Is it really worth buying a costly mobile phone?

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?

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

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 It won't get outdated anytime soon.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)

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.

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)

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

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

papul1993 said:
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.

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

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.

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...

kbharathb said:
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)

papul1993 said:
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.

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.

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.

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.

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

M

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.

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.

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.

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.

S

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..

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

P

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.

papul1993 said:
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).

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.

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.

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....

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!!"

nisargshah95 said:
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<<

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.

I believe, this is most useful for students.yes many don't use it to its potential. as now a days mm start from low range. only difference between low end phones and high end phones is quality of product and little more features. most students can't buy a decent camera,ipod, laptop,desktop,phones. can have any couple of things but not all.. so it is better to get one decent phone and get all of it. I am not comparing mobile camera to digital camera.. it can't, but it does a job and u all have it in ur pocket, smart phone is not computer, but u surf internet, see documents and lots of apps for fun and education.. like wifi now a days all malls and showrooms have it and more hot spots so better paying for it u can use it for free, internet is a place where u have fun and learn. touchscreen can be for style but it is ease of use what I believe. In multimedia low range phones is in bottom and laptops,ipods, are at top, so high end phone is in middle,

papul1993 said:
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.

as i myself a student, i seek a few points in a mobile that i going to buy (already mentioned but updated post here):

1. Futureproof: in short, 3G & WiFi should be there. so i don't miss de fun-factor.
2. Looks: should look good. not something eye catching but at least such that i don't hesitate to pull out when among my friends :smile:

3. Price: smartphones start from 5-6k & up. can't pay 20-30k for a mobile. nor is my budget so high neither my parents will allow spend so much money on a gadget thats not helpful in studies. but something below 15k (10k will be better) thats real VFM.
4. Build Quality: should survive through day to day life without any problem. should be rugged.
5. Extras: should charge through microUSB port (bye bye Nokia), should have descent music quality (mayn't be best), OS version should be latest & proper interface (not too simple or too complex that i ditch it), camera should be ok, battery should last 1 full day of use.

S

Good points Sam, I am in total agreement with you

. Btw, which phone do you use now/ are going to buy?

currently own a Motorola ROKR E6e (default keyboard sucks, poor battery life) & trying acquire LG OptimusOne.

If one thinks he's got a costly mobile then may be no ,having one doesnt make much sense.One is in awe of it,making it useless.

But however,if one owns money to be not able to care about it or actually bother if its costly then definitely, yes go for it.
Your life is your statement and you don't need 100 Gm gadget to flash.

_

Well, the answer depends more on 'who your are' and 'what you intend to do with the gadget'!

I strongly agree with @desibond there, and with @ico too.

See dude, I know MANY people who use a Nokia 5800XM, or a bloody SE Xperia X10, or even an Apple iPhone 3GS to do just 3 things: 1. calls, 2. SMSes, 3. music [not even vidoes]! A 'few' of them use it for social networking as well.

So, if that's all you intend to do, seriously man, you're insulting the gadget you carry! Better get any goddamn 6-7k touchscreen cell from Nokia/Samsung for that ['cos the on-screen QWERTY makes typing easier].

But, if you're the one who pumps out the juice outta your device, and it's not merely another expensive toy to get the 'ooohs and aahs', you use it to read eBooks, check mails, open [and maybe edit] office docs, and much much much more that truly needs some POWER in your hands, it's worth every penny to burn a hole in your pockets dude!

So, as I said earlier, it all depends on what you wanna do with it: insult it by using it as a MBA [over-paid clerk?] or to get every paisa out of it [a soldier you may call it!].

S

Sure, If you are crazy about phones and wanna use them as a music player, gaming device etc. depends on you.

Its best to buy a phone worth 15k. Even if u can afford more expensive phone the newest hardware soon becomes obsolete. Give me an iphone 3G and ill throw it back at you. Give me 3GS and still i wouldnt want it. Only iphone 4. My friend's iphone 3G is the center of jokes now a days a phone that was worth 35k wen he bought it close to an year ago.

But if u fall under the super rich category then non of this applies to you.

But if u have got the money to spend on a high end phone and want it to last long then remember it will not. In a years time or a little more that baby in your hand will look obsolete so choose wisely.

10000/- phones which do the job
or 15000/- for the flaunt
or 20000/- if u believe in falling love with your gadgets
anything more you are too rich too foolish or waiting for a disaster

My own experience: Broke my N85 worth 22k irrepairable now. Own a C7 now 16k gift. Would have bought a decent sub 10k Nokia phone otherwise.

P.S. I dont like iphone. I love the ipod though.