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Do Specs Matter Anymore For the Average Smartphone User?

Posted by Soulskill on from the battery-is-next dept.

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?

2 of 253 comments (clear)

  1. Because... by guruevi · · Score: -1, Troll

    Because maintaining the status quo without innovating has worked out well for the consumers (eg. TI calculators)? Because what we need now is what we need in the future is for ISP's only?

    You get better battery life AND increased specs to the crappy Nexus. Because your e-mail loads equally fast doesn't mean mine does (I have 10k+ messages in my inbox). Because you use your phone for simple games, doesn't mean I don't use it for viewing 3D brain scans.

    --
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    1. Re:Because... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      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.