Here’s what you look for when buying a flagship phone

There’s little to separate flagship smartphones on paper nowadays. Most top-level devices pack a range-topping chipset, a large battery, and a vast display. But if you were to pick just one key feature to consider when buying a flagship phone, what would it be?

It’s a question we posed to our readers in this recent poll. Finally, the results are in!

What’s the top feature you look for when buying a flagship phone?

Results

Just under 1,900 readers voted on this poll after we published it on November 11. Of the ten options on offer, two stood head and shoulders above the rest.

With 32.6% of the vote, “great cameras” was earmarked as the top feature readers look out for when picking a flagship. It’s an understandable choice. Considering how even flagships are in terms of processing power, imaging performance is one of the more significant differentiators. Coming in second, however, is “fast performance” with 23.8% of the vote. Combined, these two options constitute more than 56% of the vote.

“Great display” and “lengthy update commitment” were the only other options to break the 10% support mark, racking up 10.5% and 13.2% of the vote, respectively. Previous polls suggest that software support is essential to our readers, so it’s not surprising to see it up there with hardware features. Notably, “big battery” came in fifth place, garnering around 9.3% of the vote.

But what are some of the least considered factors for flagship buyers? Well, “loads of storage,” “wireless charging,” and “water resistance” received less than 5% of the total support combined.

We also asked readers to vote in the comments if they have an alternative feature requirement, with 5% picking this particular option. Judging by these comments, the chief considerations are design, the headphone jack’s inclusion, and the device’s price.

Your comments

• Japes: As a flagship buyer it’s all of the above for me. I can’t pick just one of these because a fast phone with a crap camera and no updates are not acceptable. So it has to be a good combination of all these.
• whatthefork: Uniform/even/symmetrical bezel.
• Jeremy M.: Headphone jack and expandable storage.
• Andrew: Rear or power button fingerprint sensor, flat screen, and non-glass back.
• Thalapathy Thalapathy: I should have gone with lengthy commitment for updates. Apart from updates, the phone must also be durable enough for long-term usage.
• Josh Oberg: Size & price.
• Carl Thomas: A pen! (Yes, there’s literally only one option, but I really wish others would take it on).
• Lamar Taylor: Battery life is the most important feature on a flagship phone in my opinion. Who wants to pay top dollar for a phone with a weak battery that always needs a charge? Screen and cameras are a tie for 2nd most important.
• SHY: All of the above.

That’s it for this poll. Thanks for your votes and comments. If you have any thoughts about the results of this poll, or insights about what you consider when shopping for a flagship phone, drop a comment below.