10 Mobile Phone Features People Never Really Needed

9. Premium Materials

Producers are outdoing themselves in using premium materials for their flagship mobile phones. We have seen various colors of gold, aluminium, glass or carbon (Motorola Droid Turbo). But people consistently put a variety of third party protective shells on their phones, thus compromising the looks of these beautiful devices, and making them heavier and much thicker. It clearly shows that what users are really after are not just good looking phones, but phones that would last longer, and easily take a few (or a hundred) drops on the kitchen floor. Not everybody wants an expensive looking iPhone. What is actually gold or aluminium good for if you put a layer of cheap Chinese silicone on it to protect it from scratches and accidental drops? All this effort only to keep it pristine for that guy who buys it from you two years later? Considering Americans replace their mobile devices every 21.7 months on average (according to a survey by Recon Analytics), money-wise it also makes more sense for people to insure phones against drops and theft instead of buying expensive cases. Producers should rather focus on making cheaper and more durable phones from materials like polycarbonate (instead of aluminium), and let people put third party 18-carat gold cases on them. Not vice versa.