With the recent release of Samsung’s flagship phone and the trio of new iPhones set to release, consumers are opening up their checkbooks to get the most powerful smartphone yet. Then we cycle back to our checkbooks next year and do it again.

Smartphones are some of the greatest bits of technology we have today. No longer just a text and call device, we use smartphones to work, create, design, and share on a great scale. However, it is still not worth the $1,000 price tag.

Consumers are infatuated with the latest products. The problem is that smartphone companies release phones yearly with cosmetic changes along with slight hardware improvements.

An updated chip along with a better screen is usually enough for Apple to release a new iPhone. However, this year’s iPhones will contain the new A11 Bionic chip, which is expected to perform 25 percent better than the previous.

The new chip along with the few cosmetic changes drove the iPhones prices up by 30 percent. The previous phone release by apple was the iPhone 7 plus which debuted at $769.

And we all know how Samsung’s flagship phone did last year. The Galaxy Note 7 was a beautiful phone with a hidden timer for detonation. That phone was out for about 2 weeks before being recalled.

It debuted in the market at $849. This year’s version of the phone is a 20 percent markup without the chance of combustion (hopefully).

Smartphones are like pocket devices that allow us to access to digital projects for work and curation, but they are simplified tools. They allow files and projects to be accessible mobile but you will not get all the capabilities as the computer.

You would be better off keeping last year’s iPhone, which you probably have not paid off yet, and buying a new computer. Alternatively, you could wait for next year’s smartphone, which would likely be touted as the most powerful yet again.