As the New Year is upon us, I look back at the number of smartphones we have come across and reviewed.
As usual, we see better flagship phones like the Galaxy S22 Ultra which finally included the S-Pen, the iPhone 14 Pro surprised us with a new Dynamic Island notch and has a new 48MP camera system, OPPO and vivo continue to innovate in the camera space with their respective imaging NPUs, foldable phones are better but still not disruptive.
Overall, we already know what to expect with flagship smartphones in general, they get more powerful and have better cameras, it is almost the same formula that these companies, even Apple, have used year after year, and these flagship phones have gotten more expensive as well.
Which is why it’s time for mid-range phones to shine in 2023.
Don’t get me wrong, I am still intrigued to see how tech companies can push the boundaries of their existing flagships to be better devices, but having come across so many interesting mid-range phones this year have made me believe that such phones will eventually outdo their flagship siblings, as they are sometimes even better devices to use in real life.
Take Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 11 series for instance, they feature beautiful 120Hz AMOLED displays, large batteries and crazy fast charging speeds, which are features you’d usually have to pay two times of a regular mid-range phone back then.
Also, Samsung has gotten more aggressive with the Galaxy A series by offering IP67 water resistance and OIS cameras on its higher range 5G models, while selling them at half the price of the Galaxy S22.
It’s bizarre to see how far mid-range phones have come to match flagships in terms of features, not to mention that some mid-range phone processors have gotten so capable that they could match older flagship processors, and they consume less power that makes you wonder why expensive flagship phones couldn’t do it.
Furthermore, we can’t deny that inflation has affected most consumers this year and no doubt reduced the demand for an expensive flagship phone.
Ultimately, flagship smartphones have hit a bottleneck in terms of hardware innovation, which is the reason I look forward to what tech companies can do to mid-range phones, as we can look forward to more flagship-like features being implemented on them without paying for a premium.
2022 has certainly been another interesting year for smartphones, till then, it’s time for the holidays and a good break from smartphone announcements for now. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!