Smart Phone buying guide

HOW TO BUY THE BEST MOBILE PHONE

There are a few things you need to keep in mind while buying the right smartphone for yourself.

You must identify what do you use your smartphone for.

This guide takes you through the complete process of selecting the best mobile phone.

Smartphones have snaked their way into almost every living moment of our technologically-fueled lives. More people are buying smartphones, and the number of options is also increasing. Choosing a smartphone from such an overwhelming list of options might get confusing, so we made a guide that helps you pick the best smartphone for your needs.

CHOICE OF OPERATING SYSTEM

It boils down to two options - Android or iOS. The choice is actually more complicated than you imagine since both operating systems have a sizable list of pros and cons. If you’re someone who enjoys tinkering around with your device and customising it to your heart’s content, you’re Team Android. If you like a simple, powerful OS which gets constant software updates and is supported for a more extended period, you’re Team iOS. Nevertheless, Android is also almost as powerful but not quite as simple, although the current Android version has become much simpler to use than the days of Gingerbread. Just know that iOS, as an OS, is quite limiting, in some cases. For instance, you cannot sideload apps from the internet if they are not available on the App Store, the split-screen mode still isn’t a thing on iPhones (just iPads), you cannot customise your home screen and you definitely cannot use launchers to completely change the look of your phone. However, iOS comes with a plethora of advantages as well, such as iMessage, FaceTime, regular software updates.

PREFERED USER INTERFACE

You also have to keep in mind that numerous smartphones come with their own skin or UI (user interface) smacked on top of Android. OnePlus has OxygenOS, a clean skin that is quite close to stock Android, Samsung comes with One UI 2, which has improved by leaps and bounds from its TouchWiz days, MIUI on Xiaomi phones, which is an ad-fest but is well-optimised, ColorOS on Oppo and Realme smartphones, that is heavily inspired by iOS.

A GOOD DISPLAY

Smartphone display sizes seem to be ever-increasing and are continually pushing the boundary of what we’d expect a smartphone display size to be. They’ve reached the ‘phablet’ realm with displays even reaching up to 6.9-inches!You also have various resolutions such as Full HD, Full HD+ Quad HD. While QHD does provide crisper images, the difference between FHD and QHD is not too jarring, especially to the untrained eye. You should also check the screen protection on your device. Gorilla 5 and 6 are usually used in current-generation smartphones, and they provide reasonable protection for your glass sandwiches. However, we still recommend a case strongly.

THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF STORAGE

The current standard is 64GB on lower-end models and 128GB to 512GB on flagships. With swift sharing apps and technologies, almost all of us import every single GB of data from our previous phones to the new ones. So, adequate storage is essential. We recommend that you do not go under 128GB since it will give you enough breathing room to keep your data as well as download apps to your heart’s content. Also, keep an eye out for phones with expandable memory storage

BATTERY LIFE THAT FITS YOUR DAILY REQUIREMENTS

The golden standard of battery life in flagship smartphones is 6+ hours of screen on time. Anything with higher capacities can mostly allow even heavy-users to power through. Flagship phones, as well as some mid-range phones, can also reach 8-10 hours of screen on time, which is brilliant. The goal is to get a phone that can at least pull through one whole day of intensive usage. So, ensure to check battery tests online before purchasing a device. Also, try and research if the phone you’re planning on buying has a decent power-saving mode.

CAMERA QUALITY THAT JUSTIFIES THE PRICE

In 2020, multi-cameras are the norm and phones with just one rear camera are extremely rare now. You usually get a primary lens which sports the highest MP count, a portrait lens, and a wide-angle shooter. And then, you also have a few extras that some manufacturers add such as the ToF (Time of Flight) sensor, macro lens, and colour filter lens. We, at the Digit Labs, are fans of the wide-angle lens because of the magnitude of images you can now take on phones. Capturing sprawling scenes is not a problem anymore! The portrait lens, when done well, can produce spectacular bokeh shots too. However, if this trend just isn’t for you and the growing camera bumps enrage you, it would be best to buy older phones with one primary lens or newer ones such as the iPhone SE 2020. Also, don’t go MP hunting, higher megapixel-count doesn’t always mean better images since the sensor size is much more integral to producing good photos.