Flagship devices have absorbed the best practices in the genre of smartphone construction, which causes their low cost at the start of sales. However, after one or two years, the price tag for such devices can sink almost twice. This is where a reasonable question arises: "Is it worth buying an old dream smartphone or is it better to give preference to a strong middle-level mobile phone from the new collection?".

The old flagship

A good thing is visible to the naked eye and leaves a pleasant tactile aftertaste. Premium assembly materials are the forte of top smartphones of the past years. In their design, high-quality metal, strong tempered glass of the latest generations are used (at the time of the device's release), the case of such smartphones does not creak and does not play under bending. And the lion's share of top-end mobile phones can boast of dust and water protection of the case (in accordance with the requirements of the IP67 standard and on top).

Many of the old flagships are "waterfowl" smartphones.

Other players from the smartphone-building arena always look up to the design of flagships. So in terms of appearance, premium devices from past collections are becoming obsolete less rapidly than modern average people. Successful solutions implemented on board flagships are implemented in practice in mobile phones with a simpler rank only after some time.

Most of the old flagships are equipped with the best screens based on OLED and AMOLED matrices. In the piggy bank of their positive qualities, elegant colour rendition, a large margin of brightness adjustment, support for a wide list of HDR specifications, in some cases — a higher resolution of the transmitted image. Such displays are suitable for the implementation of a full-fledged Always On mode in practice, and they graze the rear ones except for the "hertzovka" part. For strong middle-class people, the refresh rate is often 120 Hz, whereas more recently it started at 60 Hz and 90 Hz for flagships.

A fast screen with a scan frequency of 120 Hz is an ordinary thing in many new medium—sized smartphones.

As for curved screens with a kind of "influx" on the side faces, these are also found exclusively in the flagship "tubes" of past and recent generations. A vivid example of this is the still strong "old man" Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus from the model range of the beginning of 2019.

Photographic ambitions are one of the main subjects of the arms race in modern smartphones. They are developing very rapidly, however, from the point of view of optical stabilization, the type and quality of lenses, as well as image processing algorithms, higher-ranked devices are still leading, even if not the most recent collections. And the flagships of the oldies use more advanced image sensors that offer better video recording capabilities in high resolution.

On board the flagships of the past years, there are entirely top-end image sensors of the main camera.

The old flagship devices are unlocked by means of high-quality ultrasonic fingerprint scanners, whereas in the new mid-range models, less accurate optical sensors are most often installed. They work worse with wet or dirty fingers. Also on board top smartphones, face unlock works faster.

Popular smartphones

The new mid-range smartphone

In terms of performance, many new mid-range smartphones are able to compete on equal terms with the flagships of a couple of years ago. A small exception to the rule is the graphics core. For "gluttonous" games, top-end devices from past collections will be the best option. In everyday life, the user will have more than enough power of the medium-link processor to turn applications of any degree of "severity".

In terms of performance, the new chipsets in the equipment of the average people are coming on the heels of the flagship processors of the past years.

Based on more "thin" technical processes, the new chipsets beat the "oldies" in terms of energy efficiency. By themselves, they consume less energy, which in addition is supported by a solid capacity of the built-in battery. In modern realities, the capacity of the energy core of mid-range smartphones often starts from 5000 mAh. The cherry on the cake is support for fast battery charging technology. Read more about it in the article "Fast charging for smartphones: varieties and generations". In addition, if the flagship of the past years has lain in a warehouse for a couple of years without use, the useful capacity of its battery will inevitably decrease.

Despite the smaller capacity of the battery (as a rule), flagships beat the average people according to another point of the programme — the lion's share of them has wireless charging. It eliminates the hassle of connecting wires and reduces the wear of the openings. In mid—range smartphones, this is a rarity.

High-speed wired charging is increasingly being introduced into new medium-link smartphones.

New mid-range smartphone models support the latest mobile and wireless communication standards. 5G, Wi-Fi 6 — have already become commonplace. Flagships also always have a full set of support for all kinds of wireless networks with only one "but": we are talking about the standards that were in effect at the time of the device's release.

Popular flagships

A longer support from the manufacturer speaks in favor of a fresh average. So, from 2021 Samsung smartphones under the Galaxy brand are guaranteed to receive software updates for three years and security updates will be distributed on top of them for one year. Not all mid-range manufacturers offer updates for a longer time yet, but the trend itself is frankly pleasing. As a result, the old flagships are closer to the end of the termination of the release of new firmware than the new medium-class smartphones.

A conditional mid-range smartphone will receive current software updates for longer compared to the old flagship device.

What's the result?

Over time, the old top-end device loses its former charm and greatness. And the smartphones of the middle class have recently been qualitatively tightened up. What to choose in the end? It's up to you. The flagship from past collections still makes sense to take mobile gamers with limited budgets and adherents of the genre of mobile photography. For the rest, a well-built new average guy with a better battery and up-to-date software is quite suitable.