It is almost impossible to imagine life without smartphones. They have become such an integral part of our existence that even the thought of not having phones around is scary!
Gone are the days when landlines and letters were our only source of contact with the outside world. In the past decade or so, smartphones have changed the game and how! They have cameras, voice recorders, FM, music players, games, and even work-related documenting software all integrated into suave, slim, and beautiful looking pieces. It is indeed mind-boggling. Needless to say, phone manufacturers and OEMs have gone all out to provide the customers with the very best, and as such, fingerprint sensors, facial recognition software, HDR screens, night-vision cameras, and even glass phone bodies are hitting the market. With tons of options and variations to choose from, and Quad-HD displays and triple camera mobiles becoming the norm, it can get very confusing to decide which phone to buy. But worry not, for here we have listed a few key factors to consider this year before buying your shiny new smartphone. Here goes –
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Primary purpose
This is extremely important. When you set out to buy a smartphone, the first thing you need to ask yourself is why do you need a smartphone? Just for texts and calls? Or for intensive gaming? Or maybe for watching videos and heavy browsing all day? Well, your answer will decide which smartphone you pick. If your primary goal is gaming, you will automatically need a phone with high screen resolution, sharper pictures, and big screen size. Whereas if you’re someone who browses online all day, then good strong battery life and higher RAM will be important for you.
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Your Budget
Manufacturers are bringing out smartphones to not just meet everyone’s needs but also to suit our pockets. The price range for these smartphones starts as low as 5,000 and goes all the way up to 1 lac. So it always helps to have a budget decided well in advance before you go scouring for mobiles. Also, as discussed in the above point, the costliest phone may not be the best choice for you. Usually, mobiles with features like Pop-up Camera, face unlock mobiles, and 8 GB RAM Mobiles in India tend to be more expensive.
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Android or iOS
This decision is mostly a personal choice. Today, 90% of the world’s smartphone users are divided into Android and iOS customers. Both are strong, robust operating systems and have their core ecosystems in place. If you are someone who uses a lot of Apple products, and already own an iPod, Mac Book, and an iPad, it would be a lot more prudent to buy an iOS phone so that all your data can be synced. On the other hand, the plus side of Android is that it gives you a lot more options to choose from, and brings in faster updates, especially if you use Google phones like the current Pixel series.
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Processor and Operating System
What’s a lot more important than the look and feel of a phone is how it functions. Functionality always depends on the hardware and software involved. Make sure that if you have heavy usage, you opt for a high-speed quad core or octa core processors like Snapdragon 805, or 820 respectively. The latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 is one of the fastest SoCs in the android market. Huawei’s Kirin processor is also catching up. When it comes to the software aspect, while iOS is one way to go, Android’s latest Oreo update is also making waves.
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Design, size, and display
Appearance matters a lot. More and more people are preferring bezel less mobiles for their infinity displays, bigger screens, and sleek appearance. Most flagship mobiles these days are bezel-less. If you want the ease of operation, you could go for a small screen phone, with a 5.5-inch screen. But if you want to play games and watch movies on your phone, Phablets are a good choice as they are almost 6 inches long. Top contenders like the Samsung Galaxy S10 plus, Huawei P30, and OnePlus 7 are in-display fingerprint sensor mobile phones, with huge displays, and HDR screens for an optimal experience.
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Battery Life
This is an extremely dominant aspect that is to be considered while buying a smartphone. Although performance is dependent on the processor speeds and RAM, it is equally necessary for a smartphone to have good battery life. While 3000 mAh is the norm, with higher storage, and tons of apps, higher battery life of around 4000 mAh will be needed if you use your phone all day.
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Storage Space
If you’re going to store a lot of photos, videos, and large files in your phone and may end up using it as an external hard drive, then you could opt for the 128 or 256 GB variants, which will mostly have a 6 or 8 GB RAM. OnePlus, Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo etc. are some of the 8 GB RAM mobiles available in India. Then again, if your usage is low to average, you can happily settle for 2 or 4 GB RAM variants with 16 or 32 GB of storage space. Also, most phones have the options of extending storage with external micro SD cards, so that shouldn’t be a hassle. Also, make sure that the phone you choose doesn’t have a lot of bloatware that takes up your space.
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Camera
Smartphone cameras are so good these days that they have made digital cameras almost obsolete. But do remember that it isn’t always the high pixel resolution that makes a camera great. Dual sensors, night vision, ISO levels, autofocus, and a focal aperture below 2.0, would provide you with good quality pictures. So try your hand at a few phones, and compare their picture qualities.
To wrap it up, bear in mind that flagship phones aren’t always the best options for you and that not everyone necessarily needs stuff like face unlock mobiles just because they are a part of flagship devices, not to mention that they usually cost a lot. So, while purchasing a phone, try it out a bit at the store and go with what feels right for you. You could also save a good amount of money if you don’t immediately buy a phone after its launch. Give it a few months, the prices will settle and you’ll get a much better deal.
