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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?

3 of 253 comments (clear)

  1. ObBillGates by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    640K ought to be enough for anybody.

    1. Re:ObBillGates by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Didn't Bill Gates dismiss this enough saying it is not his phrase, he never said that?

      "When we set the upper limit of PC-DOS at 640K, we thought nobody would ever need that much memory." — William Gates, chairman of Microsoft, quoted in the April 29, 1985 issue of InfoWorld.

      "I have to say that in 1981, making those decisions, I felt like I was providing enough freedom for 10 years. That is, a move from 64k to 640k felt like something that would last a great deal of time. Well, it didn’t – it took about only 6 years before people started to see that as a real problem." — William Gates, chairman of Microsoft in a recorded speech to the Computer Science Club at the University of Waterloo about microcomputers.

      Looks like Bill's not too proud to revise history...

  2. Specs don't matter by rolfwind · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The experience does.

    When the experience is good, specs don't matter.

    When someone has a bad experience or sees someone else have a better experience they lack, then specs matter.

    For example, I'm going to assume resolution is going to stop mattering with the 6+ having 1080p (surely 4k/8k will be superfluous here, right?), until phones can emit 3D holograms. But they can work on other metrics till then like contrast and sunlight readability.