How to choose a smartphone?

The phone case is responsible for ergonomics, appearance and usability of the gadget. Currently, manufacturers use 4 types of materials for its manufacture:

1. Metal - the advantage is that the casing of such a material is reliable and has a long service life;
2. Plastic - is used to reduce the cost of gadgets and increase the competitiveness of the budget segment models. Phone cases made of this material are subject to mechanical damage, but much cheaper to repair;
3. Glass - cases made of this material are expensive, they look beautiful, but it is dangerous to wear such smartphones without a case, since the material is easy to scratch or break;
4. Ceramics is the most stylish option, but the production of smartphones in a case from the specified material is expensive. Moreover, it is very fragile, many times weaker than glass.

Choosing an inexpensive smartphone, most experienced users prefer metal. The best option is aluminum, which removes heat from the process and gives the assembly rigidity.

The screens of modern phones are conventionally divided into standard and phablets. Although small displays (up to 4.5 inches) are still on sale, leading manufacturers have already stopped using this standard.

• Standard displays range from 4.5 to 5.5 inches. Such models attract convenience. With your thumb you can reach all the main elements of the display with a sufficiently large screen area;
• Phablets - from 5.5 inches. Such models are convenient when watching movies, reading books, surfing the net. They were also rated by gamers. If you decide to choose a phablet smartphone, keep in mind that a large screen requires more energy, so you need a good battery.

This parameter is one of the most important, because many users look at the display for 4-5 hours a day. There are 2 technologies for manufacturing smartphone matrices:

1. Liquid crystal (IPS, PLS, TN + FILM, PVA) - cheaper, attracts by long-term preservation of properties. The downside is that smartphones with IPS matrices display black worse;
2. Organic LEDs (AMOLED, OLED, SUPER AMOLED OPTIC AMOLED) - more expensive, attracts with a deep, rich black color.But there is no inversion. Colors are oversaturated.

Choosing a smartphone by parameters, you should know that the battle between IPS and AMOLED matrices has been going on for many years. However, for objective reasons, we can not say which technology is better. They both have a right to exist. Therefore, the more important parameters in this case are resolution and aspect ratio.

This parameter implies the number of displayed pixels on the phone screen (in height and width). Currently on sale you can find models with the following resolution:

• HD (1280х720 pixels) - inexpensive smartphones, mainly equipped with small screens up to 5 inches. Otherwise, graininess will be noticeable. However, modern manufacturers are surrendering from this standard;
• Full hd (1920x1080 pixels) - the best option for choosing a smartphone, taking into account the price and parameters. Good models currently have an aspect ratio of 18 by 9;
• QHD (2560 × 1440) pixels are the most expensive. In practice, the difference between this resolution and Full HD is not noticeable. At the same time, the battery consumption is just fantastic. Perhaps the future of the smartphone is in this format, but so far it makes no sense.

It should be borne in mind that the clarity of the picture depends not only on the resolution and aspect ratio, but also on the pixel density per inch. This parameter is indicated by ppi. The higher the value, the better.

In this matter, everything is as simple as possible - the more RAM (RAM), the better! This parameter is responsible for multitasking and the speed of short-term tasks. You won’t harm the device with the spare RAM. If you choose a smartphone for the price, then keep in mind that the system does not use 6-8 GB yet. 4 GB of RAM is enough for working with demanding software. At the same time, devices with 2 GB are better not to take today. 3 gigabytes of RAM according to current standards - the optimal minimum!

As for the type of RAM, it should be the fastest and most modern. This is currently LPDDR4. As you already understood, the smaller the number in the type designation of RAM, the lower the class of the smartphone. For example, modern budget models use LPDDR3.

If you intend to choose a good smartphone, you need to pay attention to another important characteristic - internal memory. Regardless of volume, the following varieties of “read-only memory” exist:

• eMMC is an aging memory type. The latest version 5.1 was introduced 3 years ago. On average, the read write speed is 100-150 mb / s;
• UFS is a modern type of memory that runs 3 times faster than eMMC. Currently, the current version is 2.1, but already in 2019, a modification of UFS 3.0 is expected. Read write speed is from 500 mb / s.

If you don’t know how to choose the right smartphone, buy with UFS memory, because it allows the processor to reach its full potential.
As for the volume, it all depends on the needs of a particular user. If there is not enough internal memory, pay attention to the presence of a slot for an additional storage device. Currently, manufacturers are making combined slots in which you can put two SIM cards or flash drives.

Thus, today the minimum is 3 GB of LPDDR4 RAM, 32 GB of internal memory and a slot for Micro SD. The best option: 4 GB of RAM, 128 GB of internal memory such as UFS 2.1 or 64 GB of internal memory and a slot for Micro SD.

Perhaps the most difficult parameter. First you need to decide on the manufacturer of the processor. We note right away that Huawei operates on the basis of the chips of its subsidiary Kirin. Apple also operates on its own chipsets. Currently, these companies are considered the most effective in the production of processors (Kirin 980, A12 Bionic). The downside is that they only release chipsets for their products. When choosing a smartphone with a good processor, pay attention to

The remaining flagships operate on the basis of Qualcomm and MediaTek. The first brand is better known in the USA and Europe.Leading flagships work on the basis of microcircuits of this manufacturer. If you want to choose a powerful processor based on Qualcomm, now the Snapdragon 845 is considered the most productive.

MediaTek operates on the processor market much less, so its chipsets are cheaper. When have a high power. More common in South Asia.

Qualcomm is one of the leaders in the market of mobile processors producing core with ARM architecture. Highly integrated circuits (SoC) of this company include processor cores, graphic unit, audio, and much more. At the same time, the brand is developing a wide range of SoC:

• Snapdragon 4xx - The youngest line of microcircuits, including 4-8 nuclear processors with a frequency of 1.4 to 1.8 GHz. Support LPDDR3 and GPU from Adreno 3 to Adreno 5. This segment is designed for simple smartphones. Currently, the line includes Snapdragon 427, Snapdragon 435 and Snapdragon 450 (the higher the digital value, the more powerful the processor);
• Snapdragon 6xx - The middle segment, consisting exclusively of 8-core chips with a clock frequency of 1.8 to 2.2 GHz. GPU (GPU) - Adreno 5. Recent models support LPDDR4 RAM. This segment is suitable for more advanced smartphones that support the performance of various tasks, but not three-dimensional games;
• Snapdragon 8xx - The top line, on the basis of which the leading flagships work. When choosing a powerful processor for a smartphone, keep in mind that the latest SoC models are implemented on 7 nm technology, which indicates high energy efficiency and performance. Impossible tasks for such smartphones currently do not exist.

MediaTek is a Taiwanese company that manufactures processors not only for smartphones, but also tablets. Unlike Qualcomm, which is trying to maintain a balance between speed and efficiency in performing various tasks, MediaTek is focused on power. This often negatively affects energy efficiency, but the latest brand’s products are cheaper. When choosing an inexpensive smartphone, keep in mind that budget smartphones based on MediaTek often look more attractive. Currently, there are several lines for smartphones:

• MT65XX - segment of 32-bit processors;
• MT67XX - a segment of 64-bit chipsets for simple phones;
• Helio P - budget processors for entry-level and mid-range smartphones;
• Helio X is the premium segment for advanced smartphones.

To begin with, the core is an element that is responsible for the performance, clock speed and power consumption of the processor. Many people think that the more cores, the better the phone. This is partly true, but only in terms of the redistribution of processes. At the same time, many programs and games do not support multi-core chips, 2 threads are enough for their work. Therefore, buying a multi-core chip is necessary if you intend to use three-dimensional games, shooting Full HD. If you want to choose smartphone up to 10,000 rubles for internet surfing, communication, then there is no need to overpay. The 4-core device is quite suitable for you to save battery. It is more important to consider the following characteristics:

• Core frequency - the higher, the more efficient the processor will be, but it will also generate more heat. Therefore, the optimal frequency for one core is considered an indicator in the range from 1.3 to 2.2 GHz;
• Process technology - nuclei can build on a 7-28-nanometer technical process. The smaller the number, the better. Because more transistors fit, less heat is generated, better energy efficiency.

Therefore, the type of nuclei is a more significant parameter than the quantity.

Unfortunately, many users do not pay due attention, choosing a smartphone according to the parameters, the quality of the processor’s video accelerator. The following types currently exist:

• POVER VR;
• MALI;
• ADRENO;
• VIVANTE;
• GEFORCE.

The best is considered ADRENO - Qualcomm Snapdragon branded product. In other cases, you need to look at the value of GFlops.The higher the number, the better the smartphone will cope with games. The main competitor is MALI - MediaTek.
Also, as a guideline in choosing a processor, many users use benchmarks. You can test the performance using the AnTuTu application.

What else should I look for when choosing a smartphone for the price?

1. Bluetooth 5.0 or higher - allows you to connect multiple devices at once. The latest models of smartphones began to produce without a standard headphone input. If you are going to listen to music using Bluetooth, make sure aptX technology is available that provides music transfer without loss of quality;
2. Wifi with a clock frequency of 2.4 to 5 GHz. If you plan to choose smartphone up to 5000 rubles, pay attention to this parameter. The higher the value, the better the signal. Models with wi-fi ac standard and a frequency of 5 GHz pick up the signal better than budget laptops;
3. IR port - Suitable for controlling home appliances. Thanks to this technology, you can use your smartphone as a remote control (switch TV channels, adjust the temperature of the air conditioner, etc.);
4. 2 sim cards - This is already a standard, and it is important to pay attention to the supported LTE bands. Please note that some devices purchased abroad do not support interaction with available telecom operators in the CIS;
5. Nfc - to pay for purchases from the phone.

Another important point for modern smartphones is the support of the USB-C port for quick battery charging, the ability to insert a cable into the socket by either side, in general, universal compatibility. It's about the shape of the nest! As for the standard, it is displayed in numbers. For example, Meizu Pro 7 is equipped with USB-C 1.0 at a speed of up to 12 Mbit / s, and the Galaxy S9 is equipped with USB-C 3.1 at a speed of 10 Gb / s. As you understand, the difference is palpable and lies in the speed of data transfer. Probably, the future is behind this form of socket, so it is better to immediately choose a smartphone that supports high standard USB.

Currently, developers are just fantasizing about nuclear and graphene batteries. Therefore, it is better to focus on large volumes of battery so that they do not harm the aesthetic appearance of the phone. Unfortunately, a capacious battery, as a rule, is large. As you understand, choosing an inexpensive smartphone with good batteries is easier than a flagship, because they are less powerful and require a little energy. Accordingly, the large battery capacity does not at all indicate a long operating time without charging, since it is also necessary to take into account the performance of a particular model. However, the minimum today is 3000 mAh. It is desirable that the device supports the fast charging function.

This option is one of the most important today for many users. If you do not know how to choose smartphone with a good camera, pay attention to the following points:

1. Diagonal matrix - it will be good for a state employee if the size is 1/3 in the presence of 12 megapixels. For flagships, the figure should be higher. Minimum 1 / 2.5-1 / 2.3 inches. In general, the larger, the better the picture. The problem is that many manufacturers do not indicate the size of the sensor, but this is one of the most important parameters in choosing a camera;
2. Pixel size - Another very important parameter on which the photosensitivity of the matrix depends. It can vary in the range from 1 to 2.4 microns. The higher the score, the better. For good shooting, 1.4 microns is enough.
3. Diaphragm - the wider, the more light penetrates the camera sensor. This characteristic is marked f /. The smaller the number after the fraction, the better. The best option is from f / 1.8 to f / 1.6. Another nice bonus of the wide aperture is the blurring of the background near even in the presence of a non-dual camera;
4. Lens - The optimal focal length is 25-30 mm. At the same time, focus on wide-angle optics if you want to choose a smartphone with a good camera;
5. Stabilization - Provides long exposures to avoid blurring and noise when shooting handheld.The better the technology is implemented, the better the pictures will be.

The most common mistake most users make is chasing the number of megapixels. In fact, this is only one of the important parameters, but the quality of the optics and the matrix is ​​much more important.

You will understand this if you compare the quality of the Samsung or Apple camera of yesteryear with modern Chinese smartphones of the budget segment.

As for the firmware, the main thing is to focus on a clean modification. The most worthy operating systems for smartphones are Android and IOS. Each of them has versions for interacting with electronics. The first also supports working with a voice assistant, manages notifications, and keeps track of sports activity.

Android - The most common open source OS for phones. Based on it, different manufacturers make their shells:

• Huawei - EMUI;
• Meizu - Flyme
• Samsung –TouchWiz;
• HTC - Sense;
• LG - UX.

The list is not final. When choosing a smartphone on a pure Android, keep in mind that today the latest version is Pie. Below the version of Android Oreo is not worth buying. It is also worth adding that at the end of 2018, Samsung smartphones received a new One UI shell.

IOS - This OS is for Apple Electronics. It is considered more reliable, excellently optimized for the respective smartphones. But it is not used for sale, so among smartphones it can be found only in iPhones of the corresponding brand. The final version of iOS 12 for 2018

Friends, we hope this is enough for you to understand how to choose a smartphone by parameters and price! Please note that there is no ideal phone that has ideal characteristics. Therefore, determine your needs, evaluate the status of the wallet, and see our rating!