Nah the hardware is still crap.
CPU performance that's genuinely like two generations behind being sold as a flagship somehow.
Eating out is there. Power Tools are there. Land is beyond that and Housing has been there for 6 years now.
I'm not surprised. The March of inflation has been a wreckening this decade.
Two generations of phones ago, these performance parameters were fine. What software has come out on Android phones since then that's made that performance level unacceptable?
Prices usually get ok halfway the cycle, though this year not as much due to the RAM/SSD squeeze.
This is the assumption I'm challenging. What are people doing on their phones that makes a two year old phone feel two years old?
Maybe it's 3d gaming, I don't do any of that on my phone but for any productivity apps, I don't think I've noticed an effective difference in my phone for years.
Dropped animations, slow downs in the summer due to heat, poor battery life because it has to use boost, and so on. You don't have to game to notice it.