The vast majority of the American population owns a smartphone. If you don’t have a smartphone sitting in your pocket yet and are looking to get in on the fun, you’re in the right place.
Why?
Because buying a smartphone can be downright stressful!
There’s operating systems to consider, features, carrier flexibility and more that you’ll need to mull over before you can make a solid choice.
Our team at My Zeo has written this post to make that whole process simple for you. This smartphones for dummies guide will step you through every core consideration so that you can pick the perfect phone for your unique sensibilities.
1. iOS or Android
There are two core operating systems in the smartphone space. Those operating systems are called iOS and Android.
For the uninitiated, your phone’s operating system is the software that runs your whole phone. It’s essentially what makes your smartphone… Smart.
Since operating systems is one of our primary smartphones for dummies considerations, here are a few things that make iOS and Android special.
iOS
iOS is Apple’s proprietary operating system. This operating system is focused on two things: Simplicity and style.
If you’re looking for an easy to use a smartphone that looks fabulous, you’d be hard pressed to find a better operating system than iOS.
Android
Android is an operating system that’s built by Google and is the most widely used operating system among smartphones because Google allows it to be leveraged by just about every phone manufacturer in the world (Apple doesn’t let 3rd parties use iOS).
If you’re open to using an Android-powered phone, your phone options will be broader. You’ll also enjoy more flexibility with your phone which is a must-have for many tech-savvy phone users.
2. Screen Size
Are you looking for a smartphone that’s focused on taking phone calls and doing light extra-circulars (social media/email browsing)?
If so, picking out a phone with a slightly smaller screen size can save you some money and will help you not get too weighed down.
On the other hand, if you want your phone to act as a full-blown entertainment center (gaming, watching movies, etc.) you’ll want to buy into a larger screen size which will make interacting with elements on your display more simple.
3. Quality of Display
Size isn’t everything when it comes to screens. Quality matters as well.
There are two predominant quality considerations that you’ll want to keep in mind when buying a smartphone.
Brightness and pixels per inch (PPI).
The more PPI your smartphone’s display is capable of, the sharper the elements on your screen will appear. Brightness can affect your display in a similar way.
A dull display will make images hard to see and border-line blurry. A screen with a great backlight will allow you to see your image clearly regardless of if it’s dark or bright outside.
4. Camera
Phone cameras are becoming increasingly important to smartphone users as social sharing gets more and more important. Pursuant to that fact, you’ll want to make sure that your smartphone’s camera is packing some punch so your pictures don’t look like a blurry mess.
For reference, iPhone’s newest iPhone XS comes with a 12-megapixel camera. You can see the kinds of photos that results in here.
While you certainly don’t need a 12-megapixel phone camera to take great photos, the higher your megapixel count, the sharper your image is likely to look.
5. Battery Life
No smartphones for dummies guide is complete without mentioning battery life. After all, what good is a smartphone if it spends most of the day dead in your pocket?
A battery’s capacity on a technical level is expressed in how high its mAh rating is. Usually though, most phone sellers won’t advertise that number.
Instead, they’ll give you an estimated amount of hours your phone will run while performing various tasks.
Opt for a phone that has a battery that can not only stay alive while carrying out strenuous tasks for elongated periods but also one that can charge quickly.
6. Storage
All of those pictures you take, those videos your record and those applications that you download take up space in your phone’s internal storage. The larger your phone’s storage is, the more action you can pack into your device.
iPhones have a set, non-expandable internal storage. In order to extend it, you’d need to pay for a cloud subscription service like iCloud.
Many Android phones, on the other hand, allow you to expand their storage by using a micro-SD card.
In today’s day in age, you won’t want to be caught with less than 32gb of internal storage for your phone.
7. Processing Speed
If you’re anything like most of the population, you hate technology that’s slow. To make sure that you don’t end up throwing your phone out the window as it lags while launching applications or while loading up these reviews for car insurance, opt for a fast processor.
All new phones produced by name brand phone makers (Samsung, LG, Apple, Microsoft, etc.) tend to have processors that are more than ready to tackle today’s most popular tasks.
To be sure that your phone is ready to match your lifestyle, talk to a phone sales representative, describe what you do and they should be able to point you in the right direction.
Wrapping Up Smartphones for Dummies – How to Choose the Best Device
We hope that our smartphones for dummies guide has added clarity to your smartphone search. If it has and you’re feeling pumped to pick up your first smartphone, our recommendation is that you stop reading and buy that phone now!
There’s no time like the present to start enjoying all of the incredible value that smartphones can bring to your life.
For more awesome phone insight, check out additional tech/lifestyle content on My Zeo today!
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