I do not think my Motorola had that feature). Calls, SMS and Emails are other features which are necessity for me which are well catered by my N85.

I agree that making use of my mobile to check my Gmail and Facebook constantly during office hours is not a necessity but I have no other option as my company has blocked them. Games, movies and songs are also not necessity for me but it depends on person to person.

[Liverpool_fan]

You don't pay the price for the heck of it, unless you really want to show off.
Just assimilate your requirements, and zero in the handset you want. That's it.

[Faun]

For me a big screen and touchscreen is important for good web experience so a phone reasonably priced with the required features is what I will look for. Though, it's good to do the research before coz you may be crippled by low memory or slow processor or crappy bugs.

I use my phone for everything but calls

[mani74]

I feel one can definitely choose good phones. One needs to just invest once in buying phones and today phones are not just abt texting or calling...specially for the 18-27 age grp. Its more about what apps are there ad what are the features. Im really fond of my LG Optimus which uses the latest android technology and trust me its super amazing. The apps that come along are never ending and seriously am addicted tomy phone. Its an amazing smart phone with latest technology.

[furious_gamer]

No need to explain again. I prefer to use phones with MM capabilities, better quality camera and good browsing experience.

Also i'll talk more, say 6hrs a day.

So battery backup must be real good and must last for a min of 16hours.

[pauldmps]

The most overrated yet unused feature of a phone is its camera. I've seen people obsessed about camera on a phone. Most first question asked about a phone is about "How many mega-pixels camera is present on the phone ?" One of my friend bought a Nokia-X2 only because of its 5 megapixel camera which he never actually uses. I always get dirty looks for my Samsung Champ for its VGA camera.

Anyway, coming back to the original question, two kind of people might be interested in buying a high-end phone :

1. Those have lots of money (mostly earned by their parents) & need to show off. They mostly tend to buy whatever model looks more flashy rather than knowing about the specs.

2. Those are enthusiasts enough & know that they need to buy a higher end model to satisfy their needs. They use their phone to the full potential.

[Rahim]

A majority of users never use advance features but insist on buying a costly cell just to show off and be in 'the group'.

Cell replacement every 6 months is the norm and i am so distressed seeing youngsters doing/talking nothing but music, photos, MMS, etc. If they have a PC all they do is transfer photos to and from.........
They feel inferior if they dont have THAT mobile.

Very rarely do i find a user who actually uses those high-end cells to it full potential like guys at TDF, which s expected.

Is it worth buying costly mobiles? Yes but soon we know why has he/she bought it for.

[saliha]

Hi...

It is not really worth buying a costly mobile phone.
Buying a costly mobile phone is just a fashion which is held nowadays..
The people who are having lots money can buy..
But mobile phone is only a media for communication..
But people made it a fashion of buying costly and expensive mobile phones,
which is not at all worth..

[nisargshah95]

I'd rather prefer to buy cheap mobile phone (around 10K) and save the money for a small netbook or a tablet....P

[papul1993]

Thats what I wanted to say. Its all about show-off. I solve most of the problems of my friends' phones without having one myself.

[Sam]

Originally Posted by papul1993

Thats what I wanted to say. Its all about show-off. I solve most of the problems of my friends' phones without having one myself.

99% showoff & rest 1% are the geeks (who knows what that mobile is capable of).

[MetalheadGautham]

My college banned "multimedia" phones (read: phones with camera and/or expandable memory).

I gave my Nokia 5130 XpressMusic to my sister and started using a Nokia 2323 that I bought.

How the experience goes then is purely upto the user.

I've friends with N73's who use the phone only for torch and texting along with few calls.

On the other hand I connect my laptop to the internet through my phone (its my lifeline from college hostel to the outside world) and even manage to put the tiny 10 mb internal memory to good enough use. Heck, I even use the phone as a voice recorder and it gives me decent quality records.

When it comes to buying a "costly" phone, I take it to mean two things:

1) You are talking about a smart phone
It then normally means you would have researched on smartphones and bought something that offers you loads of services to use and is worth every penny u pay.

2) You are talking about a "designer" phone
Kinda like some of the special edition phones, gold-coated phones, and some of those phones which are mostly about status. These phones make no sense unless you are earning and/or have money to burn.

[Sam]

an ad is shown in TV nowadays about BlackBerry mobiles. in that ad its shown the users use it for chatting & pictures mainly. so you buy a 15k-35k (Torch cost around 35k i think), just to click pics. ROFL on that ad.

Blackberry are mainly used for business or showoffs. cause the android party is making its pants wet so they came up with such an ad. the android mobiles or the Nokia N8 ad gives at least some good reason why should considered.

[R2K]

i own a 5800xpress music and i just use my phone as an expensive alarm clock...i rarely make any calls with it.....occasionally i use it to listen to music. BUT i did not buy my phone to showoff anyway as ppl around me just wanna know if its a blackberry or not?...here using blackberry is like holding a pluck card in ur hand written as ..b!tch i am rich.... .and i hate blackberry phones....

[Rohan_B]

I have a Nokia 5800 and an iPod Touch 4g 32GB!!
What i feel is that carrying a smartphone in India can be irritating as whenever you take the phone out of your you attract several eyes and i feel quite strange when this happens!!
And to satisfy all your smartphone needs just get an iPod Touch 4g just like I do and all I can say about it is "I am loving it!!"

Originally Posted by nisargshah95

I'd rather prefer to buy cheap mobile phone (around 10K) and save the money for a small netbook or a tablet....P

I agree with ur philosophy man!!
>>Cheers and PEACE<<

[papul1993]

Well, the discussion going on here is really good but that doesn't answer my question as you guys are telling about "others". I am asking about YOU, the guys here that are students. I have seen many students use a smartphone when they really don't need one.