Smartphones.

It seems like everyone has one these days. Some of you may even be reading this off your own mobile device. If you are lucky enough to have avoided being sucked in by one major phone company or another, I envy you.

Personally, I am an Apple guy. I have owned a 5S for over three years before it took an unfortunate swim in a lake while kayaking this summer. After this unfortunate event, I went back to my flip phone for three weeks and began searching for a new phone. Sadly, I had already dipped my toes in the water of Apple.

I still own an Apple phone today, but that’s not what I’m curious about. My issue is: what is the big deal with phone peer pressure?

Phone peer pressure is what I like to refer to as the people who all think they need to update every single year. The worst part of this is that big phone companies come out with a new model every year, it seems, and even if the changes are slight, the price gets bigger.

I’m not here to say Apple is better than Samsung or the Google Pixel, but that’s what I’ve owned and that’s what I’m going to discuss, especially with the iPhone 8 having been released the previous month and the iPhone X just around the corner.

On the Apple website, you can now compare three phones at once instead of comparing statistics of the phones individually, which made it easy to compare the iPhone 8 and X to last year’s iPhone 7. The number of features that changed for the difference in price is still something I can’t wrap my head around.

The first thing on the website Apple tells you about is the new A11 bionic processor, which is 70 percent faster than the already lightning fast A10 fusion processor. Last I checked, 70 percent faster than a blink of an eye is still a blink of an eye.

Unless you have a computer program to test these speeds, your average customer won’t be able to tell the difference, but 70 percent faster makes for a convincing sales pitch, right?

Another new feature is wireless charging. Wireless charging isn’t a good feature for me. Is setting your phone down really that much faster than plugging in a cord — not to mention the fact you can’t use your phone while charging.

Phones capable of wireless charging need a glass backing and to access this, you wouldn’t be able to have a case on your phone. If you have ever dropped a touchscreen device, you know the cringing feeling of anticipation in hopes your screen didn’t crack. When these devices cost as much as some people’s first cars, can you really afford not to have a case?

Time to talk about the iPhone X, Apple’s new poster child.

This phone was considered revolutionary for Apple, but if you ask me, this iPhone is almost a Samsung wannabe. This is because Samsung is building the new OLED screens going into the phones. These screens have been used in Samsung phones since 2010, according to USA Today.

However, this is still an iPhone — even though it lacks a home button, a headphone jack and any fun colors other than black and silver. Somehow, it’s considered the epitome of iPhones. You can pitch to me all you want how great a borderless screen is, but you can’t change the obnoxious bubble of tech area at the top that takes a notch out of such a high-quality picture for the camera.

The camera in the iPhone X is a 12-megapixel camera that has also been something Apple brags about all too often because what people really need are more selfies.

According to the Apple website, the camera in the iPhone X is the same as the one in my current 5SE model (which costs a third of the new price).

Apple has always given me a quality picture with both front and rear cameras on the phone, but if you think you’re going to be a professional photographer with a phone, think again. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a famous picture in an art museum taken with a phone.

Lastly, there’s the facial recognition of the iPhone X to unlock your phone. This just screams government spy method. I even have the camera of my laptop covered.

Apple claims the facial recognition stays local to the phone, and that may be true now, but what if that changes in a few years and Apple sells off the rights?

All this new technology may be a great advancement. Personally, I’m a small-town farm kid, and I’ve always believed simple is better.

I’m guessing Samsung has its parallels, but I couldn’t imagine spending $700-$800 dollars for an iPhone 8 when the iPhone 7 is the same thing for $550-$650, let alone $1000 for the iPhone X.

Call me old fashioned, but I plan on making my tiny, $350 5SE last until it breaks.