What to Look for When Buying a New Smartphone!

There are a whole lot of smartphone models to choose from different manufacturers if you are in the market looking to buy a new smartphone. These devices offer all the features and options you could think of and even more. But do you always end up getting the right smartphone for YOU? Or are you regretting buying your current smartphone? Read this before buying your next one to avoid the disappointment.

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1. List your requirements

The first step is the most important one. You must identify the requirements you need from your smartphone and what uses you take from it. Some will argue that people uses the smartphones equally. And no they don't. I personally know some people who bought the Galaxy note series just for the hype and never used the s-pen even once. You pay for all the features, so might as well just use them all.

Some people look for a long lasting battery, but they might not need a DXOmark top ranking camera setup. Some people would not even notice the difference between the 120Hz and 60Hz display panels.

Therefore first decide what you require. Think of what you need and the tasks you'll be using your smartphone for.

If you are a tech geek and always work/play near power sources, a bigger battery might not be necessary. And if you are not much of a smartphone photographer or someone who has a go-pro or a similar device which is primarily used for taking photos, your smartphone camera requirements could below. Some people don't play games on their smartphones and some people are heavy on gaming.

Therefore, I'll list down a few requirements below for different kinds of uses.

Smartphone Gamer - A better chipset, More Ram, Big display, high refresh rate of display Big battery, Good network/Wifi reception, Front-firing speakers, good thermal performance

Smartphone Photographer - Good camera setup(Look for the camera sensor-Sony IMX ---- etc. ; Autofocus system -PDAF, Laser, Dual Pixel, number of lenses, Wide, Ultra-wide, Macro, Telephoto etc. ; Optical Zooming power (2x,5x etc.) ; OIS/EIS (Optical / Electronic Image Stabilization),

Good Battery life- Larger battery capacity, Fast charging Wattage (10W,18W,25W,33W etc.)

Media Consumption(YouTube, Netflix, Spotify etc) - Higher resolution display, higher refresh rate, front firing speakers, Larger battery, AMOLED/IPS LCD display, Good bluetooth connectivity (5.1/5.0)

Select your user requirements and decide what to look for when picking a smartphone.

For an example, the Google Pixel 4, Pixel 4a are very good for smartphone photographers because it has a very good camera setup. But not very appealing for the Gamers, Battery hogs or Media consumers because of its smaller battery and small display.

2. Find smartphones within your budget

Everything has a price. Therefore after listing out your requirements, look for the smartphones on the market within your budget first. You can use the price lists of online websites of mobile phone stores as a baseline reference. Or you can directly contact smartphone sellers and ask them for a price list.

After getting hands on a list of smartphones within your budget, compare their specifications. You can use websites like GSM Arena Compare to compare easily. 4

And always try to pick better hardware for YOUR REQUIRED NEEDS. Don't always go for the hyped ones. You might never notice the difference between a 48MP and a 64MP camera if you are not into smartphone photography.

Sometimes you might find 2-3 smartphones that match your requirements and which are within your budget. At that point read some reviews on those phones and decide by yourself which one to get.

3. Look for good warranty and the best price

After deciding on which smartphone to buy, check out the pricings of online retailers and websites of smartphone retailers. Reach out to sellers and ask for their price and warranty conditions. And some sellers have a very bad track record about warranty claims. Better to avoid them. Try to read reviews on shops on google. They will give you a pretty good idea on your seller.

After selecting a seller, you just have to go and buy your new smartphone and enjoy. If you followed the steps correctly you will not have to regret your decision.

-Damsara-