In today, we are going to brief you all about the specifications which you should look for when choosing a smartphone. The specs below show the general criterias for most users in choosing a smartphone, and it is just a reference to guide users instead of an absolute document to be followed.
1. Body Design & Weight
Other than the appearance, weight and size of a smartphone are something to be considered as well when choosing a smartphone. A hefty smartphone in the pocket will never feel good. Yet most girls keep their smartphones in handbags and thus size doesn't matter. It totally depends on a user preference. For instant, 133g Redmi 2 is as light as feather, while 199g Redmi Note 3G is quite a weight that can drag down your pants.
2. Screen size & Resolution
The standard screen size of a smartphone nowadays is 4.5 to 5.0 inches. Anything that above 5.0 inches are considered as phablet (Phone + Tablet). Besides that, screen resolution is also one of the specs you should consider. In short, users who like to watch videos and movies with smartphone should choose a bigger screen size and better resolution. 720p might be enough for normal users, while 1080p can only satisfy the eyes of movie geeks. Now Mi Note Pro comes with 2k resolution which is even eye soothing. However, note that better resolution might probably more battery consuming.
3. Network Supported
Network here refer to the mobile data network supported by a smartphone, either 3G or 4G.If your SIM card only has 3G plan, then choosing a smartphone will be a lot easier. Make sure the smartphone supports at least HSPA (3G), and you are good to go. For user who has LTE (4G) supported SIM, you might need to check whether the smartphone supports LTE network. If you buy a China smartphone such as Xiaomi, you need to check whether its a FDD-LTE or TDD-LTE. In short, FDD-LTE works internationally while TDD-LTE only suitable in China uses.
4. Camera
Camera is a must have spec in a smartphone. Comparing the megapixels of the smartphones camera can no longer determine a camera quality, because it also depend on the camera hardware itself. If you are really keen to have a good smartphone camera, best advice is spend time to watch some review vidoes about the smartphone. It really hard to determine a phone camera nowadays because most phones have attractive camera specs. Buy a smartphone from trusted manufacturer might help too!
5. Battery Life
This is one of the important spec that every user will look into when buying a smartphone. Usually we get more battery capacity when the phone size is bigger. But then, software plays important part on battery life. It requires powerful RAM optimization to save more battery juice in a smartphone. A smartphone with good battery life will make your day better. You will never want to spend your time finding a charging port to charge your phone right?
6. Memory Storage
Here's come another spec which is quite a subjective reason to choose a smartphone. Most people want the phone internal memory to be as large as possible. 16GB internal memory might be sufficient or not, it totally depends on how a person uses his or her smartphone. Some people like it to be flexible, means a choice of extendable memory with external memory card. When choosing a phone, we should always look at this specification. How much is its internal memory? Is external SD card slot available? Do I really need that much storage for my smartphone?
7. RAM & Processing Speed
RAM (Random-Access Memory) plays an important part in multitasking. More RAM means we can access more apps at the same time. It's the capacity of the phone to memorize all the running apps data and widgets. Do you like to install all kind of apps in your smartphone? Or you just want your smartphone to its simplest? If you are the first person, then a smartphone with more RAM, at least 2GB RAM, would be a better choice for you. The second person wouldn't have to worry much about RAM, as long as they know how to clear their RAM usage.
8. Software
Hardware specs for smartphone are fixed and cannot be upgraded. However, software plays an important role in giving users better experiences in term of features and updates. Withoutsoftware updates, a smartphone will be outdated in a short time as the smartphone technology advances in a blazing speed. Other than updates, a stable software is required for us to use our smartphones peacefully without annoying bugs. Some developers will really take users feedback into consideration, and some don't. And again, read more reviews about smartphones to know more about the history of smartphone software, or in technical term, Operating System (OS).
Verdict
The specs mentioned above are the top 8 specs which will help most buyers to choose a suitable smartphone for them. There are still other smartphone specifications that I didn't include such as Music quality, Dual-SIM features, and etc. Of course, other than just looking at the specs, after-sale services also one of the factors that we choose a smartphone.
That's all for today's class. We know most of you guys are really good at buying smartphones, and that's why you chose Xiaomi phones! But we hope this lesson will at least let you know something new, and also help those who are having hard time decide which smartphone to choose.