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How are budget phones so much cheaper than flagships?

The Letter C

The Letter C

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Aug 1, 2018
234
We just got my father a new phone (finally, his LG G whatever has needed to go for a while). We got him a Moto X4 on Amazon, it was $180 for a 64gb model with a huge screen, finger print reader, usb type C Etc. I look at my phone and compare it since I just set it up for him and it feels so similar. It's more fluid, really nice bright screen and even has waterproofing.

So why is this phone $180 and my phone $500 something? Really doesn't make sense.
 
DBT85

DBT85

Resident Thread Mechanic
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Oct 26, 2017
16,252
Because they are actually all quite cheap but we rubes will pay up extra dime for the high end sets and the manufacturers all know it.
 
fick

fick

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Nov 24, 2018
2,261
Cheaper materials, older tech, and the markup on flagship phones.
 
Inugami

Inugami

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Oct 25, 2017
14,995
Flagships pay for research for more advanced flagships. It's like asking why top tier graphic cards are so much more expensive than mainstream ones.
 
Lace

Lace

Member
Oct 27, 2017
902
Cell phones get prohibitively more expensive the newer they are. Electronics depreciate in value at an exorbitant rate just due to technological advancement. You pay out the nose for the 5% features that are missing from budget phones.
 
statham

statham

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Oct 25, 2017
2,449
FloRida
My LG5 was cheaper then the price of the replacement plan. I had to explain that to the salesperson trying to sell me the plan.
 
nsilvias

nsilvias

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Oct 25, 2017
23,714
less marketing, older hardware, cut corners on things like the screen, sensors, camera, etc.

My moto e4 is the best 40 dollars ive spent on a phone. i bought a 300 dollar smartphone in highschool after retiring my blackberry and i regretted it ever since. never paying that much for a phone ever again.
 
BuBu Jenkins

BuBu Jenkins

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,063
Just recently bought a Nokia 6 .1 this past Black Friday for only 180 and I'm completely satisfied with it. No way in hell would I ever spend more than $200 on a smartphone.
 
CrocM

CrocM

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Oct 25, 2017
9,587
$180? I don't know why you'd even pay that much for a phone these days.

Got this phone off Amazon and it works fine.
 
808s & Villainy

808s & Villainy

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
42,700
It's in the markup. Yeah flagship phones have better components so their BOM is higher, but their markup is ALSO much higher so both those things together lead to them being significantly more expensive
 

Deleted member 39374

Banned
Feb 1, 2018
5,083
Open source software (Android), Cheaper materials, more lax QC and engineering tolerances, lower spec wholesale off the shelf SoC/components (not custom or in-house), lower profit margin, and less marketing and design time/talent/investment.

There's also deals with carriers and retail partners (Amazon) where they'll load up the phone with adware to subsidize the cost (BLU?)

Makes sense for emerging markets and people who just want something cheap and simple to check email and keep up with friends.

The prosumer, businessperson, or social media influencer will obviously require something higher end like iPhone or Galaxy for what they do.
 
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tintskuecha

tintskuecha

Member
Oct 25, 2017
641
I'm not sure. I have a Moto G5 Plus, got it for $200, and it does everything I'd want a smartphone to do. It's quick too, no hiccups.

Certainly doesn't look as nice as an S9 or an X, but that's ok with me.
 
OP
OP
The Letter C

The Letter C

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Aug 1, 2018
234
ZOONAMI said:
The X4 is really more of a mid-range that has just hit bargain prices. You probably wouldn't notice any performance differences between the 4gb ram x4 and s8+ other than the s8+ camera being a bit better.
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that is the only thing I noticed was the camera was kind of slow but not that bad.
 
Tetrinski

Tetrinski

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May 17, 2018
2,915
OP got the question wrong. You shouldn´t wonder why these phones are so cheap but rather why the others are so expensive.
 

Deleted member 36086

User requested account closure
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Dec 13, 2017
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The Letter C said:
We just got my father a new phone (finally, his LG G whatever has needed to go for a while). We got him a Moto X4 on Amazon, it was $180 for a 64gb model with a huge screen, finger print reader, usb type C Etc. I look at my phone and compare it since I just set it up for him and it feels so similar. It's more fluid, really nice bright screen and even has waterproofing.

So why is this phone $180 and my phone $500 something? Really doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Reasons why Moto X4 is cheap:

1080p LCD
3 GB RAM
Dual cam 12/8 MP no OIS
Snapdragon 630
 
cDNA

cDNA

Member
Oct 25, 2017
916
X4 is nice phone but drove crazy by disconnecting randomly from the wifi, it seems a bug for many users and Lenovo never fixed it.
 
Rodney McKay

Rodney McKay

Member
Oct 26, 2017
12,186
Yeah, I got some major buyer's remorse from my iPhone XS Max.
It was my first iPhone ever so I figured it would be worth it, but the longer I've had it the less it has felt worth it.

All the fancy new features i wanted I've barely used (HDR, the portrait mode blur, etc), cameras have been fine to me for years now, the big screen+glass+metal feels nice buts it's a bit too heavy for my liking, and I don't like Face ID as much as a fingerprint sensor.
And as nice as waterproofing is for peace of mind, I've gotten literally one phone wet in over the last decade of owning phones, so it's hardly a requirement for me.

I actually just bought a cheap iPhone SE that went up for sale again the other day and I'm going to try it out and if I can adjust to the size (I liked playing around with my fiance's old iPhone 5, so I think I can adjust). If I like it well enough I'll sell my XS Max and save myself the $30/month fee for the next 2 years.
 
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StrangerDanger

StrangerDanger

Member
Jul 18, 2018
5,853
The Letter C said:
It said on the box "Qualcomm 8th gen CPU" did he get a stronger model or something?
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8th gen CPU is just branding, it doesn't mean their 8xx line of processors. Hell if you look at the list of Qualcomm Snapdragon chips, the 6xx cpu is their 8th one..


Would you be able to upload sample camera pictures from the Moto x4? I'm looking at trying to buy a phone under $200 and the Honor 7x which was my first option seems to be over $220 now :(
Anyone else have recommendations?
 
OP
OP
The Letter C

The Letter C

Alt account
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Aug 1, 2018
234
StrangerDanger said:
8th gen CPU is just branding, it doesn't mean their 8xx line of processors. Hell if you look at the list of Qualcomm Snapdragon chips, the 6xx cpu is their 8th one..


Would you be able to upload sample camera pictures from the Moto x4? I'm looking at trying to buy a phone under $200 and the Honor 7x which was my first option seems to be over $220 now :(
Anyone else have recommendations?
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sure, give me a moment to take a photo with it and one with the note for comparison
 
OP
OP
The Letter C

The Letter C

Alt account
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Aug 1, 2018
234
StrangerDanger said:
Would you be able to upload sample camera pictures from the Moto x4? I'm looking at trying to buy a phone under $200 and the Honor 7x which was my first option seems to be over $220 now :(
Anyone else have recommendations?
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I am not the best photographer and I have bad eyesight so I have colored lighting that seems to help with eyestrain. So apologies in advance. These are with normal photo app just clicking and shooting.

Samsung:
CE10Kg4.jpg
0072ReB.jpg
Z4gTN6b.jpg
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Moto:

LqeWnQa.jpg
T2xDc1J.jpg
HI2ojBW.jpg
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Three random things on my desk
 
Keyouta

Keyouta

The Wise Ones
Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,193
Canada
OnePlus 6 is a tad more than budget now, but it's still significantly less expensive than other flagships. Love it so far. It cuts corners in places I don't really have a problem with.
 
zulux21

zulux21

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,345
CrocM said:
$180? I don't know why you'd even pay that much for a phone these days.

Got this phone off Amazon and it works fine.
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As someone who currently still uses a BLU phone, but will never buy one again I feel like I should pass on this to you
https://www.theverge.com/2017/7/31/16072786/amazon-blu-suspended-android-spyware-user-data-theft

They are at best a shady company, only reason I don't care and haven't already changed phones is because in general I refuse to put any sensitive information on my phone. It's starting to show it's age some now though (battery life is far worse than it used to be for example) so I will likely be replacing it sometime in the next year.

As for the OP, it's because the budget phones tend to be made of older tech, and don't include a lot of the bells and whistles. If having the bells and whistles is important to you as well as having a phone that runs a bit better than the high priced flagships are what you need. If you don't care and aren't trying to run the latest mobile games trying to be console games then a budget phone is the far better buy, especially with technology not improving as fast as it used to.
 
shinken

shinken

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,917
The Letter C said:
I am not the best photographer and I have bad eyesight so I have colored lighting that seems to help with eyestrain. So apologies in advance. These are with normal photo app just clicking and shooting.

Samsung:


Moto:



Three random things on my desk
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Why are the Moto photo's so tiny? You can't compare picture quality like that.
 
Cipherr

Cipherr

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,422
The Letter C said:
We just got my father a new phone (finally, his LG G whatever has needed to go for a while). We got him a Moto X4 on Amazon, it was $180 for a 64gb model with a huge screen, finger print reader, usb type C Etc. I look at my phone and compare it since I just set it up for him and it feels so similar. It's more fluid, really nice bright screen and even has waterproofing.

So why is this phone $180 and my phone $500 something? Really doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...


Because the manufacturers are making a killing on these things, and/or the bar for "good enough" is rising extremely quickly as the tech matures. Im not sure which one to be honest, but Im leaning towards the latter due to how I feel about my latest phone.

Keyouta said:
OnePlus 6 is a tad more than budget now, but it's still significantly less expensive than other flagships. Love it so far. It cuts corners in places I don't really have a problem with.
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Same. I genuinely love this phone more than any of the Pixels and Nexus phones I've owned, and that's saying a lot. I've been a huge Nexus/Pixel fanboy since the Nexus S back on Gingerbread. The value and performance is ridiculous.
 
shinken

shinken

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,917
The Letter C said:
didn't see anything in the camera settings. Here's another:

Samsung


Moto:
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Now they are both 12MP :)
The Samsung ones are much better, lighting and colour wise. But for that price, it better be. For your father, the Moto, was was the right choice. My father uses a cheaper Samsung phone. He only uses it for calling and whatsapp and barely any other apps.

How do you even open the pics in a new tab on ResetEra? It just opens them in the same tab as the thread itself...................can't compare them side by side :(
 
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