Things to Consider Before Buying a Smartphone!

Smartphones are now an essential part of daily lives. People are becoming heavily reliant on them for their day-to-day functions – be it the communication, leisure, or social connection. This the reason it is essential to know what things should one person consider before buying a smartphone.

This guide will help you narrow down your search and find out the best smartphone with the right features that are best for you.

1. Operating System of the Smartphone

The first thing you should decide before buying a smartphone is to make sure which operating system you love the most or if we put it in other words: which operating system would best meet your needs?

There only limited options to choose from, as there are only three major operating systems in the market:

1. Android
2. iOS
3. Windows

As per the statista, android has a major claim of the market and it will continue to claim further by the year 2023. Here are the year-by-year usages of these operating systems.

Speaking of the decision to select one of them, we encourage you to base your decision on rationale parameters, rather than the previous affinity with a particular brand.

As soon as you get advice to evaluate your preference on the rationale parameter, the first thing most people do is to browse what parameters they should consider for this evaluation.

Fair enough!

We have enlisted below a few thought-provoking questions that will bring you out of your affinity shell and make you a rationale evaluator.

1. Do you prefer to buy a smartphone with the same operating system that you are already using just because you are familiar with it?
2. Would you love to try a different operating system?
3. Are you biased towards one operating system because you read the features in some online articles?
4. You went to a retailer and you are under the influence of the retailer’s advice?
5. If your friends using the same operating system, may be this is the reason you are unconsciously biased towards it?

It is worthwhile to note that when you decide to buy a smartphone, you should ask the above questions.

Apparently, it appears that the selection of a smartphone’s operating system is easier. While we agree that there is no rocket science in it, however, we consider that you miss the fun part if you don’t make a rational decision.

Let’s jump straight into the guide and find out what you should check when you intend to buy a smartphone.

2. Price and Re-Sale Value of A Smartphone

What is more important to you when you buy a smartphone: Price or the re-sale value?

The answer to this question will vary from person to person depending upon one’s personal interests and other circumstances. Unless you are a tech junkie, we suggest you evaluate your buying decision based on both the current price and the resale value of the smartphone.

As there are many models available in the different operating systems and in different manufacturers. This is the reason; we suggest you take your time to evaluate a few options to a reasonable extent.

Different researchers, such as bankmycell, reported that flagship Android devices lose value twice as fast as iOS. Speaking only of the android phones: these budget smartphones lose half of their value in just the first year.

We also suggest that don’t make the resale value only determining factor. Sometimes the initial cost to buy a smartphone is a major determining factor. For example, iOS devices are typically expensive compared to Android devices.

3. Features

The third important aspect to check before buying a smartphone is the set of features that this mobile will carry. There is a range of features from which you have to choose from that best satisfy your needs.

Sometimes careful evaluation of features will save you a lot of money while having all the good options on your smartphone.

We have enlisted 9 important features that you should never miss to check.

1. Battery Size
2. Screen Size
3. Screen Resolution
4. Camera
5. RAM
6. Processor
7. SD Storage
8. USB File Transfer
9. Internet Connections

Now let’s speak of each feature and check out which one is right for you.

Battery Size of A Smartphone

This is one of the most important parameters that you should evaluate.

Remember! Your smartphone will be most satisfying only if the battery of your smartphone meets your expectation. This is the reason you should buy a smartphone with sufficient battery capacity.

The battery performance is measured in milliampere-hours (mAh). The battery capacities vary between 2000 mAh to 5000 mAh. If the smartphone specification does not specify the mAh capacity, look for three other parameters: standby capacity, talk time, and media playback time.

What is the best choice for you?

The answer to this question depends on your lifestyle. If you have a light usage, 2000 mAh would be meeting your needs. However, if you play games or use other applications, then consider buying a smartphone with higher battery capacity.

Screen Size of a Smartphone

The screen size of smartphones is getting bigger in every launch of a new model. As the screen size increases so do the prices and the need for a requirement of a bigger battery. So the optimal choice will be a trade-off between price and battery.

If you are an average user, consider buying a smartphone with a medium screen size. On the other hand, if you are the one who plays games or if you are heavy on using apps, we suggest buying a smartphone with bigger screen size.

Either you buy a medium or larger screen size; the bigger battery will do wonders for you. Consider buying a smartphone with a bigger battery capacity.

For most of the users, the screen size of 5 inches is great because the smartphone can be operated conveniently with two hands.

Screen Resolution

The first important thing to note is that screen size is different from the screen resolution. Bigger screen size doesn’t mean it will have a higher resolution. Both are different parameters but should be read in conjunction with each other.

Smartphones come in a variety of screen resolutions, ranging from 720 pixels (HD) at the low end and up to 4000 pixels (Ultra HD) at the higher end.

For most of the users, the screen resolution of 1080 pixels (Full HD) will be good for optimal user experience at a reasonable price bracket.

Camera

The most common term to define camera quality is megapixels. While it is not entirely true that more megapixels mean better picture quality, but still it still holds some ground.

Smartphones are packed with cameras ranging from 8 to 108 megapixels. Apart from the megapixel of the main camera, several smartphones feature more than one camera on the rear. For example, more than 50 mobiles have 3 cameras on their rear side. You can check out the entire list on the other article.

In our opinion, for most of the users, 12 megapixels meet the needs of the majority of the people. Unless you have a high-end requirement for photography, go ahead with 12 megapixels camera.

RAM

You will need more RAM if you intend to use heavy applications such as games. In this case, you should consider buying a smartphone with 4GB RAM. In contrary to this, smartphones with 2GB RAM are always sweat to keep you going in your daily use.

Processor

Your processor directly affects the performance of your smartphone, and hence the user experience it provides. This is the reason; it is essential you spend some time finding out the processor capability of your smartphone.

There are two parameters you should look for. First is the number of cores and the second is the clock speed.

More number of core means, you will be able to run multiple processes at a single time. And better clock speed means how fast your smartphone can operate.

The smartphone’s processor ranges from a dual-core processor to 8 cores. While more number of cores is better, it attracts additional cost too.

In our opinion, the dual-core processor, like the iPhone 6S, meets the needs of most of the people.

Speaking of clock speed, we recommend choosing a smartphone with a clock speed of at least 1.8 GHz. This clock speed is sufficient to run your most social media application without much trouble.

SD Storage

SD card expansion slot is a feature of Android smartphones. This expansion slot comes in handy when your smartphone’s internal storage capacities don’t meet your demand.

This is a feature exclusive to Android phones. Having an SD card expansion slot allows you to store more files, regardless of your phone’s internal storage capacity. Depending upon the model of the smartphone, you can expand the SD memory from 8GB up to 200GB.

USB File Transfer

If you most often transfer data from your smartphone to your laptop and vice versa, we suggest you choose a smartphone with a USB 3.0 connection. USB 3.0 is very fast compared to USB 2.0.

Internet Connections

Wi-Fi is now an integrated part of our daily lives and fast Internet brings our experience to a new level. All the smartphones connect to the Internet but not all of them have 4G LTE. We recommend you check the smartphone whether it supports 4G LTE or not and buy the one that does.

4. PTA Registration

PTA registration is one of the most important factors you should check out. In the case if the smartphone is not registered you have to pay duty; otherwise, your smartphone will be blocked by the PTA automated blocking system.

You can check whether the device you are buying is registered with PTA or note. Use these three tools:

1. PTA App
2. PTA website
3. Send IMEI number of your smartphone to 8484

If you are looking for a smartphone, you can check out the ads on QWER. Here is the quick link that will show you all the list on QWER portal.

Smartphones on QWER

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