HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SMARTPHONE

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HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD SMARTPHONE

The dilemma when you stand in the phone shop scanning those showcases with your eyes and feeling frightened by their price tags, almost convinced by their beauty and sleekness or by a frequent memory of seeing one around when you went window shopping, such dilemma would have been prevented if you had done your research and had probably read this article.

With new and improved flagships from competing brands like Apple and Samsung in today’s market, the promo prices and appetizing incentives as marketing strategies, choosing the right smartphone to meet your specific needs has become more challenging.

Key features to consider when choosing a smartphone

Below are the key features to consider when choosing a smartphone:

  1. Operating System (OS): although there are more than just two (2) operating systems, we will focus on these famous two.
    1. Android Operating System: this is regarded as an open OS because it comes with many customizable features as in its design, specs and displays size. It is developed in Java language using the Android Software Development Kit.

Android is noted for:

  • high success ratio
  • Rich Development Environment
  • Reduced Cost of Development
  • Inter-App Integration
  • Increased Marketing

Android has the following features although upgrades depend on newer software releases:

      1. Connectivity: GSM/EDGE, CDMA, NFC, LTE, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, Bluetooth, IDEN and UMTS.
      2. SQLite database storage.
      3. Interactive UI.
      4. Media Support: WAV, MIDI, MPEG-4, AMR, AAC 5.1, PNG, GIF, JPEG, etc.
      5. Multi-tasking: switching between applications simultaneously.
      6. Multi-touch
      7. Android Beam
      8. Extended Bandwidth Wi-Fi Direct
      9. Google Cloud Messaging (GCM): developer messaging
      10. SMS and MMS Messaging.

It is important to take note of the latest Android version before purchase – the Android 10 in Asus Zenfone 5Z, Huawei Mate 20 Pro, LG G8, Nokia 8.1, OnePlus series, etc. as at when this article was published. The Android 10 has come a long way through a long list of obsolete versions as the Androids 1.5, 1.6, 2.0, etc- the Cupcake, Donut and Eclair respectively. Such upgrades come with higher and additional features than previous versions.

    1. Apple iOS: this is a major contender with the Android OS. If you are looking for something easy with a simple UI, timeliest updates with ultramodern applications, iOS fits such description. Although there are reservations on reviews about the iOS and their license withdrawal from older versions and cost price, it still retains these outstanding features:
      1. Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GSM/EDGE, LTE and VPN support.
      2. Gesture recognition
      3. Browser– safari
      4. Apple cloud service compatibility
      5. Apple`s personal assistant Siri
      6. Apple Play: stores your credit card data thereby saving you the such stress as refilling card details with every online purchase.
      7. Car play: allows for effective interaction with your device while on steering, using voice controls and accessing widgets as maps, calendar, music and messaging.
      8. Apple ID support for security
      9. Secure enclave support for storing cryptographic keys- still on security.
      10. Apple Home kit for home automation and controls of items a security a eras, lights and various home electronics.
      11. AirDrop cross platform interaction
      12. Push email.

As in androids, apple`s software improvements come with every update that unluckily quadruples the previous price. The latest iOS version is 14.2 as seen in iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini.

  1. Screen Size: main functions for purchasing this smartphone and sometimes palm-size brings in this consideration- know if your thumb dials two numbers at a time or worse, the entire display.

Know your screen sizes:

  • Small Screen: these are screen sizes below 5 inches and are very compact. Are you looking for an easy thumb reach reach? A pebble in a pocket? Take your eyes off the iPhone 12 with the 6.1-inch screen size and look to the iPhone 8- the very definition of compactness with a 4.7-inch screen size or the Leagoo Z6 with 4.97 inches.
  • Medium Screen: these range from 5 to 5.5 inches. Sits in the balance between being pocket friendly and great display in entertainment. ZTE Axon M is a 5.2-inch example but with foldable multiple screens, the 5.3-inch LG X power, another example with improved battery life and market price.
  • Large Screen: for its 5.5 inches screen size and above is regarded as a phablet, like the tablet looking 6.2-inch Galaxy S8 Plus and iPhone 8 Plus. Great for entertainment videos etc.
  1. Display Quality: color quality, contrast, brightness, graphics and viewing angles are important considerations. Avoid phones with high reflective screens that are competitive with the mirror in your room- go for the very dark screens; a good physical test would be to check your reflections under bright sunlight. Good screens will give you a silhouette for reflection. This physical test is established on the idea that the darker the screen, the more advanced its display quality. Phones like the HTC ONE X10 and the Infinix Hot 8 fits into this description.

AMOLED screens provide higher quality hues, darker screen shade levels and wider viewing angles than LCD screens; check the Samsung Galaxy series and the 2017 iPhone sequels.

For color, phones with HDR technology as used in quality TV shows provide the best color features.

Phone resolutions can be a very confusing feature; the dimensions and the rest but, go with phones having full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) for the least degree of allowed quality resolution or a Quad-HD resolution ( 2560 x 1440 pixels) for improvement, or 4K resolution phones for the best improvement as the Xperia XZ Premium offers.

Also Read: Managing Your Android Phone – 10 Things You Should Avoid Doing On Your Android Phone 

  1. Processor: this determines the operating speed of your phone. If you love downloading heavy applications or are a habitual gamer, your device`s processor should be a major concern. Snapdragon 865 Plus, released for android devices late 2020, with speed improved from 2.84 GHz to 3.1 GHz, has other improved features for better gaming experience, as Qualcomm announced.

Meanwhile, Samsung launched its 5G Exynos processor which will be compatible with mid-range smartphones with FHD + (1080 pixels).

There are several other good processors as the Snapdragon 855 plus, Kirin 990, etc. The iPhone 12 was awarded the phone with the best processor which is the Apple A14 Bionic- an improvement in the iPhone 11 A13 Bionic, the snapdragon 865+ is next as found in Asus and ROG smartphones; Xiaomi, Redmi, K30 Ultra, which have the Dimensity 1000+ are good phones also.

  1. RAM: a critical feature for multitasking. Go for phones with higher RAMs as 2GB, 4GB and 6GB at best. Avoid 1GB phones as much as you’ll care to avoid traffic 10mins away. Phones as the Galaxy Note 8 have the 6GB RAM size.
  2. Internal Storage: a microSD card can help as an expandable memory but phones manufacturers come with the phone storage as the baseline position. Acquiring a phone with larger internal storage space will save those files you would naturally shrug at deleting but finally ended up deleting because you needed extra space for that app or because your camera wouldn’t capture any those random and rare moments because of insufficient space. The minimum you could get is a 32GB phone, a 64GB for an improvement or 128GB if you needed more space than your actual bedroom.
  3. Battery Life: although this depends on how much of a heavy user you are or the active processes on your phone brought alive by your many Mobile applications, despite these reasons, getting a smartphone with a longer battery life can save you any short-term replacements. The basic consideration test is phones that last 10 hours straight with just a 4G LTE web surfing. The battery capacity of a phone can improve a phone’s reliability. Usually, the least you should look out for in terms of battery capacity is phone with 3000mAh.

Also Read: 8 Latest Andriod Phones In Nigeria With Their Prices And Specifications – Some Not Yet Launched

Apart from the above listed 7 basic features, there are other features you should look out for when selecting a smartphone, features as:

  • Fast charging
  • Design
  • Wireless charging
  • Removable battery
  • Fingerprint or Facial recognition for security
  • Carriers
  • Budget

These other features come to match your taste but are also important where elegance and durability calls.

We hope you’ll get the choicest of magic smartphones with this guide maybe chat us with it )winks!

If you are not still using Nokia 3310, kindly drop a message in the comment box letting us know your best mobile phone choice.

IGBAJI U.C.
IGBAJI U.C.https://igbajiugabi.com
Igbaji Ugabi Chinwendu, from Cross River State, Nigeria. As a Business Educator, he is profoundly interested in teaching and managing business. Started blogging 2010 and officially 2013. He holds the esteemed positions of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Director at Freemanbiz Communication and Writers King LTD, demonstrating his leadership and expertise in the field.

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