There is a price war out there in the technology market. Brands like VIVO, OPPO, HUAWEI, and XIAOMI are claiming to give all that a user thinks he wants at a price that appears unthinkably low. Do not be sold out to promotional hype. It is time for users of smartphones to be doubly careful of all the tall claims and look for sturdy technology backing their purchase decisions than just a listing of everything that appears to make them seem as good as the best at a lesser price point.
The ten factors that must necessarily be looked into are listed below… and they are not in any particular order.
- Screen size of your smartphone is all about individual preferences and the sort of work you intend doing on it. I mean, there is hardly any point in rejecting outright a phone just because it follows all the currently trending sizes that have gone bigger. What really matters here is the quality of display that AMOLED screens generally give. Obviously you need to make sure how difficult it is to read from a screen in bright sunlight. You also need to see if sustained reading is possible without hurting your eyesight. Most of the Chinese brands claim to go by the trends and are giving you larger screen sizes but the display is far from being desirable.
- Yes, every buyer is now a photo-enthusiast and so many companies are boasting of higher pixels. Camera pixels may impress but output resolution is what you need to seek. Is the output as good as that found even in lower-end Samsung phones or do they match what the iPhones give in their retina display? Is the camera able to focus fast enough? How does it really function in low-light? Even if a phone camera captures images in low-light, what is the quantum of noise in the output? Are the images shot hazy and not worth being printed, if that is what you intend doing at a later stage? Question every detail and be sure that the camera technology has trustworthy names behind the functionality. The mere presence of a dual lens for selfies is not going to be good enough is the lenses are not reliable. Question every detail. Zooms in phone cameras that are below 20K are known to play with picture quality. Wide-angles for selfies are a big sales gimmick as distortions are often reported in the output.
- Storage space is welcome but the processor decides speedier access to files. So merely buying a phone because the company claims to give 32 GB of space is no longer the issue. Look for lags while you access your files and you’ll know if the storage technology deserves attention. Does the phone give you the facility of Micro SD cards?
- Fingerprint scanners are simply being added by all and sundry. In a recent article in HT Brunch, Rajiv Makhni wrote: “Researchers at New York University and Michigan State University were able to create a finger ‘Masterprint’ (like hotels have a master key to open any room) by using the most common elements that exist in all our finger lines. Shockingly, that ‘Masterprint’ was able to open 65 per cent of all phones. That means seven out of 10 phones could be opened with just one Masterprint. Imagine a glove Masterprint available for criminals to buy off the Internet.” This should tell you how harmful inexpensive technology can be as it would just lead you into an insecure future.
- The Operating System, even if it happens to be the latest version of Android, can be quite a troublesome thing because a lot of these smaller companies, like the ones mentioned earlier, have tweaked the OS. The problem that arises because of this tweaking is that you are stuck with third party apps that you neither want and nor can you remove as you aren’t proficient with rooting your phone. Look at Vivo that talks about FunTouch 2.6 in their latest entry or the Oppo claim of ColorOS3… do you really find them comfortable?
- The RAM in the phone must be geared up to make multi-tasking easier. App functions need to be free of jerks. The time an app takes to load and be active matters a lot.
- Audio quality is a major issue unless you’re the sort who just listens to any song and remains happy. There is a reason why even car manufacturers now include sound systems by known names like Harman… after all, sound output at low volumes is what gives you an almost accurate idea about clarity. Even at higher volume, the sound-bytes must not appear to burst apart at seams. Then there is the finer matter of the positioning and the number of speakers in a device. Is the output during a voice call fine? Cheaper phones make you say, ‘Hello…Hello…can you say again? Can you be a bit louder?’ I’m sure this is not what you want.
- Just reject phones if they still talk about plastic bodies. After all, even if you intend spending less than 20K, you deserve a sturdier phone body and so metal or glass bodies are just what you should be aiming for.
- Features like splash-proof, dust-proof, and shock-resistant are vital and no longer found only in the expensive variants.
- The status for your phone battery is important… however, remember that the overall technology adopted in a phone is what gives a longer usage per charge even if the mAh value is smaller. Cheaper phones generally shout out about bigger batteries but they will never talk about how much they last per charge. Then there is the final matter of quick charge for batteries as you wouldn’t want to wait for hours just so your phone gets powered.
The above are cursory pointers. There are other factors like the dimensions, weight, availability of the latest version of Bluetooth, the acceptance of 3G and 4G bands that are prevalent in India, accessories available with the phone, SIM slots, and the power of the processor. Users must hold the phone and see if they are comfortable with the size and the dimensions. Are you able to swype smoothly? Are you able to use a stylus without having to dig it in and press it harder? Phone companies have been playing with users and have been claiming a lot of features that users do not really need. The mantra is to never be intimidated by advertising hype but to go and use a device before finally making a purchase decision. Read reviews on the internet and see what the really knowledgeable bloggers and writers on portals have to say. Not every reviewer is sold out to give only a positive review. Those who are only promoting or mentioning only what press releases say are to be shunned.
Read as much as you can about a device because even if it is just 5K that you intend spending, you deserve the best option available in the market.
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Think carefully before you buy that smartphone
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Arvind Passey
05 May 2017
