How to choose a smartphone : The ultimate cellphone buying guide

Yesterday I was sitting in my class and a classmate came up to me. She asked which smartphone to buy. The perplexed look on her face showed how confused she was. Then while explaining things to her I got an idea to write a full comprehensive guide on this topic. As there are many people who are buying their first smartphones nowadays. So confusion is rampant, as to which phone is better. Which phone is more value for money, which phone is the best at a particular price point? Questions like these abound and with so many confusing guides around people are confused who to follow. So, today here at Inspire2rise we bring to you the ultimate cellphone buying guide. Learn how to choose a smartphone today!

How to choose a smartphone : The ultimate cellphone buying guide.

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How to choose a smartphone : Choosing the right platform!

When choosing a smartphone the first thing to consider is the platform i.e the Operating system the smartphone runs on. You must be clear which operating system you want on your smartphone. As most of the basic tasks and functionality is provided by the operating system only. So, choosing the right OS is a must.

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Here’s a roundup of the different platforms available right now :
1.) iOS : iOS is a smartphone platform by Apple inc. available only for the iPhone. iOS is praised by its users for its simplicity and ease of use. Also notable is that iOS doesn’t lag even if you tax your system with extensive tasks. Critics slam iOS for it’s lack of customizability and lack of launchers and custom skins. But it has a great app ecosystem and all the great apps are available on iOS and many apps are exclusive to iOS only. iOS experience starts with the iPhone 4 which starts at around 20k in India right now. And the latest version of iOS i.e iOS7 is a major change to iOS as design has been bettered as well as several new features have been added.

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2.) Android : Android has become the global standard for a smartphone OS. With more than a billion activations already crossed and a phenomenal growth it has become the de facto OS for smartphones. The good points for Android are that it has a very high level of customizability. Out of the box too Android is nothing less than awesome. With the announcement of the latest version 4.4 Android Kit Kat, Android is expected to further dent iOS’s market share. The negative points for Android are that still it’s ecosystem is very fragmented. Android 2.3 a.k.a Gingerbread is still the most widely used Android OS and needless to say it’s far less capable than it’s successors!

3.) Windows Phone : Windows Phone developed by Microsoft is a platform which has it’s own unique fan base. Proponents of WP say that it’s live tiles, ease of use, low resource consumption and business class features make it a good choice for everyone. It’s a unique user experience in itself. And with the current acquisition of Nokia’s handset making business by Microsoft has led to further consolidation of Windows Phones from both hardware and software viewpoint. The cons of Windows Phone as some may say are that it has less apps as compared to the other platforms. But it’s not a great issue if you are not an app freak!

4.) Blackberry : Blackberry is almost fading out nowadays. Earlier the USP of Blackberry the BBM is now going to be available on all platforms. So, the exclusiveness of BB is now lost. But still some people who crave for the Blackberry’s keyboard and other small nuances can opt for a Blackberry.

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How to choose a smartphone : Getting the hardware right!

1.) Processor & GPU : The processor of a phone is like it’s heart. How much you can do, how much multitasking is possible all depends on the processor. Anything less than 1 GHz in this modern age is unacceptable. Also the number of cores also means improved performance. For example a 1.2 GHz quad core processor is definitely better than a 1.2 GHz single core processor.

2.) RAM : RAM is the primary memory of a smartphone. Android needs more ram than Windows phone or iOS and that’s why if you have an Android phone consider buying the ones with at least 512 MB or greater primary memory.

3.) Display and touch quality : Display has several other features in it. Display quality depends on the type of material being used. AMOLED, LCD etc. are the types in use. While IPS -LCD offers better viewing angles ( here IPS stands for In plane switching), AMOLED offers deep blacks and is more power saving and quality is essentially the same. The screen resolution is an important factor, the pixel density measured in ppi must be above 250 ppi for a good screen quality. If your budget permits go for a HD display as it will run most of the movies and games in a very rich manner. Going by the current market, Nokia’s lumia series and the iPhone have seriously good displays. The flagship Androids by HTC and Samsung too have superb displays.

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Touch quality : Touch quality varies from vendor to vendor. Samsung mobiles have a very good touch quality. iPhone and the lumias too are very responsive. The Lumia series can even be operated by fingernails or while wearing gloves on. ( That’s an added benefit of their mobiles.)
Display protection : A good display is one which has a scratch resistant protection solution. Corning’s Gorilla glass and the recent Gorilla Glass 2.0 are very good display protectors. Look for phones with Gorilla Glass protection if you want your screen to last long!

4.) Battery Life :

Battery life depends on several factors. But above all it depends on the capacity of the battery. Anything above 1500 mAH should make the cut for a smartphone buyer. The greater the Milli ampere hour rating the more the capacity of the battery. Battery life depends on the OS too. Earlier versions of the Android os were not as battery efficient as the current ones.

5.) Camera : A smartphone must have a good camera for it to be considered as a good smartphone. A camera can be measured in terms of the megapixels it uses to generate the images. The iPhone has world class camera quality. The Lumias are a class apart when it comes to cameras. The HTC one with it’s 5 MP ultra-pixel camera is also a good camera. Samsung’s smartphones too have decent cameras. Always go for a 5 MP or above camera for your smartphone. Other features like flash, panorama shot and several other features too need to be kept in mind. If you need a phone for video calling then keep in mind that you will be needing a secondary camera too.

6.) Call quality : After all what good is a smartphone if it doesn’t have good call clarity. Nokia and apple lead in this department too, though only marginally. Because the baseline performance is good for all. Only the smaller vendors like Micromax, Lava, Xolo etc. have issues with call clarity on some of their handsets.

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7.) Latest version ( both in hardware and software ) : Getting the latest hardware on your phone is essential so as to ensure that it won’t get outdated soon enough. And also to save you from the hassle of upgrading your smartphone once every few months.
Ensuring that you have the latest software version is also essential to have a smooth smartphone experience.

8.) Build Quality : The materials used in building the phone. The overall sturdiness and look and fell of the phone too count. Phones with cheap plastic feel to them certainly feel inferior to those with anodized aluminum bodies like the HTC one and the iPhone. The polycarbonate colorful bodies used in the Lumias are excellent too!

9.) Connectivity options : Different types of connectivity options like HSDPA, WI-Fi, Bluetooth, USB, NFC etc. also need to be kept in mind while buying a smartphone. Ensuring that you have the latest version of Bluetooth i.e v 3.0 will also make sure that your transfers are blazing fast. NFC is not essential right now but may have some use in future.

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10.) SAR values : SAR values tell us how much radiation a phone emits. Poor Chinese built phones have very high SAR values. Some phones by the smaller Indian manufacturers too have high SAR values. So, we warn you to buy a smartphone ( or any phone ) with a low SAR rating.

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So, that was all about how to choose a smartphone that’s perfect for you. After all getting the right smartphone can boost your productivity and increase your efficiency. Have any queries, doubts? Want to ask something? Then comment below on the awesome How to choose a smartphone : The ultimate cellphone buying guide post by Inspire2rise.com .

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