Finding Your Price Range
The price of a smartphone says more about its value than the specs on the sheet. With certain brands, you get more value out of a smaller budget, while with others, most of the value comes from the brand itself rather than anything special with the product. For most people, the 1000 Dirham range is the perfect starting point for a decent and reliable smartphone,
Anything above that brings you into the mid-price range, which brings in lots of new competitors, both from the latest model year as well as discounted flagships from the past year or two. As long as you are willing to spend 2500-3000 Dirham, you can get some of the best camera systems available on a budget and enough power to play lots of games.
While there are luxury models of existing flagships available for ridiculous amounts of money, the true premium segment is limited to a handful of players such as Apple, Samsung & Huawei. Most of their offerings sit in the 5000-6000 Dirham range and set the benchmark in terms of design and performance.
Operating System - iOS or Android?
The main piece of software that drives your phone is its operating system or OS. While certain brands like Huawei offer their own alternative, in the mass market, there are only two relevant options: Android or iOS. Both platforms support a wide variety of apps and games yet have enough individual elements that make them stand out amongst users.
Android will be the best option for you if you value flexibility because it is supported by the majority of devices across various price points and has more customisation options in terms of both apps and the UI.
iOS, on the other hand, provides a more consistent, unified, and secure user experience. Due to Apple’s oversight of the app development process, the app store security and app quality are a little bit better. Additionally, they have various native apps like Messages and FaceTime that make the user experience that much more tied to the OS. This exclusivity also comes at a higher price than most Android phones, so you might keep that in mind.
Performance - RAM & Processor
Your smartphone’s CPU, sometimes referred to as the chipset or the SoC, is what makes practically everything on your phone work. It serves as the system’s brain, and the majority of these processors are optimised by AI algorithms that effectively make your smartphone ‘smart’.
Newer processors are much more efficient at handling these demands, as they feature better neural engines as well as dedicated ISPs for image and video capture. So, sometimes, even a mid-range processor from the latest generation can offer better efficiency and performance than older flagships.
This is because these AI optimisations also improve other aspects like image processing, multitasking, security and software updates, video upscaling and smoother gaming performance. Therefore, knowing what processor you’re getting with your smartphone is crucial. MediaTek and Snapdragon processors are the staples of the Android space, with certain brands like Huawei and Samsung offering bespoke Soc like the Kirin and Exynos series, respectively.
Even Google is trying its best to establish the Tensor lineup as a viable candidate, although, for now, the crown for custom silicon remains with Apple. Whether for the ongoing A series of chipsets that are available in the smartphones or the new M series lineup that is expected to be featured in future models.
With regards to the RAM, it directly affects the ability to multitask effectively, so it is vital to have enough RAM to support running many apps in the background. You can get by with 3-4 GB RAM if you’re a light smartphone user who only makes calls and texts, uses Whatsapp and does minimal browsing. For more involved users, something in the range of 6-8 GB is ideal, while hardcore gamers can even find some phones having 10-12 GB of RAM.
Display
We spend most of our time staring at our phone displays, starting from the moment we wake up until we fall asleep at night. Because of that, brands nowadays spend a lot of time upgrading their display strategies to provide a better customer experience. Towards this end, smartphone display sizes appear to be constantly expanding, with modern smartphones going beyond what we would have labelled as ‘phablets’ just a decade ago. Today, multimedia-focused smartphones can easily come with displays as large as 6.9 inches.
In addition to the size, the display technology is also improving, with most modern smartphones using either high-refresh-rate IPS LCD panels or even more vibrant OLED displays. Samsung is especially famous for its AMOLED displays come in a wide variety of sizes and offer stronger contrast and deeper blacks. You can also choose from a number of resolutions, including Full HD and Quad HD, although the distinction between FHD and QHD is not particularly noticeable, especially to the untrained eye.
Battery
The battery life of smartphones is significantly rising due to technological advancements. The ideal battery life for high-end smartphones is at least 4500mAh, which offers six or more hours of screen-on time. Anything with greater capacity can usually withstand even heavy users.
Most smartphones attain this by increasing the battery size, with models like the ASUS ROG Phone 6 Pro offering the largest batteries that have been split into two pieces to increase charging efficiency. On the other hand, brands like Apple are able to deliver similar results with smaller batteries, thanks to more efficient processors and displays.
Cameras
One of the key selling points for any smartphone today is the cameras. These days, smartphones with just one rear camera are extremely uncommon. Multiple cameras are the new standard. You often receive a wide-angle shooter as the main lens by default, with a telephoto zoom lens as the close second.
Additionally, some manufacturers may include a few other sensors like a Time of Flight sensor, a macro lens, or a depth sensor. While going through his data, don’t always look for more megapixels, as the sensor size is significantly more important for taking decent pictures than the megapixel count.
Pixel-binning, which basically merges four or more individual pixels into one large pixel, has also been used by smartphones to improve image clarity and detail. This, combined with the fact that most mid-range cameras these days ship with 48MP cameras by default, makes taking photos a lot easier, even in low-light conditions. Although, companies like Google and Apple have proven that image optimisation can play a much bigger role in the final output, as long as you are willing to pay the premium for it.
Additional Features
Some more features can be considered before buying a smartphone in addition to the ones stated above. They are wireless charging, dedicated gaming modes and vapour cooling chambers, fingerprint sensor vs face unlock, e-sim and memory expansion capabilities, wireless charging, true stereo speakers and the latest 5G connections. These features, while not being deal breakers, can still add something extra to your palette of desire and can enhance your smartphone experience. What you get will change based on the price and the segment in focus, so make sure you do your research before making a final decision.
