In the early days of modern telephony (we are talking about the early 2000s until 2006), those who wanted to buy cell phones went to the store, looked at the models and chose the one they liked best, the important thing was that they managed to manage SMS and had a decent reception. Then came the iPhone and the mobile market radically changed with the new, more intelligent smartphones, with numerous apps and features never seen before, so our life has changed forever: now we don't know what to choose anymore.
Before buying a mobile phone, many customers could ask questions such as " which one has the most powerful CPU"> how many pixels does the screen and the camera have? ", " how much memory do you have? ", " will this model be updated? ", all questions that are often not answered or received in a misleading way.
To never go unprepared for the purchase of a smartphone, let's see together the things to know before buying a new smartphone .
READ ALSO: Is it worth buying a cheap Android smartphone?
What to know before buying a new smartphone
Those who know how these things go know very well that we must not trust the first proposals but we must continue to search until we find the right model for us.
The best way to know which smartphone is better to buy is to find out for yourself on specialized blogs, where there will be comments from those who have had direct experiences.
This short guide is a summary of things to know before buying a new smartphone so as not to get lost in so many useless and futile details.
1) Operating system
The first thing to decide today before buying a smartphone is the operating system : Android or iOS Apple .
In an extremely synthetic way we say that:
- iOS (iPhone) is an easy to use and fast system, the applications available are many, but most are paid, even if the prices range from 1 to 5 Euros in most cases;
- Android is also fast (although it depends on the phone model chosen) but it is more customizable, so as to have a smartphone that reflects our character and our needs.
With Android you can do many more things, it is a free system, you can even install a customized system version and there are many applications that can be installed for free (many more than iOS).
Android's problem is the fragmentation of the models, some excellent, others poor (the price is a good indicator in this sense).
Once there was also Windows Phone but now it has fallen into disuse and is no longer supported by Microsoft, so it will no longer be taken into consideration.
2) Screen, dimensions and design
These parameters remain are very subjective and each will decide according to their tastes.
Today it is possible to buy a smartphone online, without going to a store so there are photos from every angle for each model.
Today it is possible to buy smartphones with screens greater than 5 inches (with an average between 5.2 and 5.5 inches) suitable for all needs; if we need larger screens we can focus on models that boast dimensions close to 6 inches or even more, but which thanks to the disappearance of the frames occupy the same space (understood as a whole) of a 5.5 inches.
Regarding the display of the phone there would be many considerations to make regarding terms such as AMOLED or Retina on which you can inquire by doing some research on Google.
3) The processor
Today's smartphones have the processing power of desktop computers of a few decades ago: we can really do anything!
The CPU is a decisive component for the speed of the phone to operate; there are several names on the integrated processors on the logic boards, the most famous of which are: Snapdragon, Mediatek, HiSilicon Kirin (from Huawei) and Exynos, all of which are really very performing.
The key elements to keep in mind are frequency and number of cores: as a general rule we always try to focus on models with a greater number of cores than a higher frequency.
With so many cores we can perform many more tasks and open many more apps at the same time: the minimum for a recent smartphone is the quad-core, but better to focus immediately on the latest generation octa-core models (often they are two quad-cores side by side: one optimized for processing at maximum power, the other for energy saving).
4) RAM and internal memory
Other very important components to consider are RAM and the amount of internal memory.
In general, the more RAM your smartphone has, the more you can run programs on your phone without slowing down.
2 GB or better 3 GB of RAM are now the indispensable minimum whatever the smartphone chosen, but for the best performing models (especially if Android) it is better to bet immediately on 4 or 6 GB of RAM, so as never to have memory problems when we open many apps together.
For the internal memory, a lot depends on the expansion capabilities of the chosen phone: if the phone does not have a microSD slot (including the iPhone), it is better to focus immediately on the 64 GB or higher (given the large diffusion of photos and videos in very high definition and the increasing weight of the gaming apps), while if the smartphone allows you to install an additional microSD we can also settle for 32 GB as long as you move the heavier apps and files to the microSD as soon as possible.
5) Connections
Dual Band WiFi should now be a standard: let's avoid smartphones that only support 2.4 GHz WiFi and focus on dual band (2.4 and 5 GHz), so that we can travel faster on compatible routers .
Bluetooth is another component always present in smartphones, just make sure that the chosen device supports Bluetooth 4.0 or higher technology, so as to obtain great energy savings and good sound quality (if used with wireless headphones or earphones).
For connections on the mobile network, make sure that the smartphone chosen supports LTE technology, even in its latest evolutions (LTE-A and LTE-Cat.16), so that we can navigate at maximum speed (up to 1000 mega) even when we are out home (if the operator is compatible).
NFC is a wireless technology widely used for contactless electronic payments, supported by more and more companies, banks and operators: if we have a compatible bank and we want to pay without pulling out the wallet, better bet on a smartphone with integrated NFC.
On the GPS side, all smartphones now fully support A-GPS, the standard GPS signal and the other technologies put into orbit by Russia and China (GLONASS and BeiDou), so we won't have to have any problems when we use the smartphone as a satellite navigator.
The charging socket is always USB type, but in the latest evolutions they can support USB 3.0, the type of Type-C socket (i.e. we can put the charging plug in any direction) and fast charging, very useful if we go in a hurry and the smartphone is empty (50% charge in less than 20 minutes).
Wireless charging is less widespread, a technology that is underutilized at the moment because the energies provided are very low and tend to slowly damage the battery (much better for now the classic cable).
6) The Marche
The iPhone is clearly the best-selling smartphone in the world, with one or two new models coming out every year.
The brand of Android smartphones that makes the most advertising on TV is Samsung, which dominates the shelves of shopping malls in Italy, especially with its top models, the Samsung Galaxy.
In second place is Huawei, which also owns the Honor brand and has become the best and most reliable brand for those who want a level smartphone without spending too much.
Other reliable manufacturers are definitely OnePlus, Xiaomi, Asus, Lenovo and LG.
Special mention for Nokia, which has returned to making high-level smartphones, all with Android operating system.
The best way to find the best selling mobile phones of the moment is to check the sales ranking on Amazon
7) Other features
Below we can find the other features that we can consider before buying a new smartphone:
- Camera : we check that there is a rear camera with flash (often even in double), and a front camera, for the rest there is a large world made of stabilizers, image enhancers, pixels in pixels and HDR that can hardly be understood by the common user.
Let's just make sure that the rear camera has at least 12 MP and that the front camera is at least 2 MP.
- Battery : it has always been a disappointing factor on modern smartphones so it is better not to create high expectations in spite of the announcements on the box: if we want to arrive until the evening we can only focus on models with 3000 mAh or more capacity, but often the performance is still disappointing (if we stay all the time massaging or on Facebook, the battery will still drain before evening).
- In some models there is also the FM radio, for those who still want to listen to the radio "the old way" without using the Internet (headphones will be used as an antenna in most cases).
Finally, if you do not have particular technical needs, the rule of "the more you spend the more you get" always applies even if, in the case of the iPhone, you also pay for the Apple brand and design, always in fashion and trendy.
In another post I have listed some sites to make comparisons between the various smartphones and cellphones that can be useful if you already have an idea on which brand or model to buy.
READ ALSO: Best Android smartphone from 100 to 1000 Euros (2017-2018)
