{"id":263439,"date":"2021-05-31T19:34:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-31T16:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/why-you-shouldnt-spend-more-than-500-on-your-next-phone-review-geek\/"},"modified":"2021-05-31T19:34:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T16:34:00","slug":"why-you-shouldnt-spend-more-than-500-on-your-next-phone-review-geek","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-you-shouldnt-spend-more-than-500-on-your-next-phone-review-geek\/","title":{"rendered":"#Why You Shouldn\u2019t Spend More Than $500 on Your Next Phone \u2013 Review Geek"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a50de57bcf3e\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a50de57bcf3e\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-you-shouldnt-spend-more-than-500-on-your-next-phone-review-geek\/#Affordable_Phones_Have_Everything_You_Need%E2%80%A6\" >Affordable Phones Have Everything You Need\u2026<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-you-shouldnt-spend-more-than-500-on-your-next-phone-review-geek\/#%E2%80%A6And_Even_Some_of_What_You_Want\" >\u2026And Even Some of What You Want<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-you-shouldnt-spend-more-than-500-on-your-next-phone-review-geek\/#Modern_Midrangers_Are_the_Best_Bang_for_Your_Buck\" >Modern Midrangers Are the Best Bang for Your Buck<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p><strong>&#8220;#Why You Shouldn\u2019t Spend More Than $500 on Your Next Phone \u2013 Review Geek&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content-area\">\n<figure style=\"width: 1920px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage wp-image-52636 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.reviewgeek.com\/p\/uploads\/2020\/09\/22639eff.jpg?width=1200\" alt=\"The Pixel 4a with the display on, lying on a white background\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" data-credittext=\"Cam\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Pixel 4a might be the best Pixel ever. And it\u2019s $350. <span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\">Cam<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Flagship phones are great. They push innovation forward with (mostly) thoughtful improvements. But we\u2019re at a point where even budget and midrange smartphones are <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>ly impressive now, mostly thanks to trickle-down <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> from their flagship brethren. The affordable phones of today are the flagships of yesterday.<\/p>\n<p>High-end phones are how we end up with features that drive the industry forward. Things like <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">App<\/a>le\/Google Pay, fingerprint sensors, or computational photography that can make even subpar photos look incredible. These tools started out on the flagship phones of their day, but are now pretty much prolific on the majority of phones\u2014even in the budget price range.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, but sometimes you pay extra for \u201cinnovation\u201d that you don\u2019t actually need\u2014like the Soli radar chip in the Pixel 4 and 4 XL, for example. Sure, it\u2019s innovative and forward-thinking, but that doesn\u2019t im<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>tely make it <i>useful<\/i>. Almost every Pixel 4 owner I know disabled Motion Sense (the features that use the radar chip) almost immediately, and haven\u2019t turned them back on. It\u2019s a novelty.<\/p>\n<p>But innovation works through experimentation. That\u2019s why I\u2019m still glad Google put the radar in a phone and tested the waters. If the rumors are true, the Pixel 5 won\u2019t have this. Maybe because it was realized that it\u2019s a novelty, and there wasn\u2019t a lot more that could be done with it. Maybe it\u2019s to get the price down. Who knows. Either way, it\u2019s proof that trying new things is a gamble.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 1888px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-52644 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.reviewgeek.com\/p\/uploads\/2020\/09\/607bf350.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1888\" height=\"839\" data-credittext=\"Google\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Motion Sense on the Pixel 4 was an interesting innovation but a novelty nonetheless. <span class=\"imagecredit\">Google<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But I digress. The things that become mainstays and eventually make their way into more affordable smartphones become the foundations that we all rely on. And when you can get that sort of reliability from a phone that costs half that of a flagship, why pay more?<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Affordable_Phones_Have_Everything_You_Need%E2%80%A6\"><\/span>Affordable Phones Have Everything You Need\u2026<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cNeed\u201d is a funny word when talking about smartphones, especially when thinking about it in the most basic sense. By its very definition, \u201cneed\u201d means to \u201crequire because it\u2019s essential.\u201d So, we\u2019re only going to talk about things that most would consider\u00a0<em>essential\u00a0<\/em>in a\u00a0<em>smartphone<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>What defines \u201cessential\u201d in a smartphone, anyway? Let\u2019s think about a few key ingredients:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>A great display.\u00a0<\/strong>This is the first thing you see, and the very thing you\u2019ll look at the most when you see your phone. It has to have a good display. This is non-negotiable.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A form of biometric security.<\/strong> Gone are the days of needing to type passwords or PINs to log into your phone or other apps. A fingerprint sensor or other form of biometric login is a must.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A good camera.\u00a0<\/strong>They say the best camera is the one you have on you, and your smartphone pretty much fits that bill all the time. A good camera is now expected on all phones at every price point.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Usable performance.\u00a0<\/strong>This means different things to different people, but at a minimum, you shouldn\u2019t want to throw your phone across a room because it\u2019s taking too long to load your favorite app.<\/li>\n<li><b>Reliable and timely updates.<\/b> An outdated phone is an insecure phone, period.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Let\u2019s look at the iPhone SE and Pixel 4a for excellent examples. These are incredible phones for the respective operating systems.<\/p>\n<p>The iPhone SE uses a slightly older design\u2014a tried-and-true form factor that Apple uses for <i>years<\/i>. It skips newer (and more expensive) features, like Face ID, for the sometimes-preferred Touch ID fingerprint sensor in the home button. That was innovative during its time, and now it\u2019s a tested feature that has made its way to the most affordable iPhone ever.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 1920px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-52637 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.reviewgeek.com\/p\/uploads\/2020\/09\/753a19f3.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" data-credittext=\"Apple\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The iPhone SE champions the return of Touch ID, a tried-and-true form of biometric security. <span class=\"imagecredit\">Apple<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But it ticks all of the boxes above. It has a good display (even if it is on the smaller size respective of today\u2019s popular phones), the aforementioned inclusion of touch ID, a very good camera, the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/apple-a13-bionic-chip-iphone\/\">fastest smartphone processor on the market today<\/a>, and regular updates from Apple.\u00a0Boom\u2014all the needs, covered.<\/p>\n<p>The same can be said for the Pixel 4a. Google took the most useful features from the Pixel lineup and baked them into a $350 smartphone. It has an excellent OLED display,\u00a0Pixel Imprint (the fingerprint sensor), arguably the best camera on the market thanks to Google\u2019s magic sauce, snappy performance, and monthly security updates from Google. All that in a $350 package. What else do you need?<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 1920px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-52638 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.reviewgeek.com\/p\/uploads\/2020\/09\/69595348.png\" alt=\"The Pixel 4a showing astrophography mode\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" data-credittext=\"Google\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Pixel 4a features astrophography mode. It can literally capture the stars. <span class=\"imagecredit\">Google<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%A6And_Even_Some_of_What_You_Want\"><\/span>\u2026And Even Some of What You Want<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Just because a phone falls within a certain budget or is considered \u201cmidrange\u201d doesn\u2019t mean it skimps on some excellent quality-of-life features. The SE is a great example here because it features wireless charging <i>and<\/i> an IP rating, which really sets it apart from the pack. I will be absolutely shocked if Google doesn\u2019t follow suit with at least one of those features for next year\u2019s assumed Pixel 5a. Probably both.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 1920px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-52640 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.reviewgeek.com\/p\/uploads\/2020\/09\/b7626f89.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" data-credittext=\"Apple\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The iPhone SE has an IP67 rating. <span class=\"imagecredit\">Apple<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Just a few short years ago, these were both features that were reserved exclusively for flagship smartphones. But Apple put them into a device that starts at just $399.<\/p>\n<p>The Pixel 4a also has something the iPhone SE doesn\u2019t, however: a headphone jack. You won\u2019t find this on many flagship phones today, so dropping to the budget\/midrange category actually gets you something that\u2019s missing on more expensive phones. The headphone jack is a big deal to a lot of people!<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Modern_Midrangers_Are_the_Best_Bang_for_Your_Buck\"><\/span>Modern Midrangers Are the Best Bang for Your Buck<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 1920px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-52641 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.reviewgeek.com\/p\/uploads\/2020\/09\/d681c26f.jpg\" alt=\"A closeup of the Google logo on the back of the Pixel 4a\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" data-credittext=\"Cam\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"imagecredit\">Cam<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>When it comes time to upgrade your smartphone, don\u2019t disregard the midrange\u2014this whole category has come a long way in 12-18 months. The Pixel \u201ca\u201d line and iPhone SE have changed how we think of affordable smartphones. Right now, the midrange might actually be the fastest-moving smartphone segment.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, with all that money you saved, you can get yourself a smartwatch and some killer earbuds.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>\nsetTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n  fbq('init', '1137093656460433');\n  fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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And it\u2019s $350. Cam Flagship phones are great. They push innovation forward with (mostly) thoughtful improvements. But we\u2019re at a point where even budget and midrange smartphones are generally impressive now, mostly&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":263440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.reviewgeek.com\/p\/uploads\/2020\/09\/22639eff.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-263439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=263439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/263439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/263440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=263439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=263439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=263439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}