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Do you really pay 900 euros for a phone?

C

chad.petree

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 2, 2013
608
282
Germany
I've had android ( to be specific nexus phones) for as long as I can remember, good prices and unlocked phones , no contracts whatsoever. I really liked them but I hate the direction google is moving now, it's not only that the pixel phones are very expensive, but google is fragmenting android even more, so I figured why not go the apple route this time, no update dramas, a working browser unlike the lag fest that chrome on android is and a really quick camera ... anyways I want to get an iphone 7 plus, but damn 900 euros? I don't want to let myself pay that amount of money for a phone.

How do you guys do it? Yes I know a lot of people buy them in contracts, but I pretty much get a new phone every year because I'm never satisfied ( yes how terrible of me I know) , so it doesnt make sense for me, specially seing how bad the iphone bezels are in need of trimming, besides contracts here in germany are awful, 68 euros a month plus an inicial payment of 290 euros? No thanks!

Is there people out there ( who are not rich ) who pay 900 euros upfront for a phone? :(

P.s. im a student earning 700 euros a month
 
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Of course it's ain't cheap and i would be more than happy to pay for 7 plus at least 20% less, but it is what it is :) Here where i live (in Lithuania) 32GB 7 Plus cost 919 eur (compare it to our average wage, which is around 600 eur) :D
I bought it from my operator and with inicial payment (305 eur),i have to pay 35 eur per month with 24 months contract (incl. unlimited calls, sms and 5GB data). It's not a a huge amount of money (per month). Sure, my wage not 600 eur as well :)
 
Well I suppose these things are just expensive these days, look even at the prices of the Pixels, as you mentioned and most other high-end phones from the established manufacturers. They aren't cheap.

Personally I don't mind paying it for an iPhone. For one I know that I'm going to get world leading after sales service and support, should I need it. I'll get solid, reliable hardware. I like the iOS ecosystem and indeed the Apple ecosystem in general.

What helps take the sting off a bit for many people is that Apple hardware holds its value far more than any other brand out there. So when it comes time to upgrade again and you sell the device you have, you'll get far more for it than you would if it were an Android device.

But it's all about choices, no-one can tell you what you consider value for your money. And there's always the IPhone upgrade program if you don't want to shell out up front.
 
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Those who do it can save the money for a year, also may sell their 1 year old model to help reduce the cost, or simply have the money and I say good for them!

When you think about it, getting a new phone every year doesn't make much sense either...

Me I know it would in fact be a better deal to pay full price than taking a contract, but well that's how I do it. My 7+ will last me 2 years at least (not just because of the contract), unless next year's iPhone is really special... I see people in the street still rocking iPhones 4, so it's just a matter of choice, and "need" I guess.

These phones are expensive, but we use them for so much more than "a phone". They *are* so much more than "a phone". Changing them every year makes them disposable, while we're in fact carrying very powerful mini-computers in our pockets these days.
 
Look at the quality of the Passport. That is not expensive at all now.
 
deivydas said:
Of course it's ain't cheap and i would be more than happy to pay for 7 plus at least 20% less, but it is what it is :) Here where i live (in Lithuania) 32GB 7 Plus cost 919 eur (compare it to our average wage, which is around 600 eur) :D
I bought it from my operator and with inicial payment (305 eur),i have to pay 35 eur per month with 24 months contract (incl. unlimited calls, sms and 5GB data). It's not a a huge amount of money (per month). Sure, my wage not 600 eur as well :)
Click to expand...


Blimey, 600 Eur on average, that seems low. What's the cost of living like in Lithuania?
 
TrueBlou said:
What helps take the sting off a bit for many people is that Apple hardware holds its value far more than any other brand out there. So when it comes time to upgrade again and you sell the device you have, you'll get far more for it than you would if it were an Android device.

But it's all about choices, no-one can tell you what you consider value for your money. And there's always the IPhone upgrade program if you don't want to shell out up front.
Click to expand...

The thing is let's say I sell it next year , but who is going to pay 600-700 euros for an used iPhone? I'd you are willing to spend that kind of money , you should have theoretically enough money to buy a brand new for 900 ? ( That's my "logic " )

I think the iPhone update program is just for USA , I haven't seen it mentioned here in Europe .


cube said:
Look at the quality of the Passport. That is not expensive at all now.
Click to expand...

Hmm what ?
 
What do you do on a phone that requires paying 900 euro for it?
[doublepost=1475839123][/doublepost]
chad.petree said:
Hmm what ?
Click to expand...
The BlackBerry Passport costs less than 400 euro now. I was around 700 when it came out.
 
chad.petree said:
I've had android ( to be specific nexus phones) for as long as I can remember, good prices and unlocked phones , no contracts whatsoever. I really liked them but I hate the direction google is moving now, it's not only that the pixel phones are very expensive, but google is fragmenting android even more, so I figured why not go the apple route this time, no update dramas, a working browser unlike the lag fest that chrome on android is and a really quick camera ... anyways I want to get an iphone 7 plus, but damn 900 euros? I don't want to let myself pay that amount of money for a phone.

How do you guys do it? Yes I know a lot of people buy them in contracts, but I pretty much get a new phone every year because I'm never satisfied ( yes how terrible of me I know) , so it doesnt make sense for me, specially seing how bad the iphone bezels are in need of trimming, besides contracts here in germany are awful, 68 euros a month plus an inicial payment of 290 euros? No thanks!

Is there people out there ( who are not rich ) who pay 900 euros upfront for a phone? :(

P.s. im a student earning 700 euros a month
Click to expand...

Iphone used value after 2 years is worth the same as new flagship android phone.
 
chad.petree said:
The thing is let's say I sell it next year , but who is going to pay 600-700 euros for an used iPhone? I'd you are willing to spend that kind of money , you should have theoretically enough money to buy a brand new for 900 ? ( That's my "logic " )

I think the iPhone update program is just for USA , I haven't seen it mentioned here in Europe .

Hmm what ?
Click to expand...

You'd be surprised what people will pay for a year old iPhone. I've sold most of my old ones and they've only ever lost me around £100-175 off their retail price. Apple hardware is like that, phone, laptop, desktop, they all hold their value really well.
I guess to some people that £100-175 makes all the difference.

Yeah I forgot about the upgrade program still being limited to just a few countries.
 
TrueBlou said:
Blimey, 600 Eur on average, that seems low. What's the cost of living like in Lithuania?
Click to expand...

After we came into Eurozone, prices grow up like 50-100% (in 2 years) and wages at the moment only 10-15% higher than they was before Euro. So people who getting average (i'm not even talking about minimal) salary are in a big trouble and far from being happy. But still, prices are cheaper than in Scotland, France, or like Scandinavian countries :) 0.5l beer in pub cost 3 eur, rent in Vilnius (capital, where i live) for 2 room flat in the city center - around 450 eur per month and so on.
 
deivydas said:
After we came into Eurozone, prices grow up like 50-100% (in 2 years) and wages at the moment only 10-15% higher than they was before Euro. So people who getting average (i'm not even talking about minimal) salary are in a big trouble and far from being happy. But still, prices are cheaper than in Scotland, France, or like Scandinavian countries :) 0.5l beer in pub cost 3 eur, rent in Vilnius (capital, where i live) for 2 room flat in the city center - around 450 eur per month and so on.
Click to expand...



Wow! I don't think I'd be at all happy with monetary changes like that either.
 
TrueBlou said:
You'd be surprised what people will pay for a year old iPhone. I've sold most of my old ones and they've only ever lost me around £100-175 off their retail price. Apple hardware is like that, phone, laptop, desktop, they all hold their value really well.
I guess to some people that £100-175 makes all the difference.

Yeah I forgot about the upgrade program still being limited to just a few countries.
Click to expand...
I had no luck then , I had to sell my October 2012 model but bought ib February 2013 retina MacBook pro 15" (with gpu ) this year in sommer for 900 euros ( I bough it for 2200 euros ) so I "lost" 1300 for 3 and a half years .. hmmm
 
chad.petree said:
I had no luck then , I had to sell my October 2012 model but bought ib February 2013 retina MacBook pro 15" (with gpu ) this year in sommer for 900 euros ( I bough it for 2200 euros ) so I "lost" 1300 for 3 and a half years .. hmmm
Click to expand...


And how much would you have lost had it been a Windows laptop? A few years back I bought a ridiculously specced out Alienware laptop for which I paid over £3000. One year later when I sold it (I decided I'd had enough of Windows) I lost well over £2000 on it. In one year.
[doublepost=1475840741][/doublepost]
deivydas said:
Trust me, you won't :) But everything should stabilize. Every country (which adopted the euro) had troubles with some kind of recession. I hope that one day everything will be fine :)
Click to expand...

Fingers crossed, wouldn't want it to have the same trouble Greece had.
 
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chad.petree said:
I had no luck then , I had to sell my October 2012 model but bought ib February 2013 retina MacBook pro 15" (with gpu ) this year in sommer for 900 euros ( I bough it for 2200 euros ) so I "lost" 1300 for 3 and a half years .. hmmm
Click to expand...

He was talking about the resale lost (£100-175) for a one year old iPhones, you talking about resale value for a 4 year old rMBP. The price you got is a bit below the average that is fine if you where is hurry.
 
You can also still find the Amazon Fire Phone for 100 euro. It originally cost like 600.

It has a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800, 5 cameras, 3 microphones, and a full complement of sensors.
 
TrueBlou said:
It was tongue in cheek, not a serious assault against it, did you miss the :p Though honestly I'd sooner have stock Android than Fire OS.
Click to expand...
No, I did not miss it, just clarifying it.

I trust Amazon more than Samsung in providing timely updates.
 
Well there are credit cards, you dont have to pay upfront if its a fixed 900 euro. Divide that by 2-3 years worth of smaller payments until you want to switch to a newer model.
 
cube said:
No, I did not miss it, just clarifying it.

I trust Amazon more than Samsung in providing timely updates.
Click to expand...

That's a fair point I suppose. Though I don't know about the long term prospects of the Fire Phone now that they've abandoned it. I'm sure it will get some updates for the Fire OS core, but I think in general, as the phone and its functions, support may be a bit thinner on the ground.

It's a bit of a shame really. Although it was clearly gimmicky, I did have a bit of a soft spot for the pseudo 3D and its possible implementations.
 
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