How to buy a smartphone
Shopping for a smartphone?
Great! But how to navigate through jargon like dual and quad-core, GHz, mAh and
megapixels? What makes one operating system different from another?
After reading this you will
be sufficiently armed with answers to help you pick a phone that’s right for
you…., exactly as it sounds……
Display
Ah! Most interesting
and attracting part of smartphone. Isn’t it?
The best way to judge
a smartphone’s screen is to look it from different angles for changes in
colour, and also in varying lightening conditions for visibility.
Try to invest in a
full hd(1080p) display if you’re buying a phablet. On the other hand hd(720) screens work well
for devices up to five inches in size.
On smaller devices,
load web pages to see if the text is crisp, and can be read without any strain
to eyes. In any case, avoid with lesser
resolutions than WVGA (800x480px).
AMOLED screens are
best when it comes to displaying punchy colours. LCD screens with IPS
technology comes second, while TFT LCDs should be avoided if you can.
Ram
It is plain and
simple more RAM is always better.
Most common available Ram are 1GB and 2GB.
Storage
Carrying a smartphone
is just like carrying our world in our hand. Our e-mails, social networks,
photographs, videos, music all needs space, so when buying, always budget for a
phone with ample of storage.
If you are with a
phone with 8GB storage do not be overjoyed because only about 6.5GB will be
available to you. So if you love multimedia opt for a handset that boasts for
at least 16GB or above internal memory.
I personally want to
recommend you to opt for a model that supports micro SD card of up to 64GB so
you can always add more memory when you need it.
Operating System:-
OS is that part of your system which adds smartness to
your phone. Before buying, it is always a good idea to know about different OS
prevailing in the market.
The Android OS promises native integration with
Google services that Search, Gmail, Maps, Hangouts, YouTube, etc. Besides, you get access to
over a million apps in its Play store. The best part? Titles that might be paid downloads on iOS
and Windows Phone are sometimes available for free here. Another advantage of an Android handset is
that these are plug-and-play. You can simply connect it to your PC via a USB
cable to begin transferring files to
and right to those that are priced at over $90k- from vendors such as HTC, LG,
Lenovo, Samsung, Sony, and even from local players like Karbonn, Lava,
Micromax, Spice and Xolo. Just remember, Android versions are alphabetically
named, and the latest in the market are
Lollypop and Marshmallow. Make sure you’re putting your money on either
of these.
Windows Phone is now playing
catch-up with Android and iOS-and at last count, its app store just had over
two lakh titles. Still most popular app have already made their way to this
platform. Also, WP handsets in India primarily come from Nokia - and while the
OS needs improvements, you get really good hardware for the price you pay. Plus
, these devices come with subscriptions
to free content like music and movies (depending on the model you buy ),
and also Here Maps and Drive+, which are arguably the best map and navigation
services in the country.
iOS:- iOS , only found in
iPhones , is extremely intuitive to use - and since Apple vets every
title that makes it to its App store , you 're promised high- quality digital
content in the form of educational material,
music , videos and apps . The OS itself promises smooth operations, and
you will find very rare instances of iPhone freezing during use. On the
downsides, you'll have to use iTunes to connect the handset it your PC, and
this can prove to be quite annoying. And yes, only buy from local authorized
dealers; iPhones picked up from abroad are not covered local warranty.
Size:-
A screen up to five
inches works well for most purposes. Also, it will be easier to carry in pocket
and can be used easily with one hand.
Also keep in mind
that big-screen phones are heavy and can be uncomfortable to use with one hand.
On the flip side
phones with big screens allow for a better experience while watching movies,
playing games and browsing web.
Battery:-
You may have the best hardware configuration at your
disposal but if you keep running out of battery, your handset is quite
useless....
A bigger screens, extra cores, and more sensors mean
greater power consumption. If you’re considering a smartphone over 4.5-inches
in size, look at devices that come with at least a 2000mAh (milliamp-hour)
battery. The higher the mAh, longer the battery will last.
If possible, select devices that come with lithium
polymer batteries over lithium-ion. The former are lighter, also retain their
charge for longer.
And yes, preferably, buy a device that comes with a
user-replaceable battery (although a handset like the Lenovo P780, which comes
with a 4000mAh non-removable li-polymer battery, could prove to be an exception
to the rule).
Camera:-
A 5MP camera is capable of 8x6 inch prints even at 300dpi
(dots per inch), which is the standard resolution used in professional
printing.
So, if you are looking for a good camera phone, dump the
idea that more megapixels will give better pictures. Instead, look for a phone
that boasts of good camera optics(go for devices that come with Carl Zeiss
lens). Remember, a high resolution camera with a low quality lens will only
give you low quality images with high resolutions.
In any case, if you need a snapper only for photos you'd
like to share on social networks or Instagram, a 10MP camera would be adequate.
Opt for cameras with BSI (backside illumination) sensors
for better low light photography; make sure it comes with an LED flash.
Good photos are as a result of adequate megapixels, good
lens and sensor technology with a proper image processing software as well as
high-end processor chipsets. The Nokia Lumia 1520, Lumia 1020, Lumia 925, the
Samsung Galaxy S3, S4, and S4 Zoom, LG G2, Eureka and HTC One are known for
their good snappers.
For front facing camera, 5MP is more than adequate.
Processors-
When shopping you are bound to hear about dual-core,
quad-core, octa-core processors. But what should you put your money on?
While a greater number of cores are supposedly better,
but it does not give you a true picture of how the smartphone will perform.
Why? Well, not all cores are designed identically. UK based ARM, which design
these chips, licenses different architectures-with names such as Cortex A5, A7,
A8, A9, A12, and A15--to manufactures. Here, higher numbers means better chips.
In effect, a phone that uses a quad core A15 will definitely be more advanced
than handset with a quad core A5. In fact, there might be instances where
dual-core processors might fare better than quad-core chips.
Also, a lot of how the processors performs depends upon
how its OS utilizes the abilities of processors. So an IPhone on a dual-core
processor can be better than many quad-core phones.
Qualcomm's quad-core Snapdragon 600 and 800 chips,
Samsung's octa-core Exynos, and Apple dual-core A7(found on iPhone 5s, and not
be confused with ARM's Cortex series)are
top dogs in the markets.
Devices like the Nokia Lumia’s use mid-range dual-core
Qualcomm S4 chipsets that are also seen in handsets like the Samsung Galaxy
Grand Quattro and the Sony Xperia M. Older iPhones use a dual-core
processors(again, not to be confused with ARM Cortex).
In the mid-to-low-price brackets, you'll find dual-core
Intel Atom chips, the quad-core MediaTek MT6589, and Qualcomm's dual-core
Snapdragon 200 and 400.
