Ask HN: Is your mobile phone more expensive than your personal computer?

Maybe yes, not that my phone's expensive (Android LG G8 that I got as a 'free' upgrade on my plan about 3 years ago), but my desktop PC was put together from parts discarded from other PCs. Only new parts were case, PSU, kb, mouse.

Where the story changes is that I only have one phone, but I have my main desktop, a mini tablet/pc, and laptop in addition to my work laptop.

An interesting observation was that if I forget my phone at home, I can carry on with a day out. OTOH, if I forget to bring my laptop somewhere I'm going and I don't know how long I'll be away from home (even if returning same day) I notice that I develop some anxiety after a number of hours unless I'm having too much fun to notice. I have a Surface Go just to carry around and mostly not use--another reason is sometimes a phone is just too annoying to do any browsing with all the mobile optimized sites.

Good question, had not thought about it. Yes it is. Although not more expensive than my total personal computing as I have multiple (too many) laptops.

-[Surface laptop 3 - 13" Intel -Windows] -[Surface laptop 3 - AMD 15" - Ubuntu, daily driver] -[Surface Pro X - ARM - 13"? ARM Dev] -[Apple Macbook - Intel - 13" Mac OS] -[ASUS ROG - Intel - 15" Gaming]

No. My personal computer costs a little more than double my phone cost. Both are relatively new at this point.

You should also include as a datapoint how long they keep their devices.

I tend to keep the same personal computer for several years, but the longest I have kept a phone is 3 years.

Heck, previously, I went through 4 smartphones all while using the same laptop.

That is a very interesting and thought provoking question. In my case, if I just count my phone and day-to-day computer, not close. Computer wins hands down on the contest to empty my bank account. But then I buy phones and keep them till they die (after replacing the battery several times).

No. Laptop (M1 Max Macbook Pro) is roughly 20x more than the phone (Motorola G30).

These days I just use my phone for Spotify, Reddit, HN and Messaging, and the occasional event/ticket app so a long battery life is about the only thing I care about, and the G30 has nice 5000mAh.

Counting cellular service costs, I've paid probably pretty close to the same amount. Not counting them, significantly more for the computer.

No. Moto G6 Play £130 new in 2018. Laptop unsurprisingly many times that.

To me a better phone is for the "experience". Faster laptop is getting stuff done.

My most expensive phone is roughly the same price as my most expensive computer (~$1000), my cheapest phone is 8x my cheapest computer($20).

Miniaturization is always more expensive than full-sized components, not to mention the premium charged for many "flagship" devices.

No. My video card cost as much as my phone.

With or without service? (I have two iPhone 12s that were free with service, and a 3rd line was free)

No, I have a $300 random android phone, and an $800-ish laptop.

Also a $700 desktop/server.

Yes. Google Pixel vs some nettop