I review phones for a living and I’d never buy an Android flagship at full price

The reply to that, as you may guess, may be very subjective and depends upon your wants and what it’s best to privilege. I’d all the time inform you to spend a bit extra for a greater replace promise and resale worth, whereas a few of my colleagues suppose you may’t go unsuitable with good pictures efficiency, and others worth water resistance and sturdiness rankings or processing energy.

However there’s one reality all of us agreed on: You must actually by no means, ever purchase an Android flagship at full worth. It’s a waste of cash.

I’ve been protecting the smartphone trade since 2008, and I’ve seen it change a lot over this time. One actuality has been fixed, although, all through all of the years: Telephone costs drop fairly rapidly, particularly Android telephones. (This isn’t essentially true for iPhones for some mystical cause.) An Android telephone that launches at present for $1000 will doubtless be discounted to $800 or $700 in a few months. There’s no reality extra dependable than this within the Android ecosystem. And even in the event you nonetheless see it at full worth on the producer’s web site, examine round on Amazon, Greatest Purchase, and different native retailers and carriers; it’s sure to be discounted someplace.

One other apply has turn into fairly prevalent, too: pre-order reductions and bonuses. Nearly each high-end Android telephone now comes with a pre-order provide that shaves off among the worth, and/or provides you some free equipment, and/or provides a trade-in bonus in the event you ship your older smartphone. This makes shopping for a sizzling telephone generally way more advantageous on day one as a substitute of ready a couple of months for a reduction.

So, in the event you’re trying to purchase a brand new Android smartphone, right here is my private recommendation:

• Should you’re a tech fanatic and you already know precisely what you need, get the pre-order deal instantly as soon as the telephone is introduced. You’ll doubtless get a number of respectable reductions and bonuses that can add up.
• If you wish to improve however you’re undecided between a couple of recently-released smartphones, take your time. Regulate the costs of your favourite telephones and solely seize one when the value is not less than 20-30% lower than the unique sticker worth. You must by no means pay extra, particularly a couple of months after launch.
• In case your present smartphone goes kaput and also you want a brand new one instantly, begin by checking the value of your excellent substitute telephone. If it’s at full worth in every single place (or solely marginally discounted), it is likely to be wiser to grab a budget smartphone on a deal as a brief answer and wait to your most popular telephone’s successor to purchase it through the pre-order interval.

I notice that the final recommendation is a bit counter-productive, nevertheless it’s what I might personally do. If my very own Pixel 8 Professional or my husband’s Pixel 7 Professional simply stopped working proper now (and suppose they’re out of guarantee), I’d search for a closely discounted and even second-hand Pixel 8a, 7a, or 8 and nab one. Then, I’d pre-order the Pixel 9 Pro each time it’s introduced and both commerce in my short-term finances Pixel or promote it as a second-hand unit. The monetary loss ought to be minimal, and that will be a significantly better use of my cash than instantly going for an additional full-price Android flagship.

And yeah, I do know this instance is a bit foolish as a result of the Pixel 9 Professional is imminent, and the wait time is insignificant, however I’d nonetheless do that if the wait time for the subsequent greatest Android flagship was a number of months. Right now’s finances and midrange telephones are extraordinarily highly effective, have glorious cameras, and a satisfying spec sheet for many customers.

So there you may have it. If a brand new Android telephone prices $1000, by no means pay $1000 for it; it’s like throwing $200 down the drain instantly.