One of the most asked questions in the Smartphone niche is “what device should I buy”, or “what brand should I go for”. There are a lot of things to consider before purchasing a new smartphone. A lot of “non-tech savvy” people consider only the storage space and RAM, but I can assure you it’s much more than that.
Your Budget
This is one of the First things to consider when looking out for a new smartphone. Now, there are three different types of smartphones depending on their price:
a. Entry-level/low-budget phones which are phones within the price range of $20 to $200. These smartphones don’t really offer much but will certainly get you through the day. eg Infinix smart 6
b. Mid-range phones are phones which I term “fairly good”. they kind of try to resemble flagship devices but don’t give as much comfort as flagships. they possess a fairly good chipset that can perform your day-to-day activities with ease, as well as gaming. the price range is between $200 to $600 eg Xiaomi Redmi Note 11
c. These are the really expensive ones ranging from $600 upwards. these provide you with everything you need in a smartphone, from spectacular processors to great one-of-a-kind displays, but it comes with a price eg Samsung Galaxy S22, Apple iPhone 13 pro max
The processor/chipset
This is another big debate. The processor is like the brain of your device. it controls all activities of your device. Itworks hand-in-hand with the GPU(Graphics processing unit) and RAM(Random access memory).
When it comes to purchasing IOS devices, you can skip this section because Apple already got you covered with their A-bionic chips which are one of the best if not the best chips in the world.
For Android devices, we have two main competitors, Qualcomm Snapdragon, Apple’s biggest chip competitor and Mediatek which was once written off but is now a strong competitor. Both chip manufacturers make goodchipsets, it all depends on your choice. There is also another chipset manufacturer,Unisoc but they aren’t really a competition .
RAM and Storage space
The RAM and storage space of a device is to be considered. The RAM basically helps to run many apps in in the background temporarily. the RAM space options on devices are 1gb, 2gb, 3gb, 4gb (entry-level) 6gb,8gb,12gb (mid-range and flagship).
Some devices have RAM’s which go as high as 16gb or 18gb.this is mostly evident in super gaming phones like Asus ROG, Xiaomi Black shark, ZTE nubia red magic.
The storage space is also to be considered obviously, cause more storage space, more apps and data to be stored. storage spaces are in a sequential order starting from 16gb, 32gb, 64gb to 512gb and 1024gb (1tb)
Battery power
The battery power is the last main thing to consider. Battery power is measured in milleampere/hour (mAh). the higher the mAh, the better the battery.
In conclusion, do not buy a smartphone simply because your friends or idols are using it, Buy a smartphone based on your personal needs and preferences
e.g the needs of a gamer and a youtuber in a smartphone are not the same cause while the former needs a super good chip, wide screen ratio, super cooling tech etc, the latter needs a good camera device with lots of storage space.
these are the main things to look out for in your new device. Happy smartphone fishing!
Thank you for this insight, I’ve learnt something new today. Pls I would like your honest reply. I want to buy a phone but I’m torn between used iPhone 7plus and Redmi 9. I’m an heavy user because I work online. Pls which would you advise me to go for? Thank you.
If you’re a heavy user, it means you need a lot of battery,i would recommend Redmi 9, cause if you’re using iPhone 7+, you’ll have to be carrying a power bank along with you everywhere you go.you’ll also be needing a lot of RAM,iPhone 7+ has 3GB of RAM only, while Redmi 9 has a 6GB RAM option. . As i said, it all depends on your choice and your budget