I don't know if you have such a feeling, the last two years. With the advent of the "5G era", the price of flagship mobile phones is getting more and more expensive.
Take “Huami OV”, the representative of domestic mobile phones, for example, the price of OPPO Find X3 Pro starts from 5499 yuan, vivo X60 Pro+ starts from 5998 yuan, Huawei Mate 40 Pro starts from 6488 yuan, and even the price of Xiaomi 11 Ultra is also sold at 5999 yuan rise.
First, the more the flagship machine sells, the more expensive it is, and the "beggar version" comes from here. At that time, although I couldn't afford an iPhone that was several thousand in size, I could buy a 1999 domestic "really fragrant machine". But now, we are no longer young, but we are beginning to be "shy in our pockets" for the domestic flagship machine. It's a bit unpleasant to think about.
"I had no money to buy millet before, but now I have no money to buy millet", this statement has been spreading more and more recently. We have to admit the reality: the price of today's top domestic flagship phones is no longer affordable for ordinary consumers. There are many reasons why
makes flagship phones more expensive. The most fundamental reason is the competition among brands . Think about it, other people's Huawei flagship machine can be sold for 6K price, your Xiaomi flagship machine still sells for 1999, the brand seems to have no weight. Brands without successful flagship models have gradually become second-tier and faded out of the public eye in the past few years.
So the flagship machine must go to the high end, which is the "law of nature" for the brand to survive. However, merchants will also take into account everyone's wallets and launch some "beggar version products" with competitive prices. So our question today comes, are these beggar versions of mobile worth buying? Let's take a closer look at this issue today.
Second, the concept of "the beggar version of the mobile phone"
What is the beggar version of the mobile phone? It is generally understood that in a specific product model, the minimum specification is the beggar version. Take the iPhone as an example: when purchasing an iPhone, you need to choose the capacity of the phone, if you choose the minimum 64GB version. You have chosen the "beggar version" configuration.
Of course, the concept of "beggar version" is not only here, with the enrichment of manufacturers' product lines. It is a common practice to divide the same series of products into "medium cups, large cups, and super large cups". Like the iPhone 12 mini is a typical "beggar version" model. How big is the price gap between
"Beggar Edition" and "Ultimate Edition"?
Take the iPhone 12mini as an example, the 64GB version is priced at 5499; the 256GB version is priced at 6799. Other configurations are exactly the same, only the capacity is different, the difference between the two is 1300 yuan.
Back to the Android camp, let's take a look at the popular Redmi K40 series. The beggar version is equipped with 6+128GB for 1999 yuan. The top version is 12+256GB 2499 yuan. Similarly, the difference in storage configuration is only 500 yuan, which is relatively cost-effective.
Of course, some low-end versions of the brand will use different types of flash memory particles and different memory specifications (for example, the standard LPDDR5 memory will become LPDDR4X memory on the beggar version). But these differences are reflected in very small differences in performance and power consumption. If you don't care about the performance difference of a few percent, we can actually ignore it.
As for the difference between the "Beg Version" model and the "Pro" model, it depends on the model. For example, the difference between the iPhone 12 standard version and the iPhone 12 Pro mainly comes from the imaging system, and the experience in other aspects is not very different.
The configuration difference between the Redmi K40 and K40 Pro is a bit big. In addition to the image system upgrade in the Pro version, the processor has also been upgraded to the flagship Snapdragon 888. It really takes a lot of work to choose, to understand the detailed configuration of the two.
Third, "beggar mobile phone", is it worth buying?
Small-capacity "beggar version" mobile phones are not recommended for everyone to buy. The reasons are as follows:
, storage space problem
In this era of increasingly bloated photos and software, small-capacity mobile phones are quite unfriendly to the user experience. It means you'll have to clean up your phone every now and then, with a space-clearing prompt every time you want to download a new app.
And the longer the phone is used, the more this is the case. In the end, you will find that the biggest reason for you to switch phones is the lack of storage space on your phone.
So the suggestion for everyone, whether it is an iPhone or an Android user to buy a mobile phone, needs to start with 128GB. And if you are a vloger/photographer/heavy mobile game user, it is recommended to start with 256GB, so as to ensure enough space on the mobile phone in the future.
If you buy too much mobile phone capacity, you will not be able to use it at all, but if you buy too little, you will not be able to use it. When purchasing, you need to be based on your own needs and leave a certain margin.
, the manufacturer's "price anchor"
This is also a problem that cannot be ignored. In many cases, the beggar version launched by the manufacturer is to delineate the user's purpose. And there is no intention to make this version a hit.
Like 5499 for the iPhone 12mini 64GB version, to make users feel like they can afford an iPhone. Attract users into the store, and in the end most people will choose the version above 128GB.
Another example is the 6+128GB version of the Redmi K40, anchoring in 1999 is more symbolic.And this version is out of stock most of the time (manufacturers will not have enough supply for the low-end version), consumers will naturally increase the price to buy other versions after waiting for 1999.
The "beggar version" launched by the manufacturers in these cases is just to attract attention and make other versions more cost-effective. To put it bluntly, it means "digging a hole". However, as long as consumers are rational and choose the phone according to their budget and functional requirements, they can avoid such a "trap".
Is the "Medium Cup" (beggar version series) worth buying? This will be analyzed in detail. As mentioned above, for this generation of mobile phones, the main difference between the iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro is the imaging system. If you don't like taking photos with your phone, just buy an iPhone 12. But if you like to take photos and videos with your phone, the 12 Pro is the first choice (and be sure to choose a large capacity).
Switching to the Android camp, the focus of the upgrade of top flagship machines such as Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra and OPPO Find X3 Pro is also on the imaging system. If you don’t have high requirements for the imaging system, you can choose sub-flagship products like Xiaomi Mi 11 and OPPO Find X3.
In addition, the evaluation shows that the power consumption of this year's flagship processor Snapdragon 888 is not ideal. On the contrary, the performance of the Snapdragon 870 upgraded from Snapdragon 865 is more stable. So if you don't pursue the ultimate image and fast charging experience. Instead, I recommend that you buy the Snapdragon 870 processor of the sub-flagship machine.
In short: In terms of performance, there is little difference between the top flagship and the beggar version. Whether or not to choose the beggar version of the mobile phone depends on your budget and needs. But in many cases, the beggar version of the mobile phone is just the way manufacturers attract you into the store. It is difficult to say whether you finally chose the "beggar version" mobile phone when you walked out of the store.
