Factors to Consider in Choosing the Right Phone...

Are you planning to buy a new Smartphone or is your contract about to expire? Are you confused because of so many alternatives present in the market and could use some guidance? Guess what? You are at the right place. This article will guide you through the things you need to consider or keep in mind while choosing a smartphone.

Choosing the right phone is not an easy task considering the fact that there are so many phones available in the market. Each offering something different and unique makes the choice really hard.

Choosing the right phone could be lot easier if you evaluate your options rationally and logically.

However, before going through all that you have to first analyse and introspect as to what are the things you want from the device and the price you are willing to pay for it. While you are at it you must be practical and logical about striking a balance between the features you want and the price you are willing to pay.

Once you are through that, it will be a lot easier to skim through the phones that offer those features within the budget you have allocated for the same.

You can easily do that by going through a couple of good online shopping websites. They offer the option of using a number of filters, to shorten the list, which goes a long way in saving time and effort that you would otherwise have required for this whole exercise.

Which factor is the most important for you?

Operating System

There are a number of operating systems in the market today. However, the top three Operating Systems of today are Google’s Android, Apple’s IOS and Microsoft’s Windows Phone. You must consider the pros and cons before deciding on any one of them.

It is anybody’s guess that Android has the lion’s share of the market in terms of sales and is apparently the most customizable platform of the lot. The launch of Android 6.0 Marshmallow adds new dimensions to the Operating System and offers smoothest android experience ever. Android also offers highest number of apps through the play store and soon various companies would roll out Android 7 updates.  

While the iOS of Apple is second to none and offers the most polished and sophisticated look and feel of the lot and with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus being launched with the latest version of the Operating System IOS 9 that has given new meaning to the word premium. The IOS tends to get the hottest apps and games even before Android as it is easier to target the similar spaced devices running the IOS. However, the IOS only comes with the Apple phones and tablets and does not have the kind of variety enjoyed by Android.

And recently on 7th Sept 2016 Apple rolled out iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus with iOS 10.

Windows Phone Operating System is still evolving and lags behind the IOS and Android in terms of number of apps and sales. However, it has a long way to go and is probably a good choice for people looking for the best camera phones. The Nokia Lumia series phones are all windows phones and are arguably the best camera phones in the market today.

Hardware Configuration

So far we discussed about the software part, now let’s move on to the hardware part or the hardware specifications like the processor and RAM. Now in order to decide what kind of specifications you need or want, you should first know what all you want to use your smartphone for. It is imperative that you know what all you will use your phone for; browsing internet, e-mails, editing documents, playing games, watching videos or movies, listening to music etc.

Once you have a fair idea you can decide whether you want a high-end premium phone, a mid range phone or a budget phone and can take it further from there. If you want to play High definition games on your phone, you may want a processor of highest grade like the QUALCOMM Snapdragon 810 and at least 3 GB of RAM to go with it. On the other hand if you will only be using it for browsing internet and e-mails etc. besides basic telephonic functions, than a dual core processor and 2Gb of RAM may suffice.

Sensors

Modern mobile phones come with a variety of sensors that automate or easy many of our daily tasks. This field takes into account the presence of an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a compass, and a barometer.

1. Accelerometer and gyroscope

Accelerometers in mobile phones are used to detect the orientation of the phone. The gyroscope, or gyro for short, adds an additional dimension to the information supplied by the accelerometer by tracking rotation or twist.

An accelerometer measures linear acceleration of movement, while a gyro on the other hand measures the angular rotational velocity. Both sensors measure rate of change; they just measure the rate of change for different things.

In practice, that means that an accelerometer will measure the directional movement of a device but will not be able to resolve its lateral orientation or tilt during that movement accurately unless a gyro is there to fill in that info.

With an accelerometer you can either get a really "noisy" info output that is responsive, or you can get a "clean" output that's sluggish. But when you combine the 3-axis accelerometer with a 3-axis gyro, you get an output that is both clean and responsive in the same time."

2. Digital compass

The digital compass that's usually based on a sensor called magnetometer provides mobile phones with a simple orientation in relation to the Earth's magnetic field. As a result, your phone always knows which way is North so it can auto rotate your digital maps depending on your physical orientation.

3. Barometer

And finally, you may see a device sporting a barometer in its specs sheet. Contrary to what you may suggest, it has nothing to do with weather. Instead, the barometer is there to help the GPS chip inside the device get a faster lock by instantly delivering altitude data.

Internal storage and Expandable Memory

A smartphone is as good as the amount of memory or storage it has. You may buy a smartphone with the best hardware specifications but if it does not have enough memory, it may not be able to satiate your appetite. Therefore, you must emphasize on getting a smartphone with enough internal storage and probably with a provision for expansion through an SD card. Now the question is how much is enough? Well the answer to that lies within your mind.

You have to ask yourself as to how many apps you will use, whether you will use it for listening to music or watching movies and would want to have your collection on your phone. Depending on all these things you may choose how much memory you will need. Most of the smartphones have internal memory ranging from 16GB to 128GB, while some of them offer expandable storage through SD card.

And SD card are available from 16GB to 256GB<…

Screen size and Quality

When it comes to size of display or screen, different people have different perspectives. Some may want a screen size that would easily fit into the pocket and could be easily used with one hand and yet should be sufficiently big for enjoying videos. Some others may want a large screen irrespective of whether it fits into the pocket or not. While some might want a phone with a small display which is easy to handle.

Besides the size the quality too has an important role to play. A smartphone with low resolution may not be able to play those HD videos you have, while those videos may not look good on a smartphone with a large screen in excess of 5 inches but a low PPI of 200 something. You must look for a smartphone that offers the right balance of screen size and screen quality within your budget. You may sacrifice a UHD or Full HD screen for a QHD screen to get a bigger screen or vice versa

Camera

For a sizeable number of people, the camera could be the factor that may tilt the scales in favour of or against a particular smartphone. While most smartphones nowadays come equipped with at least an 8MP camera, the good ones have a camera with 12 to 16MP or more MP. Although a lot depends upon the number of Megapixels a camera has, as far as quality of images it clicks is concerned, it may not be the sole criteria.

There are a number of other factors that you must pay attention to like the optical zoom. A camera with lower Megapixels that offers optical image stabilization and/or optical zoom could be a better option than a camera with higher Megapixels that does not offer OIS or optical zoom. You must also take into account how much control does the smartphone allows the user on the camera settings. You should also take into account things like aperture, ISO, shutter speed resolution etc. You will only be able to make an informed and smart decision once you go through all this. It’s a tough call to decide which phone has the best camera. However, you may decide on the basis of colour reproduction, resolution and other camera features.

Pricing and Budget

The budget could be the biggest spoilsport when it comes to taking a final decision. You must ensure that you do not overspend. While you should also make sure that you do not compromise on important things for a small price differential. You are the best judge of how long you plan to use the device and must make an informed choice based on a comprehensive research, which you do not regret at a later stage.

Moreover, you could also make use of various price comparison sites like mysmartprice.com to get the best price a particular device is available for at various online stores. You could also use the lowest or best price so derived as a benchmark to negotiate the price with your neighbourhood store guy.

Here are some of the Recommended Phones by me currently available in INDIAN market.

I guess this would help a lot...