You told us: This is the phone feature you're ready to give up for a lower price

Smartphone features and components are like candy. The more and better quality ones you fill up on, the higher the price you end up paying. That’s not to say that you require the best features to have a decent device in your hands. It’s the very reason why Chinese phone makers have been so successful in chopping down the excess fat from phones to bring down their prices. Still, if you want the best of the best in smartphone technology, you’re looking at paying a premium price for sure.

So we gave you, our readers, a list of smartphone attributes to pick just one feature that you’re willing to pass up on readily if it means getting a phone at a lower price. You picked a particular feature the most out of all others on the list. Here’s how you voted.

Which smartphone features are you willing to give up for a lower price?

Results

It’s interesting to see that a majority from a total of over 4,300 voters in our poll chose wireless charging as the one feature they are willing to give up for a lower-priced phone. Over 45% of the respondents voted in favor of giving up wireless charging.

As you can see, our list also included features like a glass body and  5G connectivity. These two were the next set of features our voters were willing to cut out to get a cheaper phone. 19.7% of the poll takers were okay with not having a phone with a glass construction, while 8.2% didn’t mind losing out on 5G. It’s understandable as glass-bodied phones come with their own downsides and 5G is still not where we want it to be.

Some of the respondents also voted in favor of putting IP rating (6%) and expandable storage (5.9%) on the chopping block. However, very few were willing to part with the latest Snapdragon 800-series processor, fast charging, high refresh rate displays, and even in-box chargers and other accessories.

Your comments

The comments point to many readers wanting to cast out more than one feature to lower the price of a phone. But the poll itself only allowed for a single choice. Readers also noted that there are other features they would like to get rid of in the name of cheaper phones, wireless charging being one of the most commonly picked features. Here’s what you had to say.

bigdav1178: “Glass body” would have been my first choice; but “Wireless charging” was listed first, and I could do without either one of them. I’d actually prefer to lose the glass even if it wasn’t cheaper; I never understood why increased fragility equals premium?

dark5un: I totally agree. All this glass has done for me is make me worry about all sides and drop angles and cover the phone so that it doesn’t break! I would love a plastic front screen if it gave the same touch screen performance as glass.

NubCake: I wanted to choose wireless Charging, IP ratings, Glass Body, 5G.

Chet: I would’ve gone charger in box charger, then glass body, then IP rating. This followed by a high refresh rate, then 5g. Though the last two are interchangeable since they don’t really add function to the phone. 5G, I’m sure eventually will.

Shubham Sundrani: Camera should have been an option. I genuinely almost never use the camera on my phone, but companies probably charge the most on the basis of it.

Sami Bhai: Wireless charging and glass bodies can go.

Milivoe: Remove fast charging, reverse wireless charging, 5G (it’s still rarely available), high refresh rate display (who the hell cares about how scrolling looks, how it looks when you stop scrolling has meaning), curved display, an insane amount of high-quality cameras, including at least the high quality of the selfie camera, IP rating, camera bumps. And I would exchange all of that just for OLED display, huge battery (and I mean double the flagship standard huge), double the level of volume on front-facing stereo speakers with triple the bass level, elegant matte finish body (back and sides iPhone people), or brushed metal, brushed rubber, or brushed plastic back, flat, sharp look (some kind of combination of iPhone 5, iPhone 12 and Sony Xperia 1 III level flat and sharp look).

lincolnmon: This is going to sound very different from everyone else, but that overly expensive camera got to go. I use it as a work phone with consuming media, not making them.

Albin: Picked wireless charging but in fact will buy a phone lacking most others. The only listed must-have is expandable storage. Not listed: selfie camera.

disqus_wqgHkhxYHN: I actively avoid phones with glass backs.

TheOracle: I just knew wireless charging would win this poll. I know a lot of people find it convenient but it’s one of the most overhyped features by tech journalists. Multiple polls on various sites have shown that people use and prefer wired charging to the utter shock of the pollsters. The same hype for QHD screens a few years ago fizzled out when manufacturers figured out people were satisfied with 1080p FHD.

Mr_Bucket: Given the option, I would never buy a phone with a glass body. It could be the same price and I would still opt for any other material as long as it’s less fragile. Too bad I clicked “wireless charging” before I knew it was a single-choice poll. Down with glass bodies!

Lumi Kløvstad: Wireless charging, latest 800-series processor, high refresh display, and glass bodies can all go in the name of price, IMHO. The 600 and 700 series SoCs are actually pretty decent. 60Hz isn’t top of the range but it’s been the standard for years so we’re all used to it, and glass breaks too easily AND has grip problems, so you put your glass phone in a case, which defeats the point of having a pretty glass phone to begin with, especially as there’s no wireless charging.

Henry Park: Any Charging tech. I don’t need nor want. It ruins batteries faster so it’s usually the first thing I disable.

Christian Hinayon: Wireless Charging. as long as it has over 30W of wired charging then I would definitely give wireless charging for a cheaper price smartphone.

Shizuma: This really needs to be a multiple-choice allowed poll. In order of what I would most want to ditch for more reasonable prices…

-5G as the speed is basically useless on phones.
-Wireless charging, I’d much rather use a more energy-efficient faster-corded charger.
-Ridiculous massive camera modules, 1 decent flush camera, maybe 2 if the 2nd is a telephoto.
-Glass body, though I would prefer an aluminum one so not likely cost-saving.
-IP rating, without warranty coverage an official IP rating is a meaningless added cost.
-High refresh rate, love on computers for gaming, for phones though it’s just a battery life killer.
-Expandable storage, now that we get large internal storage options it’s just not needed.