New toy - Honor Magic v2 phone

[Newbie777]

9 hours ago, Bluemarlin said:

I think there's also a case of the latest technology that nobody has yet released.

In some case what we get isn't just what's possible, but what's sufficient for us to be persuaded to upgrade, with manufacturers releasing previously developed upgrades as and when they have to.

I agree, the main thing is whether you want it now and pay over the odds or wait a bit and the technology will all be the same but you will save the excess money

[Newbie777]

8 hours ago, Mr Vlad said:

There's a saying "you get what you pay for". Personally speaking I find anyone spending over a grand for a mobile phone either needs their head testing or have more money than sence or are fashion conscious. 

Chinese phones. OMG have you seen what you can get on Temu? Blatant copies of Samsung phones.

These modern phones have more computing power that what they had to send the first rocket into space. 

My current phone is the Samsung S22 Ultra. Did I buy new or is it on a plan? No. I bought reconditioned. To be honest I'm disappointed with it. My previous phone the superb Samsung S10 Lite, bought reconditioned years ago, developed a niggle which bugged the sheitte out of me. Later found out I'd messed up the ZoneAlarm Internet security settings. But what got me, I was under the impression the S22 Ultra was a Bigger phone. Not ruddy likely. They're the same size. However the camera wires the floor with the S10 Lite. 

I use to be a Nokia man till one day I learned that my phone dialled 999 50 times whilst in my pocket. Straight to Samsung after that and I've had them ever since and that's over 30 years. 

As for longevity of phones. The phone before the S10 Lite was the Note 4. Got that very very soon after they came out, Gid knows when that was, but just last month I stripped it to pieces and off the the phone palace in the sky. That phone just became so slow it was painful. It was my backup phone. 

As for how a phone feels in one's hand. All phones feel plastic. However I've been using Spigen phone cases and the phone feels like a piece of quality. Nevermind titanium this and diamond encrusted that. That's just posh nonsense. 

Phones are one of those things that are now used for everything, paying for goods, camera, calls, Bluetooth etc etc.

I am happy to pay over £1k for something that I will use heavily throughout the day, but is  light and practical, very similar to my lightweight laptop, the Asus Zenbook flip.

I paid over £6k for a Vertu phone with Concierge that helped with my travel etc.The phonewas made from titanium, had a sapphire crystal screen and calf leather back, they went bust in 2016? 

Also  every year I lose £2k on my car,even if I do not drive it, so there are different ways of looking at wasting money.

Also new technology has a small time window and then it becomes common and people buy it for a lot cheaper.

Nowadays apple and Samsung, are only making minor changes so there is no point replacing a 2 year old phone.

Two things Honor have not got right is there confusing marketing in terms of discounts, they are all over the show and their Customer Services, oh dear!!

But I am genuinely surprised by the Honor phone, it is Chinese technology that has not been copied!!

A friend of mine, really clever guy went to China to work for Huawei. He left after 6 months to work for HP in America. The reason he said they are only good at copying and not nothing new!

 

[ALAW]

35 minutes ago, Newbie777 said:

Phones are one of those things that are now used for everything, paying for goods, camera, calls, bluetooth etc etc.

I am happy to pay over £1k for something that I will use heavily throughout the day, but is  light and practical, very similar to my lightweight laptop, the Asus Zenbook flip.

I paid over £6k for a Vertu phone with Concierge that helped with my travel etc.The phonewas made from titanium, had a sapphire crystal screen and calf leather back, they went bust in 2016? 

Also  every year I lose £2k on my car,even if I do not drive it, so there are different ways of looking at wasting money.

Also new technology has a small time window and then it becomes common and people buy it for a lot cheaper.

Nowadays Apple and Samsung, are only making minor changes so there is no point replacing a 2 year old phone.

Two things Honor have not got right is there confusing marketing in terms of discounts, they are all over the show and their Customer Services, oh dear!!

But I am genuinely surprised by the Honor phone, it is Chinese technology that has not been copied!!

A friend of mine, really clever guy went to China to work for Huawei. He left after 6 months to work for HP in America. The reason he said they are only good at copying and not nothing new!

 

Your spot on Niaz in respect of technology

[Mr Vlad]

Hi Niaz. Are you sure Vertu went bust? I looked them up after seeing something on TV about how they're made. They're still in existence according to Google. They're a French based firm.

I fully understand that some folk want to and do fork out a shed load of money for items like mobile phones. I'm just not one of them.

There was a time I had more money than I knew what to do with. I spent it on cars and motorbikes. Not on top of the range 'jewellery' (I'll use that word for phones). Where I fekked up on was not buying a house back then. 

[Bluemarlin]

17 hours ago, Linas.P said:

On iTunes maybe, but to use App Store you must link credit card to it, so basically it is ID check as well... because you can't be just Mr. Joe Blobs with e-mail ihatecrapple@gmail.com. 

You can indeed create alt-account with all made-up information, log-into App Store, but you can't download any apps, because as soon as you try to do it it will ask for payment method (even for free apps), and obviously once you add credit (or debit card) they know EXACTLY who you are.

I don't have a credit card linked to my apple ID and I can download free apps on my Iphone.

Can't remember how I did it. I think it was either by selecting "none" when it asked for a payment method, or by adding a voucher to my iTunes account on my PC, and then setting my Itunes balance as the payment method. Something like that, anyway.

[Newbie777]

3 hours ago, Mr Vlad said:

Hi Niaz. Are you sure Vertu went bust? I looked them up after seeing something on TV about how they're made. They're still in existence according to Google. They're a French based firm.

I fully understand that some folk want to and do fork out a shed load of money for items like mobile phones. I'm just not one of them.

There was a time I had more money than I knew what to do with. I spent it on cars and motorbikes. Not on top of the range 'jewellery' (I'll use that word for phones). Where I fekked up on was not buying a house back then. 

The Vertu I bought was hand made and the name of who made it is located in the SIM tray. Vertu went bust and they have now opened up again in Honk Kong, but they are not the same quality phones and not a proper concierge , they focus on technology and not pure quality like my Vertu phone.

I agree it is about making sensible decisions which you can afford and be comfortable with.

Also if it buying a new phone gives you some happiness do it, if it helps you to communicate better, do it, if it helps you with your lifestyle, do it.

The reality is most things that we think are essential in life are not, it is a very materialist world!

 

[Linas.P]

4 hours ago, Bluemarlin said:

I don't have a credit card linked to my apple ID and I can download free apps on my iPhone.

Can't remember how I did it. I think it was either by selecting "none" when it asked for a payment method, or by adding a voucher to my iTunes account on my PC, and then setting my Itunes balance as the payment method. Something like that, anyway.

Interesting - I may try to do it next time. Previous when I tried I could not find the way to avoid it. 

[lexusbro]

On 2/8/2024 at 2:05 AM, Linas.P said:

Interesting - I may try to do it next time. Previous when I tried I could not find the way to avoid it. 

The option to select "None" is no longer available. However, it may be possible to add a credit card or a PayPal and then remove it after downloading the free app. I think this is possible as long as you don't have a subscription or an unpaid balance. The procedure for removing a payment method is here https://support.apple.com/en-us/118291

[Linas.P]

28 minutes ago, lexusbro said:

The option to select "None" is no longer available. However, it may be possible to add a credit card or a PayPal and then remove it after downloading the free app. I think this is possible as long as you don't have a subscription or an unpaid balance. The procedure for removing a payment method is here https://support.apple.com/en-us/118291

Yeah, but the point is - crapple wants to know all your details and control you.

Good that EU now forced them to have different apps... and ironically that is likely to make apple devices better and I may even consider them at some point. 

Surely, it will be less profitable, but it is likely to make device better and in some weird way apple may end-up selling even more devices... although will make them less unique, harder to differentiate from android... and that is more competition. Consumer wins, that is why competition authority exists. 

[GMB]

How sad. When I read all this stuff about £1000+ phones . I am not even going to bother to explain. You don't need one. A £200 phone will do everything you need, Huawei or not. Final word - think about what if it gets lost or stolen with all your bank details and even passwords etc stored on it. I know there is security for that but it is not impregnable.

[McRattlehead]

On the other side of the scale i have a Nokia C 135 it cost me £16 4 years ago it is not smart.It replaced my 15 year old Motorola when the keypad wore out.

[Linas.P]

On 7/13/2024 at 9:45 PM, GMB said:

How sad. When I read all this stuff about £1000+ phones . I am not even going to bother to explain. You don't need one. A £200 phone will do everything you need, Huawei or not. Final word - think about what if it gets lost or stolen with all your bank details and even passwords etc stored on it. I know there is security for that but it is not impregnable.

Kind of...

Except you are not buying "a phone" for £1000. You are buying a sat-nav, camera, music player, dvd player, you can even use it as mobile office PC (something like Samsung Dex). Also it is fashion accessory... and if I can buy watch for £10,000, then why not phone for £1,000... (except watch does not depreciate as much, if at all). 

Can £200 phone do all that as well... maybe... maybe not £200 worth, maybe £450 worth. Can it doe it as well? Probably not, I am quite certain that flagship phone cameras are measurably better that phone for £200. Also one can say "yes but proper camera is better than a phone"... and my answer is - no it is not, the best camera is the one you have with you to take the picture. I will always have my phone on me, I will rarely have full frame DSLR with telephoto lens on me. Sure - I am not suggesting to use smartphone if you are wedding photographer, but for normal person going on holidays... I would take my phone every time over camera. 

So yes - £1000 for phone is a bit much, one has to draw the line of what features and quality they want... and that line for me nowadays is ~£700-£900. And ideally I keep the phone for ~4-5 years... hence I am still on dated Galaxy S22. Could brand new mid-range for £450 match it? Sure... but if I go with mid-range phones then I would have to replace them every 2 years... so after 5 years it works out cheaper to just have flagship. Further as far as environment is concerned, that generates less waste - same amount of materials and energy goes into £1000 phone that last 5 years and £200 that last 1 year.

Crapple is another matter altogether, their phones are decent, they are just not worth the premium, there is nothing that Iphone for £1500 doe better than Samsung for £700-£900. I get guaranteed 5 years of updates, 8 years of security updates, Battery that easily lasts 3 years+ (although by the end of 5th year it becomes tired, but same with iphones). They are not better quality, they are not made from more premium materials, they don't have better cameras, they are not faster... they are just more expensive. Fashion, branding etc. that is the only difference.