Most of us don’t use a fraction of the CPU that high-end phones are capable of. Does that mean buying the top-of-the-line, biggest, and best smartphone is a waste? Hardly! Here are six reasons why all that power is well worth it.
1 Phones That Start Fast Stay Fast Longer
How long do you intend to use your phone? If your answer is “a long time,” then you want to buy the most powerful phone you can. This is a phone that will have staying power.
Even if you don’t intend to use your phone for anything heavier than social media, you still want apps to launch instantly. You want scrolling to happen without stuttering. You want to zoom in and out of the multitasking view without any lag.
Having a powerful CPU keeps your phone in this buttery smooth state not only out of the box but for years down the road. It’s a phone that will still feel new long after it’s not.
2 Actually Enjoy Seven Years of Software Support
iPhones are known to last for a long time. This is because Apple has a good track record of updating its devices and providing software support that is unrivaled by most of its smartphone competitors.
Google and Samsung have started to make similar commitments to support their devices for up to seven years. Still, even with that many years of updates, will you actually want to use your phone seven years from now?
If your phone is strong enough, maybe. A powerful phone today may be overkill, but six years from now, that will be less of the case. Instead of a device you have to replace because it’s painfully slow, your phone may actually still be usable.
Phones with a top-notch CPU also tend to come with a better camera. Personally, I think it’s sometimes worth getting a new phone just for a better camera. If you’re a shutterbug, that phone with a great camera becomes one you will gladly carry around for longer.
3 You Can Run Future Apps
Apps and websites have become more demanding over time. They assume you have more RAM and processing power. Don’t buy a phone based on the apps of today. Buy one based on those that will come out down the road.
Unlike most people, my phone has replaced my PC. I use my phone to do demanding tasks like image editing, and modern apps are surprisingly able to process photos faster than my old laptop could.
When I first started using Android, mobile office suites were pretty paired down. Now, they do everything I need, whether that’s working on a Word document or manipulating a spreadsheet.
Having a powerful phone means I can fully take advantage of these apps. I am able to manage large numbers of files in my phone’s file manager faster than I did on my PC. Apps keep getting better, and having a strong processor helps you fully experience what they can do.
Then there’s software that we don’t yet imagine. AI features, for example, require more processing power and RAM. Phones that don’t pack enough oomph don’t get the features, even if they may otherwise seem powerful enough. We can see this with older iPhones and Apple Intelligence. The base model iPhone 15 won’t get the AI features, whereas the more powerful iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will.
4 The Same Is True for Games
These days, my phone is my favorite game console. While I stream many of the games I play using NVIDIA GeForce NOW, I frankly enjoy many native mobile games as well. Some mobile games available now are rather demanding cross-platform titles, such as Hoyoverse’s Genshin Impact and Zenless Zero Zone.
If a game is available for both your phone and a handheld console like the Steam Deck, there’s a good chance your phone has a higher resolution, more attractive OLED screen, and a higher refresh rate. Games like Coromon, Dead Cells, Iron Marines, and Midnight Girl are available for both Steam and Google Play, so it’s worth checking out the Android version. In addition to the better screen, on a phone with a high-end CPU, you can enjoy these titles without the fan noise you get from dedicated handhelds.
5 Android Desktop Modes Need Stronger CPUs
DeX is one of my absolute favorite features of Samsung phones. It adapts Android to fit in a desktop layout, making your phone a potential PC replacement. Apps float in windows, and you can move them around as you would on a Chromebook or Windows PC
DeX can be demanding because you’re often running more apps at once than you would on the phone’s built-in display. The power requirements go up further if you plug your phone into a high-resolution monitor. With the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor in my Galaxy Z Fold 5, I don’t experience any lag when using DeX at 1080p, regardless of what demanding tasks I do. That said, I do notice lag when I bump the resolution up to 4K.
The strain on your CPU isn’t just coming from powering your desktop. While DeX is active, your phone is still usable. Sometimes I have a video playing on one screen while I work on the other, since a powerful mobile CPU is able to power both your built-in screen and an external display.
6 Power to Spare When Connecting to Accessories
A couple of years ago, I gave no thought to the idea of owning AR glasses. Now, I plug AR glasses into my phone all the time. My XREAL Air 2 Pro glasses have a companion app that enables AR functionality. It’s a demanding piece of software that is functional on my phone, but I can tell my phone is hard at work. I doubt I’d want to try it on a more mid-range device.
Returning to games, you want a powerful phone if you want to fully enjoy accessories like the Razer Kishi Ultra game controller that makes your phone feel like a Nintendo Switch. I recently purchased a GameSir G8+ (essentially the GameSir G8 Galileo, but with Bluetooth instead of USB-C), which really feels like a luxurious way to game when combined with my phone’s large inner screen. I wouldn’t be able to get full enjoyment out of this accessory if my phone were too underpowered to run the games I want to play.
Here’s the thing—you don’t have to spend top dollar to get a powerful CPU. Before I bought a Z Fold 5, I owned a Moto Edge+ 2023. This was Motorola’s flagship phone in 2023, offering the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor as in other high-end phones but available for almost half the price. OnePlus phones likewise tend to offer identical horsepower for less than the price of a Pixel or Samsung phone.
You can also buy last year’s flagships rather than go for this year’s mid-range phone to get a top-notch CPU for a comparable price. Pay attention to the CPU when shopping around. The extra power is worth it.
