From ultra-high-definition TVs to smartphone camera lenses, premium features are a big selling point during Black Friday sales. However, many of these promised perks end up forgotten or even physically impossible to use. That’s why Cybernews is here to guide you through the biggest sales of the year and help you get value for your hard-earned money.
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Smartphone "Pro" camera arrays and zoom lenses are among the most underutilized features, with 90% of users only using the primary camera lens.
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Research shows human eyes cannot distinguish between 2K, 4K, and 8K resolutions in typical home viewing distances, making expensive ultra-high-definition TVs unnecessary for most buyers.
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Apple's "Made for iPhone" certification, once a crucial selling point, has diminished in importance as cheaper third-party alternatives flood the market.
Shopping on Black Friday can be intense and contains many pitfalls. That’s why the annual “true price” revelations, which buyers share after finding sale signs placed behind “Black Friday deals” of the same price, are already an internet meme.
@stephaniezenity #deals ♬ original sound - stephaniezenity
That’s one financial risk that comes with Black Friday deals. But what about all the gadgets and tech that have amazing selling points, such as high resolution, speed, and memory, which are each year bigger than the last? Do they actually end up being used?
Cybernews spoke to retail experts, who claim that some of the most heavily advertised features are even impossible to use due to the limitations of being human.
Zoom lenses and “Pro” camera arrays you’ll never touch
Smartphones with multiple lenses and massive zoom capability are among the biggest magnets during Black Friday. Powerful lenses that can zoom across, for example, a football stadium, have even coined a new term – the Taylor Swift effect – which shows how well somebody can be seen from afar.
@iamthepassenger Athough my seats at the eras tour could have definitely been better, I’m happy that my iPhone 15 pro max has excellent zoom! Its kind of creepy how clearly I can see the faces of people so far away #erastour #camerazoom #taylorswifterastour #taylorswiftmadrid ♬ original sound - Lydia in the Sky ✈️
Even before the iPhone 17 lineup was released this September at the “awe-dropping” event, one of the most highly anticipated features was its 48MP telephoto lens for the Pro model.
Retailers are always keen to highlight powerful lens phone upgrades, but refurbishers say they’ve become the most underutilized feature of modern phones. While shoppers rush to buy the “Pro” camera experience, experts argue that most users stick to the main lens and never use the advanced optics they paid for.
“Half of the ‘headline’ features that sell a new phone are never used by most people. A perfect example is the zoom lens. Every year, it is hailed as revolutionary, but 90% of users only use the primary camera. The same is true of displays with extremely high refresh rates – you may notice a difference for a day before your brain adapts,” says Steven Athwal, CEO and founder of The Big Phone Store.
According to him, long-term factors such as battery life, storage, and software support are a lot more important, although they are rarely the main focus of a launch.
“Customers trading in barely used ‘pro' models because they purchased features they never needed is something we witness firsthand as refurbishers. Although their current technology is more than capable, marketing makes people believe it is insufficient,” says Athwal.
Apple labels that used to be a big deal but aren’t anymore
For a long time, the “Made for iPhone” label has been a must-have for accessory makers and a strong selling point when it came to Apple's Black Friday deals. The Made for iPhone programme was introduced in 2005 in order to give “access to the technical specifications and resources needed to create accessories which communicate with Apple devices.”
“Made for iPhone certification used to be one of the biggest selling points in tech accessories. It was a sign that your gear would truly ‘work with Apple.’ But over time, that badge has lost some of its impact,” says Mike Smart, Vice President of Function101.
Since then, the market has been flooded with third-party alternatives sold via Amazon, eBay, and other marketplaces. Many of them are cheaper and still compatible with Apple products, although they do not maintain the company’s certifications.
“While those certifications exist today, many customers are not seeking out products that have the maximum certifications. This is likely due to the proliferation of so many commodity gadgets on Amazon. Core consumers no longer seem to think certifications are critical,” says Smart.
Black Friday TV deals: ultra-high-definition TVs are literally far more than meets the eye and not worth paying for
If there is a race to buy electronics on Black Friday, it’s most famously for big-screen TVs.
People are fighting for TV on Black Friday. pic.twitter.com/SjXY3ZTMMu
undefined M627424 (@MKhan44642331) November 30, 2024
When it comes to purchasing a TV, one of the biggest selling points is the ever-growing resolution. It turns out that if you live in an ordinary home where the TV is positioned to face a sofa in a regular living room, chances are you will not notice the difference between what is shown on 2K, 4K, and 8K screens.
Cybernews has previously reported on research from the University of Cambridge and Meta Reality Labs, which suggests that sticking to a standard 2K (QHD) screen resolution makes more sense. That’s because the human eye in a typical home setting cannot pick up on extra details once a screen exceeds the threshold of a 4K or 8K display.
One user-friendly result of this research is a free online calculator, where potential TV buyers can input their room and screen dimensions to see what resolution makes the most sense in terms of cost and visual quality.
High refresh rates: a feature that sells, but is often the first to be switched off by gadget owners
Another selling point that tends to grab shoppers' eyes is the refresh rate. Black Friday promotions often highlight phones or laptops with 120Hz or 144Hz displays. The refresh rate number indicates how often a screen updates the image it displays per second.
The higher the refresh rate, the better animations, scrolling, and games appear on screen, and the smoother the experience is.
According to Ankush Chowdhury from Humanizer AI, it’s “one of those things that sounds great on paper but doesn't really matter to most people.” In his opinion, consumers can tell the difference between a 60Hz screen and a regular one, but most people do not notice it when using their phone every day.
“It has a mild effect, and your eyes get used to it after a while. A lot of people also turn it off to save power because it drains the battery faster. In this example of a specification war, the normal person doesn't gain much from the change,” says Chowdhury.
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