Zopper recommended Checklist: Before buying a smartphone

Planning to buy a new smartphone? You should be choosy while buying smartphone and why not when you will doing all activities from clicking pictures, playing games and downloading apps in a one single phone. But with so many operating systems and screen sizes that grab your attention choosing the correct smartphone for oneself seems to be a never ending confusion.

Your mind gets boggled when you listen to those jargons like dual and quad core, Ghz and mAh. Which operating system is better? Windows Phone or Android? Here some essential components that makes a smartphone different from rest.

Choose the right Operating System

You should not compromise on the OS factor as that puts the ‘smart’ factor on your smartphone. As, blackberry is slowly disappearing in the smartphone world, buyers new choice is revolving around Windows Phone, Android and iOS. So, you should know about the pros and cons of each.

Android: The Android OS gives you all possible google services like Search, Gmail, YouTube and Maps. Also, you can have access to different apps on Play store. You can choose phones that might cost you as less as 4K or that as priced as high as 50K. Handsets like HTC, LG, Samsung and Xolo.

Most Android Smartphone versions are alphabetically named with JellyBean and KitKat being the latest version. Just make sure that your money spent is of worth.

Windows Phone: Windows Mobile Phone is in competition with Android and iOS. All the Windows Phone handsets are from Nokia, though you get good hardware and features for the price you pay.

This OS gives you a great user interface with Live Tiles that gives all updates and it is easy to resize the titles to customize the experience. Other features that you can enjoy are Xbox games, video, music and Outlook integration.

iOS: iOS is found only in iPhone’s that maintains a major overhaul for Apple that helps in multitasking, a Control Center for changing settings. Though some of its features might confuse you like Notification Center with 3 tabs.

Other than this, this OS gives smooth operations; there will be few instances when you will find that this phone freezes. Its new iTunes radio is definitely a plus point.

2) Processors: You must have heard a lot about octa-core, quad-core and dual-core processors. A great number of cores give you a better picture of a handset will work. A phone that uses quad-core A15 is advanced than the phone with quad-core 5. Here higher number means better chips.

Phones like Nokia Lumia use mid-range dual core Qualcomm S4 chipsets that we can find in other handsets like Samsung Grand Quattro and Sony Xperia M. Old iPhones have dual core A6 processor. In mid-range phones, you can find dual-core Intel Atom chips and Qualcomm’s dual-core Snapdragon 200 and 400.

3) Display: The first thing you look in a smartphone is the phone’s screen. The most effective way to decide for a smartphone is to take it and view it from different angles for change in colour and different light conditions.

You should avoid handsets with lesser than WVGA (800x*400px) resolution. AMOLED screens are best when it is about powerful colours. LCD screen with IPS technology can be considered while, TFT LCDs should be avoided.

4) RAM: RAM plays an important role as to how the smartphone functions. All flagship devices gives 2GB to 3GB of RAM. The lower-end to mid range smartphones come with 1 to 1.5GB. In case you want to load applications faster and switch between them, then you should prefer more RAM.

5) Storage: Buyers should always budget for their phone that comes with sufficient storage. If a phone has 8GB of capacity, only 6.5GB will be available to the user. If you want 4GB, then users should buy a phone with 8 to 16GB.

As more megapixels, and HD video recordings acquire more space. Ensure that you should have 32GB of storage if you wish to watch a lot many HD films on your device.

6) Camera: If you are looking for a good camera phone then you should not choose it according to its megapixels. You should look for phones that have good camera optics. You should opt for camera with Backside Illumination sensors for a better low light photography.

Handsets like Nokia Lumia 1520, 925, Apple iPhone’s and Galaxy S3, S4 and HTC are considered to be good snappers.