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Do Specs Matter Anymore For the Average Smartphone User?
ourlovecanlastforeve writes: While reviewing a recent comparison of the Nexus 5 and the iPhone 6, OSNews staffer Thom Holwerda raises some relevant points regarding the importance of specs on newer smartphones. He observes that the iPhone 6, which is brand new, and the Nexus 5 launch apps at about the same speed. Yes, they're completely different platforms and yes, it's true it's probably not even a legitimate comparison, but it does raise a point: Most people who use smartphones on a daily basis use them for pretty basic things such as checking email, casual web browsing, navigation and reminders. Those who use their phones to their maximum capacity for things like gaming are a staunch minority. Do smartphone specs even matter for the average smartphone user anymore? After everyone releases the biggest phone people can reasonably hold in their hand with a processor and GPU that can move images on the display as optimally as possible, how many other moons are there to shoot for?
Yeah,, at least on Android there's enough of a problem that they work to mitigate its impact. iOS developers are quite happy to accept the two-year upgrade cycle as the norm. It's kind of like the "digital cliff": on Android these days you get a gradual decline in support, first carrier updates, then Google app updates, then software compatibility. On iOS, Apple stops updating and that's basically it as far as new features go, as well as iWork, iLife, and many of the best apps.
I'd be much more comfortable with an Android handset that only had two years of support left, than an Apple one. And right now it's looking like it might be all I can afford.