Choosing a best and appropriate smartphone is the most difficult thing for most people due to the vast variety of smartphones available in the market. Most of the time few people always get confused when purchasing a mobile phone. The reason is smartphone manufacturers are increasing day by day and offer a variety of mobile devices. Therefore, few non geeky people get trapped by marketing gimmick.
At the time of purchasing a smartphone you must have to look at your actual requirements. Because, every smartphone may not offer the same specifications at the same price. Some are good in camera, some are in processors etc. If you are doing a kind of job like IT related work, then you always have to work with your computer or laptop. You might not need some flagship performance smartphone. At that time you have to invest your money in mid-range devices. Few IT guys have to test applications in their smartphone, then they must require smartphones that offer good specifications.
Students need a big display smartphone because they have to read books and study books by using smartphones. For that reason few students consider iPad or other kinds of tablet to explore content in widescreen. If you are a content creator and make videos using smartphones then processor, RAM and display plays an important role.
There are many users who prefer to play online games on their smartphone, at that time they have to look at Processor, GPU, Display Refresh Rate and RAM. Good amount of RAM helps in multi-tasking and gaming. Nowadays, many low-budget smartphones come with at-least 4GB of RAM while mid-range smartphones offer a minimum of 6GB of RAM.
Lot of older people prefer to read news, call others and scrolling social media on their smartphones. At that time battery life is most important because it is not possible to charge a device twice in a day. So in that situation, good battery life along with fast charging support smartphones are required.
While purchasing a smartphone you must have to look at:
- Processor (CPU and GPU)
- RAM Capacity and Type
- Display Size and Output
- Body (Type & Weight)
- Camera
- Sound
- Finger Print Sensor or Face Unlock
- Battery Capacity
- Software Update
- Security
- Price
1. Processor
Processor is the most important part of any smartphone. Good processor helps to improve processing speed and gives you a lag-free experience. You might have heard about the Snapdragon Processor because most smartphone companies use that processor and also use it as a marketing gimmick. Snapdragon processor gives a best in class performance and uses less battery life, but depends on which Snapdragon processor used in the smartphone. 5nm processors considered the most powerful and efficient processor as per the current scenario. But obviously, you will not get processors in budget devices. For that you have to purchase high-end devices like iPhone 12, OnePlus 9 Pro, Samsung Galaxy S21 Series etc. that costs you more than Rs 60,000 ($800).
The CPU is a part of the processor and every CPU is divided into a number of cores. The 8 core CPU called Octa-Core CPU and 6 core called as Hexa-Core CPU. More cores are more helpful in multi-tasking, but depends on core frequency. The GPU renders graphics of the application which are currently running on the device. Whenever, user starts to play games, the GPU starts working.
2. RAM
RAM plays an important role during multi-tasking and stores app data at that time. More RAM stores more data. Whenever you minimise an application, the RAM stores data of that app. And when you re-open the app, the app will remain the same as the time you had closed. The LPDDR5 ram is considered as the most powerful and battery efficient RAM at current time. In a budget or mid-range device you will get LPDDR4 or LPDDR4X RAM.
3. Display Size and Output
Display size depends on the individual’s choice and requirement. Most of the people prefer 6.5 to 6.7 inch displays, because big displays show more content and are also helpful for gamers. However, there are some people who like small over big displays, because small size phones are too convenient and easy to use. Also, small display size phones can be operated by one-hand. That is a reason why people still buy 5 to 5.5 display size phones like iPhone 8 and iPhone SE(2020) in 2021.
In a budget phone, you might get options like IPS LCD and AMOLED display. That is basically a display type that shows technology used at the time of making that display. Sometimes, you will get options like 90Hz and 120Hz display refresh rate. Don’t be confused between LCD 120Hz and AMOLED 60Hz, because 60 Hz AMOLED display is far better than 120Hz LCD. The reason is AMOLED is more power efficient and shows deep colors.
4. Body
For mid-range devices, the body does not matter because all budget devices come with a plastic body. But, if you are looking for a premium or high-end device then you must look for a glass body and aluminium or stainless steel frame. Most of the costly devices offer gorilla glass protection on both side and metal body design, so you must have to look for that.
Weight is also an important factor because at the end we have to use it by hand. Heavy phones are not too convenient because we feel tired after long usage. So, you also have to look at weight-body balance and in-hand feel before considering devices. There are high chances that premium devices are too heavy due to metal and glass design, so check out that factor also.
5. Camera
Lot of smartphone manufacturers play number games in the camera department. So, do not get confused by the number of cameras. Because only number and megapixel does not matter, the thing matters is image processing, camera sensor and software optimization. 4 Cameras became a trend in 2021 and companies are just focusing on the number of cameras rather than image quality and at the end a single camera device performs better than 4 camera devices.
For example single camera on Google Pixel devices gives far far better images than quad cameras in Xiaomi and Oppo, Realme devices. You can compare your selected smartphone’s camera output with another company’s phone. So, you can get a better idea about camera quality and final output.
6. Sound
Good sound quality loud speaker can give you the best experience during media consumption like watching movies and listening to songs. It also helps during video calling and gaming. Many smartphones come with a stereo speaker which gives dual channel output like headphones, which are placed on the top front side of the phone and the bottom body part. But in mid-range sound you hardly get that feature. You must have to consider this feature while buying upper mid-range phones.
7. Fingerprint or Face Unlock
Fast unlock is an essential feature because you will get irritated every time while entering a password to unlock the phone again and again. By the fingerprint feature, you can unlock your phone just under 1 second. You just have to put your registered finger on the sensor. Fingerprint is a convenient feature and many phone offers that feature. This sensor is either found under-display or on the side of the phone. Some smartphones like Apple iPhones offer Face Unlock feature, and also work in dark environments.
8. Battery Capacity
Majority of smartphones provide a bigger battery for long usage, especially in mid-range you often see 5000mAh to 6000mAh of battery capacity. More battery capacity helps to run smartphones for longer times. But, a bigger battery takes more time to charge. So, you also have to look at charging speed. That is not a bigger issue in 2021, because the majority of smartphones offer fast charging. Some smartphones also offer 65W fast charging and are capable of charging devices within half an hour.
Premium smartphones like Samsung, Apple and OnePlus offer wireless charging. So, users can charge their device without inserting a cable. Latest device from OnePlus is capable of charging the OnePlus 9 Pro wirelessly at 50W. You also get the reverse wireless charging option on high-end devices, and it helps to charge other accessories using your smartphone.
9. Software Update
Companies are not interested in giving regular software updates in mid-range and budget devices. Most of the time in low-budget smartphones, users do not receive any further software either company promised them or not. However there are some companies that provide time-to-time updates and security patches. Many companies claim 2 or 3 years of software updates, but after they ignore customers.
So, you must have to invest in a particular company’s smartphone that has a good reputation and software update records. Company like Apple, provides software updates to the 5 year old devices. Software updates bring a lot of new features and also helps to improvise security.
10. Security
Data privacy is a major concern for a lot of users nowadays and many companies got caught by leaking the important data. Security also can be improved by updates and companies should provide latest security patches. Also phones like Xiaomi and Realme come with a lot of pre-installed apps and that is the series issue. But, companies try to earn revenue from that and also push Ads in UI.
11. Price
At the end, you have to consider features according to your budget and price of the smartphone. Because, if you want each and every feature in your smartphone then you have to pay a premium price. You also can compare all features to other devices that have come in the same price segment.
