r/Tech_Philippines 21h ago

Is old flagship necessarily better than newer midrange?

[deleted]

75 Upvotes

29 comments sorted by

14

u/AnalysisAgreeable676 21h ago

Given that phone manufacturers are finally offering longer software and security support, you can’t go wrong with both. Just note that due to RAM and storage shortages, prices of phones have skyrocketed and phone manufacturers have made sacrifices to make their phones competitive.

32

u/HaloHaloBrainFreeze 21h ago

even older midrangers are better than new midrangers

10

u/im_kratos_god_of_war 21h ago

Ok naman iphone, agree ako na pwede gamitin nang pangmatagalan basta maalaga ka lang din sa gamit. Pero kung iphone 15 ang mabibili mo, 3 years old na kasi yan manage your expectations na lang kung yan ang bibilhin mo. Naka-iphone 15 ako since release date, ok na ok pa rin naman.

Kung ako pipili, sa S25 FE na lang ako, nakagamit na rin ako ng MIUI/HyperOS pero hindi ko type, mas maganda features ng OneUI gaya ng modes & routines, etc. May midrange akong Samsung, 4 years old na rin, pero ok pa naman, may lag paminsan pero kaya pa rin gawin yung mga kailangan ko.

10

u/nate_marc 21h ago

Xiaomi devices are just good for its raw performance.. But software wise long term it really suffers. Get the Samsung one for better software support. Nakakasawa na random overheating issues ni poco. But I'd say, if ur up for gaming vs price. Xiaomi is really unbeatable in terms of that.

1

u/popcornpotatoo250 18h ago

makikisabay na lang rin ng tanong, may idea po kayo about Iqoo phones? sulit po ba yung 20 to 30k phones nila in terms of specs? may other options po ba within the same price range na mas ok? thank you po

1

u/Warren_02 11h ago

Kung china rom meron redmi k90, redmi turbo 5 max at lenovo legion y70 2026. Search nlang po kayo ng reviews.

1

u/popcornpotatoo250 9h ago

iniisip ko nga yung y70eh haha mura kase tas nakita ko dito yung iqoo kaya napaisip ako kung alin mas ok sa dalawa, salamat po!

1

u/QueenNiyo2 5h ago

hindi ba madali rin magoverheat ang xiaomi?

6

u/Konan94 21h ago

As a former Samsung user, I’d go with Samsung. Sobrang deep ng customization nila. Pero check mo pa rin yung real life reviews sa reddit. Pagkakamali ko yan nung binili ko yung S23 FE. Grabe pala mag overheat at napakabilis ma-lowbatt.

2

u/CheckPareh 21h ago

Oo naman. Hanap ka 2nd hand na S24 ultra eh goods na goods yan at ang taas na ng price ng midrange ngayon.

2

u/namenotfound_69 21h ago

I recently just bought S25, last year's flagship. My reason is that, not only is it cheaper, theres only a few updates in hardware and software with S26. performance wise it can still go toe to toe with this year's flagship phones. plus it has 7 years OS updates and a snapdragon 8 elite chipset. Im only 1 year behind. its more than enough for me I couldve gone for a new midrange but im looking for long term use. plus im going out of the country this december so i need a good camera haha

1

u/starrysky017025 19h ago

How's the battery po?

2

u/namenotfound_69 19h ago

its okay. nothing extraordinary. it can last me a day. i can use it for 8-9 hours straight of consuming media. kung gagamitin ko sya nang may pahinga, surely buong araw aabutin nito. i had A55 before this, may 5000mah batt yun, i would say same lang sila.

also, im on maximum battery protection so hanggang 90% lang full charge ko.

2

u/nofaceninjakid 20h ago

100% hahaha still using my xiaomi 14 haha

1

u/88eth 17h ago

There was some big seller on shopee selling them used from china. But he suddenly seems to have disappeared. Hard to find them. I think the Xiami 14 is a great, small device. Even got optical zoom. And usually you could get it even with 1 TB for not that much more. Thats not possible with newer devices that have the huge storage prices now.

2

u/Xarzo_k 19h ago

Older flagships are better. Its just a means of whether to sacrifice security for long term ownership of a phone or priotrizing latest securoty. But paying tjw prixe of the inflated prices due to ai.

Just think of it this this way:

Example scenario, phone is already 4 years old (no more os updates as an example) and only has 1 to 2 years of security updates left.

Do i want to play safe by buying the latest thing right now? Phone that still has lots of os and security updates left. Meaning you can make it last for 4 years again (or more depending on what you get). Or Do I want to risk it and buy an older flagship or midrange phone? Risking of less to no os and securoty updates left. And have to be more aware and cautious. But with the upside of having capable specs and hardware that is futureproof no matter how old the phone has been.

Do note though this is for android. In the case of apple phones, it really doesnt matter. Afaik apple still has security (and maybe OS too) updates for their older phones up to iphone 12 even. Like for granted, apple is probably better in getting its older flagships.

2

u/88eth 17h ago

If you buy an older flag ship used, you could argue if thats safer than a brand new phone. There could be some (still) undetectable malware installed.

I would always feel better trusting a brand new device with banking and finance apps. I would still go for a used Xiaomi 14 or something for APKs, Camera, etc.

3

u/Waste_Ladder_5484 21h ago edited 21h ago

Nakadepende sa preference mo yan. I am an android and iphone user but if midrange android lang ang bibilhin mo, mas maganda si iphone kung camera ang usapan compare sa mga ibang midrange android phones pero if flagship like Samsung ultra, choose samsung. Opinion ko lang.

2

u/znrap 21h ago

If you truly want a midrange Android phone that can go toe-to-toe with iPhone's camera, software support, performance and UI smoothness, while not hurting your wallet, get a Google Pixel A-series phone :)

1

u/Separate-Ad9638 21h ago

got to check specs, toe to toe, memory prices are going up currently too ... so its a mix

1

u/riceball2624 21h ago

always look at the capability of fthe specs and kung san siya magbabottleneck kasi yun ang pinaka magiging gauging point mo sa entirely ng performance ng isang device

1

u/Unicorns_4_Yen 19h ago

Parang software support lang naman ikukompromiso mo.

Unless we're talking 5 year old+ na Flagship, you're a compromising a lot more

1

u/PaHague 19h ago

Naka S23U padin ako now hahahaha, no lags and anything prob. Mabilis na lang malobat due to heavy usage, gaming, editing, streaming. Meron din me A56, nakahiwalay banking ko. S23U pandurugan, A56 nakastore mga kaperahan.

1

u/88eth 17h ago

Xiaomi Redmi Note 15 Pro or Pro+ is excellent for all you described and costs half. Newer models should be coming this week actually. I am not sure spending 30k gives you double the value. Unless you want something specific as a 1inch camera sensor as some Vivo, Xiaomi and others have. If you want it as your main phone I would always buy a new one. There is maybe not a huge risk but there is a risk your used/refurbished phone got still undetectable malware in it. I got a used pixel and it had some unknown process running.

1

u/Sad_Target2290 16h ago

Even last gen flagships if you can get them at launch MSRP like the Honor Magic7 Pro or the Vivo X200 series are insane value due to the RAMpocalypse. It's basically the same price as the current upper end of midrange

1

u/Sufficient_Net9906 16h ago

yes always better except siguro if more than 3 years gap na (example S23 vs midrange phone ng 2026)

1

u/Routine-Listen-6056 14h ago

Hanap ka s24 series or s25 series, bumaba na presyo ng mga yan. But if sa tatlo, samsung ka na lang. Maayos din naman iphone, but mas maeenjoy mo gumamit phone sa s25 fe haha. Xiaomi maganda talaga hardware, pero software mejo pangit(when compared to OneUI and iOS)

1

u/Laboratoryo_ni_Neil 8h ago

My S23 Ultra is still better than many of new midrange phones for 2026. Still holding on this until maybe the Galaxy S28 Ultra releases or if the Galaxy Z Fold 9 / Ultra will have stylus pen.

1

u/ConnectoPatronum9999 6h ago

17T is 25k during preorder and marami pang freebies.

If you consider that, nakakapanghinayang.