Is it worth spending more than $350 on a smartphone?

Shopping for a smartphone can be extremely tough. Usually, cheap smartphones lack quality and quality smartphones are enough to make you bankrupt! But what if I told you that this is a thing of the past?? Here’s a little ‘did-you-know?’ for you. Xiaomi (a Chinese company you may have heard of) is the fastest growing smartphone manufacturer. 

So why do people gravitate towards these new smartphone manufacturers? The only answer is a very a competitive price tag. This gives the top tier manufacturers a run for their money. Take the OnePlus One as an example. If you look at the specifications of the phone, you will classify it as a higher end phone. But then look at the price. It costs merely $299! Even though it has the same (or better) hardware when compared to devices like Samsung Galaxy S5 or an HTC One (M8). 

 

Here’s the reason there is such a big price difference between phones like HTC One series, Samsung’s Galaxy S & Note series and devices like the Xiaomi Mi Note, OnePlus One, etc. The answer in one word is ‘margins’. If you see, the Samsung Galaxy S5 costs only $256 to build in parts. But the that’s just the hardware. Samsung also makes its own software layer, etc so the people behind that have to be paid. & lastly, there’s marketing. Have you seen a Samsung phone commercial on television or on Youtube? I’m sure you have. But if I ask you the same question again but replace the word Samsung with OnePlus, the answer’s surely going to be a no. So when you buy a phone from a top tier manufacturer, you’re not only paying the parts, but you pay for extras like marketing, RnD, higher profit margins, retail charges & more. Most of this is absent in the case of a company like OnePlus. OnePlus uses an online retail strategy, hence eliminating retail charges. OnePlus also depends on their customer so popularize the company instead of using mainstream advertisement methods. All of this causes a Samsung and a OnePlus smartphone with similar specifications to be priced very differently. 

Now that we know why some smartphones are way cheaper when compared to similarly spec-ed smartphones, let’s answer the question, is it still worth buying those $700 phones, or is a $350 phone good enough. In simple words, the answer depends on the way you use your phone. Software from companies like OnePlus’s Oxygen OS / Cyanogen OS and Xiaomi’s MIUI isn’t as polished like HTC’s Sense or Samsung’s TouchWiz. The guarantee and reparability proposition is a strong one for the top tier smartphones. Just picture yourself in this situation. With a lot of difficulty and after many months of waiting, you receive your OnePlus One. But when you open the box, it turns out that the phone broke in shipping! With OnePlus barely able to meet fresh purchases, it is next to impossible for them to hook you up with a replacement device.  

So there you have it. It is clear that the value per dollar proposition is a strong one for companies like OnePlus, Xiaomi & Asus. But, it also includes a little risk factor.  

So what do you think? Are you going to spend more than $350 on your next smartphone? Let me know in the comments below.