If you’re like me, you tend to buy a new phone every 24 months. Not because you can’t afford a new phone every year, but because it’s far easier to appreciate the advances made in mobile technology given more time. Someone who went from a Galaxy S III to a Galaxy S4 likely didn’t have their minds as throughly blown as someone who went from a Galaxy S II to a GS4. So with that thought, here’s why I think you should keep your wallet shut for the next 30 days.
In the next four weeks, you’re going to see just about every handset maker that matters either unveil their next flagship device or put it on a store shelf. Starting with the biggest of them all, there’s Samsung. The Note III is going to be ridiculous, any phone with a 5.7 inch 1080p screen and a Snapdragon 800 is, but what people seem to be forgetting is that the Galaxy S4 is going to be refreshed as well.
I’m not saying the Galaxy S5 will coming out soon, but a GS4 with a Snapdragon 800 has not only been confirmed to exist by All About Samsung, the thing is already on sale in South Korea. Now we just need to wait for it to hit Europe and other markets.
Next up is Apple, and I know what you’re thinking, why the hell am I talking about Apple on an Android site? Let me remind you, I was an iPhone owner for a little over two years. That and I understand many of you use Android because you simply can’t afford a flagship handset. The iPhone 5S isn’t going to solve that problem, but the “budget” iPhone 5C will get a lot of people looking at spending $400 on a Samsung Galaxy to change their minds.
The significance of a midrange iPhone can not be ignored.
Then there’s LG. Their new high end phone, the G2, is already on sale in Korea, but it’ll be hitting the rest of the world in mere weeks. Am I going to buy one? Not until the company can prove that they care about software updates. That being said, the journalists I’ve spoken to who have had a chance to play with the phone say it’s the first LG handset that they can honestly say is as good as a Samsung phone. The G2’s only downfall, in their eyes, is that LG isn’t seen as having a premium brand.
Let’s also not forget about HTC. Rumor has it that they’re going to announce a 5.9 inch version of the One. You might not want a phone that big, and I fully understand and respect that opinion, but you have to understand that once the One Max comes out, HTC is likely going to discount the price of the original One. This isn’t an assumption, this is well known. The One Max will be their new flagship, so the “old” One needs to be priced accordingly.
As for Motorola and the Moto X, there are strong rumors saying Google is going to sell it directly to consumers unlocked. It’s not going to be “stock” Android. It’s just going to be the Moto X for Verizon and AT&T, minus the bullshit that Verizon and AT&T preinstall. Whether or not this phone ends up being sold in markets outside the US remains to be seen.
Am I leaving anyone out?
Oh right, Sony. The “Honami”, or the Xperia i1, looks absolutely perfect on paper. It should have a 5 inch 1080p screen, Snapdragon 800, 20 megapixel camera, and a giant (relative to its size) 3,000 mAh battery. Can Sony screw things up? Sadly, they usually do, but recently they’ve been making fewer and fewer mistakes. In my eyes, they’re the only company who can realistically displace Samsung as being the most coveted (Android) smartphone brand, but it’s going to take some work.
So yeah, unless you just threw your phone against a wall and it’s absolutely shattered, there’s no reason for you to buy a phone right now. None. Even if you don’t want a flagship phone, the second a new flagship is announced, the “older” flagships get cheaper. Instantly.
Can you keep your wallet shut?
