The Problem with Phone Awards and Accolades

When it comes to choosing an award or accolade for a phone, there's a significant factor that affects my opinion: the price of the smartphone. As someone who values their phone as much as I value any other piece of tech, I can honestly say that the cost plays a huge role in how much I like a particular device.

At the end of 2018, if I had to pick the winner for "phone of the year," it would be the Samsung Galaxy S9. This phone boasts incredible hardware, an amazing screen, and a powerful processor from the Snapdragon 8045 series. But what really sets it apart is its willingness to buck trends and not follow in the footsteps of other manufacturers trying to copy Apple's notch design. Instead, the Galaxy S9 proudly wears no notch on its sleeve (or rather, on its screen), instead opting for a more traditional approach.

One feature that caught my attention was the presence of a headphone jack, wireless charging, stereo speakers, and an exceptional camera system. I must admit that I was initially skeptical about the variable aperture feature, which was a gimmicky attempt to make the camera more versatile. However, despite its novelty factor, I never ended up using it outside of reviews. What impressed me more was the overall quality of the hardware on this device.

After conducting my review, I switched over to the Galaxy S9 and found that every other Android phone I reviewed after that referred to it as a "cheaper and sometimes better alternative" compared to newer flagships. Why pay $800 or $900 for a gaming phone when the S9 can deliver similar performance at a fraction of the cost? Similarly, why shell out $1,000 for the Note 9 when the S9 Plus was available at around $650 and offered a more comprehensive feature set.

The reason I mention these prices is that, historically, the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus have been relatively affordable compared to newer models. When it launched in 2018, the starting price was around $850-$900, depending on where you purchased it from. However, after a couple of months, the price dropped significantly, and by the end of the year, it had become extremely difficult for any other phone to match this level of feature set at such an affordable price – around $500 US.

The current state of the market is indeed fascinating, as the S9 Plus has become so inexpensive that it's almost impossible for other devices to compete with its value proposition. If you're in the market for a new smartphone or looking to upgrade your device for the holidays, I would highly recommend taking a look at this phone. Its price is truly exceptional, making it an excellent option for those on a budget or simply looking for a reliable and feature-packed device without breaking the bank.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey how's it going Dave 2d here so if you're looking at the title of this video you're probably thinking I'm talking about the one plus six or the one plus 60 I'm not those are awesome phones I'd probably pick them second in this kind of shootout here but the problem with picking any kind of award or accolade for a phone is that the price of a smart phone has a huge effect as to how much I like a phone and right now at the end of 2018 if I had to pick the winner the phone of the year it's actually the galaxy s 9 this is a phone that has amazing hardware awesome screen Snapdragon 8045 and while every other phone out there was trying to figure out a way to copy iPhones knotch these guys kept it real no notch this year it has a headphone jack wireless charging stereo speakers and an awesome camera I mean I had that gimmicky variable aperture thing and I'll be honest I never used that variable aperture thing once outside of the review and it was really cool little gimmicky but I just never used it but the hardware on this thing is so good and the moment I did my review I switched over to this phone and every other review I did this year on an Android phone I've referred to the s9 and the s9 plus as like often a cheaper and sometimes better alternative to those new phones because this thing came out earlier on in the year like why buy a gaming phone for eight or nine hundred dollars when the s9 plays them just as well and is a better overall phone with a really good camera why buy the note 9 when things a thousand bucks and this thing was like six hundred and fifty bucks for the s9 plus at the time it just felt like this phone was so comparable to all the other phones out there and was just getting cheaper and cheaper every month that went by and right now you can get this phone pretty readily around the world for like 500 bucks u.s. if you want to get fancy go on Amazon pay five hundred and nineteen dollars get next a shipping with like a decent return policy this phone is very inexpensive right now at the s9 the s time plus is like 75 maybe $100 more awesome value for both of those phones see when this thing launched it launched for 850 900 bucks depending on where you got it from but this phone did not sell well and a lot of people didn't upgrade their phones to the S line or the S line plus so after a couple months the price dropped and many months later it's now q4 end of the year this thing has dropped to a very inexpensive price to the point where it's very difficult for any other phone to hit this kind of feature set for that money like 500 bucks for all of this that's awesome like that's seriously something special so point being if you're interested in phone right now at the end of 2018 you're looking to buy a phone or you want a phone for the holidays take a look at this thing because the price is awesome okay hope you guys enjoyed this video thumbs you liked it subs if you loved it see you guys next timehey how's it going Dave 2d here so if you're looking at the title of this video you're probably thinking I'm talking about the one plus six or the one plus 60 I'm not those are awesome phones I'd probably pick them second in this kind of shootout here but the problem with picking any kind of award or accolade for a phone is that the price of a smart phone has a huge effect as to how much I like a phone and right now at the end of 2018 if I had to pick the winner the phone of the year it's actually the galaxy s 9 this is a phone that has amazing hardware awesome screen Snapdragon 8045 and while every other phone out there was trying to figure out a way to copy iPhones knotch these guys kept it real no notch this year it has a headphone jack wireless charging stereo speakers and an awesome camera I mean I had that gimmicky variable aperture thing and I'll be honest I never used that variable aperture thing once outside of the review and it was really cool little gimmicky but I just never used it but the hardware on this thing is so good and the moment I did my review I switched over to this phone and every other review I did this year on an Android phone I've referred to the s9 and the s9 plus as like often a cheaper and sometimes better alternative to those new phones because this thing came out earlier on in the year like why buy a gaming phone for eight or nine hundred dollars when the s9 plays them just as well and is a better overall phone with a really good camera why buy the note 9 when things a thousand bucks and this thing was like six hundred and fifty bucks for the s9 plus at the time it just felt like this phone was so comparable to all the other phones out there and was just getting cheaper and cheaper every month that went by and right now you can get this phone pretty readily around the world for like 500 bucks u.s. if you want to get fancy go on Amazon pay five hundred and nineteen dollars get next a shipping with like a decent return policy this phone is very inexpensive right now at the s9 the s time plus is like 75 maybe $100 more awesome value for both of those phones see when this thing launched it launched for 850 900 bucks depending on where you got it from but this phone did not sell well and a lot of people didn't upgrade their phones to the S line or the S line plus so after a couple months the price dropped and many months later it's now q4 end of the year this thing has dropped to a very inexpensive price to the point where it's very difficult for any other phone to hit this kind of feature set for that money like 500 bucks for all of this that's awesome like that's seriously something special so point being if you're interested in phone right now at the end of 2018 you're looking to buy a phone or you want a phone for the holidays take a look at this thing because the price is awesome okay hope you guys enjoyed this video thumbs you liked it subs if you loved it see you guys next time\n"