Is upgrading as exciting as it once was?

[Chris Sandiford]

We all like an upgrade. But I remember once (any time over the last 15 years) when upgrading was genuinely exciting because of the new features a phone brought.

In my signature you can see the diverse range of phones I have had. OK, they're all Nokia as I'm a self-confessed fan but that aside, any phone from any manufacturer bought within that time would have brought significant excitement. We weren't about the O/S in those days, we were about what your phone could do. Each phone was not only slightly different in terms of its icons and menu system but more often than not in the year you'd had your current handset, a major milestone had been passed of which you could take advantage..

First phone with a music player..
First phone with a camera..
First phone with a front camera..
First phone with Bluetooth..
First phone with A2DP..
First phone with email..
First phone with WiFi..
First phone with which you could connect a GPS module and use TomTom sat nav..

All those firsts we now take for granted but at the time they brought with them a sense of advancement. But today it's a different story.

Next month I can upgrade my contract phone - I have a Lumia 820 and will probably get a 925 or a 1520 but at the end of the day, I'm just getting a bigger screen and a better camera.. They even look the same. The O/S remains the same and what updates come on one WP phone will update another.

I'll get my new phone, do a restore and I'll have the same screen looking at me as I did the day before.. Nothing new to learn..

Of course it's still a buzz to get a new phone but excitement and advancement seems to have plateaued and I'm just not AS excited as I used to be!

 

[Si Haworth]

You're just getting old :winktongue:

 

[Ma Rio]

I do feel the same. First phone Nokia 3200 - had a camera maannnn, 2nd - 6120c was a smartphone and had a comepletely new expirience, thrid - N8: best camera phone at that moment and a few years later in the whole world!

I was so excited for gettin' each one. And today, well, things changed. They don't make diverse phones, no, they all look the same, work with the same OS, and generally have the same features.
That's just how it goes. But who knows, something new and exciting could happen tomorow!

 

[agd87]

I agree. I love getting a new phone but unless it's another OS it really isn't that different.

the iPhone has introduced some new features / additions with its new phones that can't be added on older models e.g siri, sat nav in its maps.

 

[Chris Sandiford]

You're just getting old :winktongue:

Lol I factored that in but I still get excited by any new tech I get from laptops to NAS drives to car stereos so the feeling hasn't diminished any.. Just in phone land.
As others have said it will probably change, we're just resting before phones come that control our ovens and style our hair with radio waves.

 

[azcruz]

<snip>First phone with a music player..
First phone with a camera..
First phone with a front camera..
First phone with Bluetooth..
First phone with A2DP..
First phone with email..
First phone with WiFi..
First phone with which you could connect a GPS module and use TomTom sat nav..
<snip>

Experienced the excitement during Ericsson/Sony Ericsson days...

 

[Si Haworth]

I think we've definitely reached saturation point in terms of phone functions for the time being. Most basic smart phones are capable of doing tasks that higher end smart phones can, just slower or of a lesser quality. In fact, I'm struggling to think of one recent innovation to a phone that I've genuinely thought wow.

 

[Cryio]

OIS comes to mind in recent times

 

[DalekSnare]

Upgrading is exciting when you're getting something significant and new. Faster and more space is better, but other features like wireless charging are game-changing. The 920 was super exciting. The 1020 was pretty cool. The 1520, even the international non-ruined one, is just big. It's faster, and the screen is nice, but it's nothing to make me drool. Upgrading to the 920 was exciting both for its new features (OIS and wireless charging are amazing) and because I was finally using hardware that didn't feel like a downgrade from the phone I got in 2010. WP7 was so great that I went from a retina app-filled iPhone 4 to a Samsung focus happily, but I did miss the great hardware. And then I got the much improved Lumia 900, but that still had a blurry screen. But now that I have the 920, I feel no need to upgrade in the foreseeable future. I'd be tempted if there was a non-PenTile 1020 with Qi built in though. That camera is amazing, but to me it's not worth the loss of screen clarity (significant to my eyes) or wireless charging.

One reason upgrading is less exciting is that most of the expected features we are looking forward to are software, not hardware.

 

[liquidkoshman]

You are right that 1020 doesn't feel like 100% upgrade over 920. Before I got the 920 I never thought of seriously using a cell phone camera for me it was just a nice extra on the 920. But I found out that the shots from it are actually quite good even though I'm spoilt by using a DSLR almost exclusively.
Now that I accepted that a cell phone camera doesn't necessarilly need to be garbage I am tempted by the 1020, but I don't like that while while you get a better camera you lose a few things at the same time (Qi, IPS > AMOLED for me etc). Will probably wait for a true 920 follow up...

 

[Chris Sandiford]

One reason upgrading is less exciting is that most of the expected features we are looking forward to are software, not hardware.

I almost made that point originally - it's all in the apps and firmware now.

I appreciate NFC and Wireless charging were innovative but they're not something I've ever used. I almost (almost..) want to get an Android device just so I can have the buzz of learning a new OS, like in the old days. But then I realise how foolish that would be.. :smile: