For anyone trying to get a new phone in 2024, I feel you. There are so many options at so many price ranges with such different features that either you simply cannot decide which phone is the one you need or even decide what is it that you’re looking for in a phone. Cameras reaching all time high on Megapixels, displays getting bigger and bigger, newer processors releasing before you can understand about the previous ones, all kinds of material being used to build the phone, there is just too much going at this point. Now, amidst this ” big beautiful ” garden of smart phones available in all shape, sizes and brains, this is how you should be searching for the perfect android phone
First things first, there are 5 major factors you should always look into,
- Display
- Performance
- Camera
- Build quality
- Battery
This list in not in any particular order, these just are things you must look into. These 5 things are the building foundations of a good or a bad phone. People these days obsess over one of these to a point they practically ignore the others and then the cycle of regrets and complaining starts. Now that you know exactly what factors to be looking for, let me tell you exactly how to decide if the phone performs good in these criteria. Now, another very important part is the budget you’re willing to spend. So, read as I breakdown on what price point what a realistic expectation should look like.
Display
Display! A very important part of the phone for a lot of people. Rarely have I heard someone say “This display sucks but the battery life or the camera’s better so I’ll buy this one.” If a display sucks, it’s a game over for me too. So, what makes a display a good display. Well, there are a few things you can look into just for the sake of deciding if it’s going to meet your expectations. In current times, displays just offer too much. There are so many features and so many additions coming to the displays that it gets confusing. To simply understand it, you should be looking for these things,
There are three major types of displays available right now. There are some others too but mostly knowing these three will get the job done. There is TFT, LCD and AMOLED. TFT display is LCD too and there is very little to know difference between these two for the general people.
LCD may appear a little brighter and smoother compared to the other. Now, if you’re only willing to spend from 12 to 18/20 thousand, TFT is acceptable. Acceptable, not recommended. From, 20 to around 30/35 LCD works.
A point to note here is the price range of above 20 to below 50 is extremely vast and offers a ton of devices. Some devices here may even offer AMOLED, about which we will come to soon, so just understand AMOLED then LCD then TFT. That should be the list of priority. Now, if you’re in the market for above 40K then the AMOLED display is a must. DO NOT pay over 40K for a phone with no AMOLED living in 2024.
After the type there is 4 other things to look for. Screen refresh rate plays a major role in a display feeling good or feeling glitchy. Generally, there is 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz and sometimes 144Hz and 165Hz too. The major rule here is, the bigger the number the smoother the display. For the lower range of pricing expect 60, for a little more expect 90 and when the price starts going above 45-50K, the device has to have 120Hz.
144 and 165 are still not that important for now, if you’re getting a phone that has 144Hz or 165Hz great! They are the best out there, but if you’re going for something with 120Hz, still great its super smooth. Now, the three other things I am going to tell you, think of it as a individual star. So, HDR, 10 BIT and Dolby Vision. If a phone gets 3 starts.-Great! and above 45K, if two, also great! but below 50k and if 1 star then you know it.
Moving on to the,
Performance
Performance is the absolute mandatory thing to look out for when buying a phone. You definitely don’t want to own a phone that can not even handle Instagram and Google maps opening at once, do you? Then, this is how you should look out for the performance of a phone. First, there is your chipset going into the phone acting like it’s the actual brain of the phone.
Processor :
You need to understand that the processor of the phone is a whole computer by itself and everything right from the Instagram scrolling to gaming and even the photos produced by the phone depends on the chipset. There are different cores within the chipset that each has a special task to operate, lets put it that way.
You really thought it is that simple? you read chipset, you read processor, and done. HAHAHA. The twist starts here, two phones with the same chipset are going to perform differenty. To put it simply, a chipset has 5 stars worth of potential but each company that puts it into their phones are going to use only 2 or 3 stars worth of it’s potential. This is done for various reasons like battery saving purposes, cutting cost or sometimes even because the operating system cant optimize enough.
This may have gotten you even more confused but it is a good to know information. Now, the main part is, we generally see three names appearing when a mobile phone processor is talked about. There is Exynos, Snapdragon and Mediatek. All three awesome and all three have great chipsets but I can not list it down for you about this one. Processors are weird because it totally depends on the phone itself too. One thing you can check out is the nanometer it is built on. The smaller, the better. FOR ONCE!
Storage and RAM
These days, you see companies boasting about the highest number of RAM in their phones and bigger the better, no? NO! please be careful about not buying a phone with 12 GB RAM out of which 6 GB is virtual. Virtual RAM makes little to no difference at all. For the storage part, if it says EMMC- avoid in cases of the phone being above 23K and look for something with UFS. That is it. Dont stress over the numbers, just get something that feels enough for you.
Camera
Who does not want to grab the perfect photo at the perfect frame and post it on the social media feed. Well, some people dont. I definitely am not one of them and most of us are not. In that case, a good camera is very essential for a phone and in this era of phones being filled with cameras, it doesn’t make it any easier to decide what to get. For cameras, understand that it is not just the MP that makes the photos better or worse.
For cameras too, there are a lot of hidden informations from the companies alot of times. So, the thing to understand here is the number of camera is not going to matter at all. Flagships have the best cameras, that is a no brainer of-course and for the phones that’s not a flagship, check for actual photo samples of that particular phone online.
Not the one’s the phone makers post but from tech channels like, TechSathi. This will give you a clearer idea about the actual images the phone can take. If you’re looking for an entry level phone just prepare yourself to get just satisfactory images because you simply cannot compare entry level phones to bigger phones. If you do these, the camera part is set.
Build Quality
Build quality can not be neglected. Stronger the phone, better it gets. For build quality, look for phones made with both glass and metal when paying a premium price. For the price range of above 30 to 50/60 you should look for something with glass or metal works too. Now, for the entry level devices expect a lot of plastic options but if you get something different from plastic, like vegan leathers. Great, go for it. This applies for phones ranging upto 30/35K too.
Another important part to look for is if the phone has protection features like gorilla glass. Phone above 50K, gorilla glass Victus is mandatory and below to upto 50 from like 35k, any gorilla glass should exist. Higher the number, better.
Battery
One thing is simple finally. The more mAh it provides, the longer it is going to last you. Any where from 4000 mAh to 6000 mAh is common on phones of all types these days. Do not get anything with less than 4000 mAh battery now on 2024 and don’t blindly trust the company claims about the battery. They mostly lie in a way it isn’t a lie.
Complicated? yes! but true. Expect a 6000 mAh to last you almost 2 days depending on usage and anything from less than 5000 or even 5000 mAh itself will last you a day whole and if you push it it’ll last you longer depending on how bigger the number is in the spectrum of 4000- 5000 mAh battery.
Charging is another important part. Most phones these days support fast chargers ranging from like 18/22W to higher. If you don’t want to spend extra money on a charger, look for a phone that provides a higher Watt charger too and not just supports it.
Another important thing to look for is how many years of updates the phone will be getting. The more years of update, the longer time FOMO will not drag you into buying a phone you don’t need.
There you go! Keep these things in mind and look for genuine sellers around you with a fixed set of requirements in your mind and you’ll find “the one” this year.
Do leave comments below about what I missed or if you do not agree with something. Cheers!
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