AppleCare specifically covers water damage of any kind, and is what I would assume OP would be referring to as a "premium warranty and repair service".
ApplecCare is as much a warranty as their Apple's phone are guaranteed waterproof.
It's marketing.
The 3 year warranty add-ons is an insurance. One can get an insurance for any device.
The standard iPhone warranty disclaims water damage [1] and Apple has been sued in the past for using humidity activated sensors.
And if you truly are ultra budget $300 phone guy then sure this doesn't apply to you.
Wonderful hardware but f*k Sony with the update policy.
My last Xperia was I Mk 2. Nominally flagship. Great hardware, great spec, I loved the form factor.
It got one major Android update and total of 18 months of security updates since the release.
Like, WTH?
No more Sony for me.
I update pretty frequently, but all the older devices get used by family members, etc.
I hope that a few years down the line there will also be great midrange Motorola phones with GrapheneOS support. But they have to start somewhere.
I just keep buying phones with way more features than I desire just so that having too many apps open at once or going to the wrong Javascript laden web page doesn't slow my phone to a crawl. I just tell myself that at least I only replace my phone every 5 to 7 years. If it wasn't for work, I'd keep them longer, but the OS has to be patched for work stuff to be on it.
The Pixel phones are precisely that, and they are the only phones supported by Graphene for now. The a-series is a particularly good value and I am posting from one.
I think if work demands a better phone, then work should be buying you a better phone.
but they bumped up prices significantly a few months ago due to chip prices or tarrifs or who knows what, it's not so cheap anymore.
In my experience this is literally the iphone SE. Look at the chipset, its no slouch.
Over decades of buying Android devices, I have yet to pay more than $300 for one. The one I'm using was actually free in exchange for buying a year of T-Mobile prepaid credits. No, it never was the fastest thing on the planet but it makes calls and runs the apps I want.
Miniaturization costs, and I would expect a flagship phone to cost at least as much as an equivalent CPU/RAM/storage laptop. The cost of miniaturization, modem, camera and OLED more than balances the bigger screen and keyboard/trackpad.
I could see myself splashing out on a more expensive phone if it were less locked down - so probably never. However I don't play games and as a Gen-Xer my laptop is where the rest of my digital life lives; it makes sense that those for whom the phone is their primary device would prioritise it more (especially with somewhat predatory financing).
That said, I will keep on replacing the battery until the circuit board itself turns into ash
But our appreciation keep getting skewed because flagship phones make leaps forward.