It is a common tradition for smartphone users to change their device once there is a new one from there favourite brand to keep up with the latest phone trend. For most users, buying a new phone comes with the belief that it has more to offer and better than the existing smartphones. While this may be true to some extent, it doesn’t apply to the general smartphone space.
Let’s take the Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro and Redmi Note 8 for instance, although both devices were released the same year, Redmi Note 7 Pro was launched in March 2019 while Redmi Note 8 came in August. Redmi Note 7 Pro is the top of the line version in the Note 7 series and one would expect the Redmi Note 8 to outperformance the device but no, the Redmi Note 7 Pro, in this case, offers better performance.
Maybe that wasn’t a fair comparison?
Now, let’s look at the latest Redmi device, the Note 9 Pro and Note 8 Pro.
Redmi Note 8 Pro was launched in 2019 as well and Redmi Note 9 Pro which is the successor arrived in March 2020. Both devices feature closely similar specs, however, the Note 8 Pro uses MediaTek’s Helio G90T gaming Soc which is one of the most powerful mid-range range Soc available for smartphone. The Redmi Note 9, on the other hand, uses a Snapdragon Soc which is definitely powerful as well but not as powerful as the Helio G90T on the Note 8 Pro.
So, in terms of performance, the Note 8 Pro wins over the Note 9 Pro. In other departments like the display and software, both devices are on par, in the camera segment, Note 8 Pro performs a little better and Redmi Note 9 Pro wins the battery segment.
There are several other cases like the above where old smartphones outperform the new ones, so, when buying a new smartphone, there are lots of things you should look out for. You shouldn’t buy a device you’re probably gonna sell days later. Or you probably don’t want to regret spending your money on something you’ll hate and may even smash. Who does that!
You should always research about a new device you’re about to buy and look at the features compare to the one you’re planning to upgrade and see what new features the new one is bringing to the table and ask yourself if you really need that feature if at all its bringing a new feature and is your current smartphone no longer up to the task?
I’ll leave that for you to answer at the end of this article.
6 Most Important Factor To Consider Before Buying a New Smartphone
Like I have said earlier in this post, most people buy new phones without proper research and findings of the phone they’re going to buy. But I don’t want you to spend necessarily, so, in this article, I’ll be listing out and explaining features and component of a smartphone you should look out for when buying your next smartphone.
1. Display (Screen Resolution)
While most people focus more on screen size, they ignore some of the other important aspects of the display. The screen resolution is an important factor to look for in a smartphone if you want a quality view of contents (pictures, videos, etc).
Screen resolution is the degree of sharpness of your screen contents. It is measured in pixels. With higher number of pixels, you get a very sharp/clear objects on screen.
While a 720 x 1640 pixel screen resolution will do just fine, you’d get a better visual display on a 1080 x 2160 pixels screen resolution. So, if you want better visual contents on your screen, aim for 1080 x 2160 pixels screen resolution devices or higher.
2. Camera
Smartphone cameras comes afters the screen of course, both works hand in hand. Without a quality screen performance, you should expect less from your camera.
If you’re a photography person, then, you should be very careful when choosing a phone based on the camera. Even Google Pixel 4XL 12MP camera has a better photo and video quality when compared to most of he new 48MP and 64MP devices.
Although camera ratings are mostly pertaining to “megapixels,” they’re other important factors to be considered when taking a picture. The camera sensor, screen resolution I mentioned earlier, depth, how wide, aperture, exposure, angle, and more contribute to the quality of picture that is produced.
The camera can be very tricky too, you should test the phone camera before buying or better still watch a couple of review on the phone’s camera to be sure of what you’re buying. You can also get a quality boost by installing Google Camera on your phone.
3. Processor
The processor plays a very important role in your smartphone but quite a number of people are ignorant about this. It is what executes all the operation of your smartphone ranging from simple phone activities to complex and multi-tasking activities that are meant to be done at once.
When buying a new smartphone, you should go for the ones with a high number of processors because more processor means faster execution time and smooth performance of the device.
I recommend you go for an octa-core (8 processors) device if you’re planning to get one. But, most importantly there’s a choice between Snapdragon processors and MediaTek. Most Android users that are really into smartphones would prefer to go for a Snapdragon Soc, however, MediaTek has been doing quite well lately, so, you shouldn’t ignore it.
You can always compare the processors of a smartphone on versus website before making a choice on the smartphone.
4. Memory (RAM and ROM)
The RAM, of course, gives the smartphone a performance boost. Due to Android’s memory hog nature, you should buy a smartphone with at least 3GB RAM for a smooth experience.
Also, you want to consider the amount of storage on a device. If you’re not like me who prefers to stream all my kind of music online and don’t keep videos on my phone, I think a 32GB storage would do just fine. But if you’re a photography lover and want more space to install plenty of applications, store videos, photos, files and whatever is storable on the phone memory, then a 64GB smartphone should be a good start.
Since large memory phones are also expensive, go for the ones with expandable storage so that you can buy an external SD CARD to store your files.
5. OS Version (Android Version)
Yes, the Android version is also an important factor to look at when choosing a new smartphone in 2020. You should buy a new smartphone with the latest OS version since much lower version lacks most the capability of handling newer apps and functions.
You should also make sure the manufacturer of the phone you’re going to buy provide OS upgrades for your device whenever they’re available. This will help you boost the device performance while also keeping with the latest trend.
6. Battery
We all want a smartphone that can last for a very long hour, this is why the smartphone battery is a very important feature you need to consider before buying a new phone.
Smartphones battery life have really improved over the past few years and can still be improved on. Smartphones battery are measured and rated in mAh (Milliamp).
I recommend 4000,5000 or 6000mah battery if you want a phone that will last you through the day and good life span. You should also note that the life span of the battery depends on how you use it.
So when buying your next phone, you should be mindful of this factor
Final Words
Other factors you need to consider include finances, availability, warranty, etc So, make sure to check them out when ready to buy your new smartphone.
In terms of finance, you should group the smartphones that fall in the budget range then select the best of them using this guide. Be sure of getting what best fits your financial capability.
Bonus tip: Get counseling from smartphone experts for proper guidance on choice of smartphone.
Do you have any contrary opinion to what I’ve listed above? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below. Cheers
