Let's Talk Gadgets!

I'm not sure with gadgets the budget versions exceed the premium versions but often they can delivery most of the same experience for a much lower price.

Gopro action cameras are great but you can get close to their performance for a small fraction of the price.

Smartphones, I think a £150 phone can deliver great performance comparable to some premium models only marginally weaker in a few areas.

Headphones, many premium headphones actually deliver very poor sound if they are fashion headphones more about marketing and style rather than actual performance. Many cheap headphones can easily outperform those headphones.

Laptops, ryzen laptops can deliver great performance at competitive pricing.

Digital SLR's and compact cameras, the premium performance is only marginally better and entry level models may deliver all the performance you actually need.

Ebikes, high end models have complicated motors which are extremely difficult to repair and often need replacing, the cheaper ebikes often have far more reliable motors even if they don't feel quite as good to ride. Sometimes simplicity and reliability is more important than performance. Also high end ebikes have purpose built frames designed to take a specific motor so pretty much the whole bike is garbage when the motor fails and is not worth replacing. Cheaper ebikes are more upgradable and recyclable. They often use standard bike frames with standard interchangable parts.

The sensible money is often buying something above entry level but not premium that often delivers the best actual value, i.e. something in the middle or lower middle of pricing.

my phone

Great question. It's important to know what the brands come up with is the "new" and "surprise" factor and a certain reputation that goes beyond the product they are selling and post-sale support.

But in any way, there are a few purchases that I am extremely happy with that outplayed big brands such as my mobile phone, some household items, my headphone stand, my led bulbs...

My phone is a Ding Ding X9, stupid name but a very nice phone I'm not going to pretend it works like a premium phone it was only £40 from amazon warehouse but I have seen people who have paid £800 or more for an iphone and preferred my phone, theirs had limited storage and was non-upgradable so they had constant problems trying to find space for apps etc. Also seems like there are a lot more interesting apps on android than ios. It seems like only a subset of apps are available on ios.