Choosing a smartphone that will perfectly satisfy your need is somewhat a difficult task to do. But now, you don’t need to worry as Techsavvy, your tech guide will share some important factors that may help you while purchasing a smartphone. However, the first thing to consider is the Price. You must determine the budget for your smartphone as there are three price segments of smartphones, starting from the budget segment, mid-range segment and the flagship segment. The budget segment is considered to be below Rs. 15,000, while smartphones in the mid-range category are priced under Rs. 30,000 and flagship smartphone range above Rs. 30,000.
We have further divided this into 3 parts — Display, Internal Configurations and Camera, so keep reading to know what should you look for in a smartphone.
Display
This is the first thing you see in a smartphone as you will stare every day at the screen to access content or do any task. You should choose the perfect screen size that allows your finger to reach every corner. The large screens are good for watching or reading content and even for gaming while the small screens are handy and comfortable, which may not also slip out of your hand. The smaller display will allow one-handed use of your smartphone but the content will appear to be small and difficult to see. And if you use your smartphone in sunlight more often, you should also go for a bright display. Consider choosing an AMOLED display instead of LCD because it will offer better viewing angles and clear content.
For resolutions like HD+, FHD+ or QHD, you must check in which quality you prefer watching video content and it also depends on internet connection. The HD+ display is slightly blurry, while FHD+ and QHD display emits sharp content. However, the HD+ display smartphones are found in budget smartphones and the other two are found in the other two price segment smartphones.
Talking about the trendy refresh rate, the refresh rate offers a smooth experience while surfing. In other words, the refresh rate means a measurement of the number of times a screen is updated per second. The higher the refresh rate, the smoother the experience. But remember that, high refresh rate drains the battery faster.
Internal Configurations
The Processor is like CPU in a computer, the brain of smartphone and engine of a car. Everything of your smartphone depends on it and the performance of your device depends on it as well. The performance depends on the number of cores and clock speed. The high-end chipsets are found in flagship smartphones which delivers the best performance but if your budget is restricted you should check out for the best processor of a brand’s series in the particular price segment of the market. The processor is accompanied by a GPU that helps in faster graphics rendering.
Coming to the RAM, it is better to opt for the maximum RAM possible in your budget because the more the RAM, the better and smoother user experience will be. It is necessary to choose the right RAM amount because the performance doesn’t only depend on the processor. Users can do multi-tasking and switch to different apps seamlessly. If you are a normal to heavy user, 4/6GB RAM will be enough for you, however, 8/12GB will be enough for hard-core gamers.
Storage too plays an important role while choosing a smartphone. It is the place where all your downloaded data will be stored in your smartphone. It stores your music, cache, applications, movies, photos, videos, documents and the operating system. We would say that buy a smartphone with at least 64GB of internal storage. Even though you can expand the storage via MicroSD card but you cannot store your applications in that. And if your budget is more, you can go for 128GB or even 256/512GB storage. Apart from this, you must look for the internal storage standard i.e. UFS (Universal Flash Storage) and eMMC (embedded MultiMediaCard). These standards are designed to deliver SSD-like speeds on smartphones. Note that UFS storage type is better than eMMC because it offers improved multitasking as well as faster read and write speed at the same time.
As far as the Operating System is concerned, you should always buy a smartphone that runs on the latest operating system. Additionally, the phone should also receive OTA updates for the next 1-2 years at the minimum. Some companies like Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo, Vivo and Asus offer their custom skin UI based on Google’s OS. These custom User Interfaces have their pros and cons so analyze them before buying.
Battery life is a major concern while purchasing a smartphone. Users often want a smartphone that can last at least for a day on a single charge. It is not always possible to carry a power bank and a charging cable. So we would recommend going for a smartphone that is equipped with 4000-5000mAh battery and supports fast charging technology. Maximum companies offer 5000mAh battery smartphone these days but some of them provide just a standard charging technology. It is better that you should give priority to fast charging technology also so that you can refuel the battery and extend the battery life.
Camera
This is by far the most interesting factor that influences your buying decision. People tend to buy a smartphone that comes with more camera sensors or megapixels and some people don’t care about the camera much. The higher megapixels number or number of cameras don’t mean that your smartphone camera will perform the best. Other factors like ISO, aperture, sensors, pixel size and much more are important for a camera to perform in real-life condition.
However, we would recommend that you should look for a camera that performs well in low-light and artificial conditions. Nowadays, every smartphone camera can deliver good quality images in daylight conditions but some of them lack in artificial lighting conditions. And if you are a passionate photographer, spend more money to buy a good camera quality smartphone with professional modes.
Some other factors:
Build Quality
The smartphone should be durable as even if it slips out of your hand, it should survive with very less damage. Smartphones come in metal, plastic and glass body where the glass body phones are less durable and metal body phone are prone to get heated faster.
Company’s reputation and service
You should always look for brands that are doing good in the market and are providing a better after-sale service to its customers.
Security
It is better to buy a smartphone with a fingerprint scanner that could be placed anywhere like on the back panel, under the display or even doubled on the power button for biometric authentication.
Connectivity options like audio jack and USB port
Some companies have already discarded the 3.5mm audio jack long back. But few brands still provide it as it is convenient for users to plug-in earphones and connect the USB cable at the same time. However, USB Type-C port is becoming universal and it is better to buy a phone with USB-C port to make it future-proof.
Speakers
If you are a user who uses a smartphone for entertainment purpose only then you should look for a phone with front-facing speakers for a better experience. Also, stereo speakers can be good options for the immersive sound experience.
Conclusion
Lastly, remember that no smartphone is perfect but always prefer buying a value for money phone that would last for 2-3 years. Also, choose smartphone according to your need as there are a plethora of smartphones offered by many brands in different price segments.
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Nice one
This is quite informative, I will consider all these points while purchasing phone next time.