Shopbot's Official 2020 Buying Guide for Smartphones

With smartphones being able to do more than ever before, choosing a model has become more and more complicated. So, you might look at what is more practical for you.

Do you need a phone with a large screen, long battery life, lots of storage, high-quality cameras, high IP rating, durability, features and design, fast chipset, and more RAM for better multitasking? All these things need to be considered.

·         Smartphone gamers will need to look at a device with larger RAM, Latest Chipset, ample storage, high FPS rate with a Dynamic AMOLED screen.

·         If you are looking for a phone to help you with Office work, then you may want to look at a device with long battery life, IPS screen to reduce eye strain, note-taking capabilities, and device integration.

·         If Photography is your passion, then you may what to look at smartphones with high-quality cameras, bright AMOLED screen, ample storage, and 4K video capabilities.

So, whatever the purpose may be, there is a smartphone for it.

Price Range?

With smartphones costing from $100 to $2000, it gives you a broad range to choose from. So, it boils down to what you can afford and need.

What Operating System Best Suits Your Needs?

With Android and Apple iOS being the leaders in the market, each has its own merit and may better suit your lifestyle.

·         Android has become extremely popular as most brands such as Samsung, Huawei, Sony, Xiaomi, Google, Honor, and OnePlus have gone with this OS. With Androids large userbase, they have a more extensive range of apps and a larger range of devices to pair with.

·         Apple iOS is more of a premium quality brand with a high price point that allows you to integrate seamlessly with all Apple Smart devices and are well known for there security.

Display

The critical point of Smartphones today is their touchscreen display, with the technology varying in many ways such as power consumption, resolution, visibility in sunlight, FPS, and size. Is bigger always better? Or is there more to it?

The main screen types you get are IPS LCD, AMOLED, Super AMOLED, and Dynamic AMOLED.

·         IPS LCD Displays have higher pixel density allowing for sharper images and natural color. The black light often adds to its size.

·         AMOLED Displays are typically brighter and have deeper blacks. These displays are often more energy efficient. The downside is that they suffer from burn-in.

·         Super-AMOLED Displays have an integrated touch layer making them thinner and lighter.

·         Dynamic-AMOLED Displays have an added HDR10+ screen support, and this gives high-grade color and contrast.

Durability

The durability of your smartphone is essential as you want your devices to last long and not be easily damaged. So, ideally look for devices with a high IP rating with Gorilla Glass along with Aluminum frame.

Cameras

Previously we based the quality of our smartphone cameras just on Megapixels. Now there is a lot more to look at, such as lens, sensors, number of cameras, AI, selfie cameras, and video recording capabilities.  

There are often multiple cameras on a smartphone such as wide-angle, ultra-wide angle, telephoto, depth sensor, macro. Lens layering has improved the image quality by adding depth to understand how close objects are, blurring the background and bringing the foreground into focus.

AI often runs in the background to enhance the images and smooth out imperfections.  With lenses, they have improved image quality as they can catch more detail.

For the best camera phone, then you may want to look at some of the flagship devices on the market, as they have become more focused on this area.

Chipset, RAM, and Storage

This aspect of your smartphone is probably the most important. The processor is the brain of the device, and generally, the higher number and cores mean better performance.

The RAM determines the apps you can keep running in memory; this usually shows as the lag-free performance. For basic usage, 4GB/6GB of RAM will be enough, but for more intensive usage, you will need to go higher with 8GB/16GB of RAM.

The more storage a device has more games, apps, videos, photos it can store, and extending your storage with a memory card is always an added plus.

Battery life

Depending on your usage, the higher the mAh of the battery, the longer your smartphone will last. Increased functionality and usage of your smartphone will also determine the life of your battery. The Screen Size and Type also plays a huge roll in the duration of battery life, i.e., a larger screen will drain the battery faster. Check the capacity of the battery and compare it to others with a similarly sized display.

Then there is the choice of charging options such as standard, fast, and wireless charging. All are very handy to have, so keep that in mind.

So, to wrap it up dear Shopbot readers, look at the key features you need and work on from there. Choosing a new smartphone shouldn’t be a stressful experience, and we hope this guide has been of help!