Choosing a Smart Phone? The 5 Vital Things You Need to Think about
If you are planning on buying a smartphone, you will be faced with thousands of options, and it can all be overwhelming if you don’t know your android from your Apple. However, with a few well-chosen pointers, there is no reason you can’t buy a phone that will suit your needs. Below are a few considerations that will help you decide which smart phone will suit you best.
Use
Before even looking at a phone, you will need to decide what you are going to use your phone for. If it is simply to talk on and text, then buy a dedicated mobile phone. If you want a phone that will take pictures and video, allow you to check out your favourite website or social media, play games or watch movies on the go, then yes, you need to buy a smart phone.
Price
Concentrate on affordability first, and if you need a specific feature (for gaming for instance) then wait until it becomes affordable, and don’t buy yet.
photo/ Pixabay
Size
If you intend carrying your mobile phone in your handbag, then the sky is the limit, but if you have to carry it in your pocket, you need to think smaller. Small phones may be more portable, but most people go slightly larger (4.5 to 5.4 Inch screen) to enable comfortable gaming and video screening; while larger phablets are for more serious movie time and games.
Camera
According to Ofcom mobile devices are now the main cameras for people in the UK, and as such are an important consideration. As a rule, you should be looking at mega pixels as your guide (this is not the only factor, just a basic one). 8Mp will give you pictures you can have printed or blown up that will be good enough for any casual snapper, but even 5Mp will give you photos to share on the net. Video is also important, so if you intend sharing video, buy a phone with an HD resolution video camera.
Network
If you buy any phone without checking if the network is OK in your area, you will have nothing but frustrations later. Ask people in your area which network they use and chose a phone that uses that network. If you plan on travelling with your phone, you should make sure you can unlock it to reduce roaming charges (find more info on the net about unlocking first), and be aware that most phones are available on most networks.
Memory
Internal memory on the phone is very important, and anything below 8 GB is now too small. Games, apps, and high quality photos and videos eat into the memory too much. Memory can be expanded with an external SD card, but these are generally only OK to store media on. Most big games and many apps want to be stored on the internal memory, and if that is small, you are going to need to keep wiping other things off to accommodate. As a sign of the future of smart phone development, there is a smart phone being released this year that has a 320Gb memory capability, that is probably way too high for a casual user, but eventually….
These are the basic considerations when buying a smart phone; and if you think about which are the most important features for you, then you should be able to buy a phone you will be very happy with; until the next time anyway.
Guest Author: Carol Trehearn
