Must Read: Smartphone Buying Guide

Nowadays, choosing a smartphone is tedious as thousands of options exist in every segment/budget. There can be confusion regarding the camera, display, processor, battery capacity, etc. But after reading this smartphone buying guide, you will be clear with your first or next purchase. 

Choose Your OS First

The first thing to decide is the operating system (OS). 

Currently, there are two options available:

1) iOS (Apple)

2) Android (Google)

iOS is only available on Apple devices but Android has an array of operating systems.

If you want simplicity, ease of use, long software support, high security and do not have any budget limitations, go for the Apple iPhone. 

It is worth noting that the starting price of new iPhones is always higher than Android devices. 

But if you want to explore different and unique features of a phone and who doesn't mind security being slightly compromised, you can choose Android. Comparatively, Apple devices are widely known for their strong security.     

Display 

Most of the time you’ll be looking at your phone’s display, which is why it has to be of good quality. There are two popular types of displays:

1) IPS LCD

2) OLED/AMOLED

IPS LCD (a popular type of LCD)  offers great viewing angles and colour accuracy. 

AMOLED (a popular type of OLED) offers punchy colours and consumes less power.

If you watch movies and shows on your phone, go with an AMOLED display phone. It displays different LEDs for each pixel, and wherever it displays black colour, all LEDs of that area are turned off, thereby decreasing battery consumption.

But, don’t buy AMOLED display phones under Rs 20,000. The lower-budget AMOLED panels are generally not of good quality.

IPS LCDs are good for everyday tasks, you can watch movies and shows on these displays as well but the blacks and colour reproduction are going to be a little less punchy than the AMOLED panels. However, the repair/replacement cost of IPS LCDs is not as high as AMOLED units. 

Refresh Rate

Now that we are done with basic display types, let’s talk about the screen refresh rate. 

Most new-age smartphones offer high refresh rate displays, which makes the UI smoother.

If your budget is Rs 10,000, try finding a phone with a 90Hz refresh rate display, or if the budget is under Rs 15,000, try finding a display with a 120Hz refresh rate. If you can stretch your budget beyond Rs 15,000, a 120Hz refresh rate is the minimum you should get. The higher the refresh rate, the smoother your device will run. 

Resolution

After the refresh rate, the next important thing to look for is the resolution. If you are buying a phone under Rs 10,000 then most phones have HD or HD+ displays, they work decently well, considering the price bracket.

If you are spending more than Rs 10,000 then at least FHD resolution has to be there and for phones above Rs 15,000, you should have at least FHD+ resolution.

Brightness should have at least 500 units for comfortable outdoor viewing, and if more, the better. Some high-end phones feature QHD displays as well.

IMO FHD+ is enough for most smartphone users and that saves battery as well, for the same reason flagship devices with QHD displays also offer an FHD+ option in the display settings.

Processor

The processor is the brain of your smartphone, so you should choose a good one. Sometimes 1 or 2-year-old processors are also good, you should watch detailed video reviews and read online before making a decision.

There are 4 major processor brands: 

1) Apple Bionic

2) Qualcomm Snapdragon

3) Mediatek Dimensity

4) Google Tensor

Bionic is exclusive only to Apple iPhones. Google Tensor is exclusive to Google Pixel devices. Most Android smartphones use the Qualcomm Snapdragon or MediaTek Dimensity series of processors.

You'll have to thoroughly research the processor in your favourite smartphone because some brands sell rebadged old processors at premium prices. 

If you perform heavy tasks on your phone such as gaming, video recording and editing, etc., you will need a flagship processor otherwise you'll be fine with any mid-range processor for everyday tasks like calling, browsing the internet, and scrolling through social media posts. Just make sure you know what you are buying.

Battery & Charging

If you are a light user (with a usage of 3-4 hours/day) then 4,000mAh of battery capacity is good enough. But, if you're a "Cellcoholic," don't settle for anything less than 5,000mAh. And, make sure the device supports at least 33 watts of fast charging.

Camera

Do not run behind the megapixel count, there are other factors like sensor type and size, stabilization, aperture, OIS, etc., and the most important is software processing. 

So, if you plan to use your device’s camera solely for photography or videography, watch camera-based review videos, visit stores, and test your shortlisted phones. It’s your smartphone and you should be satisfied with its camera results, right?

Ram & Storage

No matter what you do, 6GB RAM and 128GB storage is the minimum you should buy, nowadays. If your budget is tight under Rs 10,000 and you are a light user, you can choose the 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. 

The latest fast storage type is UFS 4.0 and the RAM type is LPDDR5. Try getting the highest number possible in your budget for a smooth operating experience.

Updates and After-Sales Support 

If you buy the latest Apple iPhone, you'll get software support for 5 years. Google has promised 7 years of security and OS updates for their Pixel 8 series phones and Samsung offers 5 years of security and 4 major OS updates with their flagship devices.

Do proper research regarding it, plus you can also look up the ownership experiences online.  

For after-sales support, customer feedback is best. Ask people around your locality about their ownership experiences with different brands. And that'll give you a clear idea of after-sales support.

One important thing here is that service experience may vary with service centres of the same brand, so if you ever have a bad experience with one service centre of any brand, try visiting another service centre as you may get a better service.

Don’t Take Peer Pressure

We've covered almost all the basics of a smartphone purchase. One more suggestion is, to never stretch your budget under peer pressure.

For instance, if you spend all your savings on an iPhone 15 and accidentally break its screen, you’ll have to shell out around Rs 25,000 for a screen replacement from Apple's authorised service centre.

Buy whatever you like but make sure, if something goes wrong, it doesn't burn a hole in your pocket.