Recommending smartphones, what to look for
As famous YouTuber MKBHD says, “It's Techtober.” Now that the iPhone 15 has been released, it's time for the rest of the smartphones to be released. This is the time of the year when most major companies start to release their newest and best products of the year! As all of these new devices arrive, you have to ask what device do I get?
There are so many options, and it's so easy to get lost in the weeds of all of them. There are a lot of things to consider, but here is a quick list you should check:
purpose
budget
Battery life
Quality
Purpose:
What is the purpose of getting a device? If you are one of those users who use a phone exactly as a phone should be, any phone on the market from now to two years ago will do the job.
If you are one of those power users, who also do work on their phone, such as checking emails and looking through spreadsheets (although you should be looking at a computer for that) alongside all the basic things of a phone, maybe you should consider upgrading to a higher tiered phone. While all phones on the outside might look similar, not all phones are created equally. Let's look at the newly launched iPhones, the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and the iPhone 15 Pro Max. By design, they look very similar. Besides some minor changes, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. However, the difference is on the inside. The Pro line gets the new A17 bionic pro, which has a 6-core CPU and GPU that drastically improves the performance of the phone. The iPhone 15 has the A16 bionic chip, and this is what was in the iPhone 14 Pro line from the previous year. While yes, you are getting the performance of a pro-line from the previous year, there is a difference in performance between the 15 pro and 15.
Another thing is screen real estate, if you are the type to look at documents and PDFs on your phone, you should get a bigger phone or a folding device. If screen real estate is a big factor, I recommend getting a folding phone as this will 2x your screen, allowing for multi-tasking and multiple apps to be opened on your device. Side note, while folding devices have only been out for some time now, it's still not perfect and they all have their problems. So I would do my research before just buying.
So depending on your purpose and how you want to use your device it will drastically affect what phone line you get. So I think it is important to consider the purpose of your smartphone.
Budget:
We can’t ignore this part because not everyone can afford a top-of-the-line phone or even want to. We just need a phone that works and does what we need it to do. If we were to look back 5-7 years ago, we would say that iPhone performs just better and is all around better than Androids, but now, that is not the case. All smartphones these days are powerful and packed with features that will get you through your day-to-day life. That myth or idea that a certain phone is better doesn't exist anymore.
In general, smartphones have a premium line and a basic line. Apple's basic line contains the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. Their premium line has the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Samsung’s basic line is the Samsung S23 and S23+, and their premium line is the Samsung S23 Ultra. Even Google has devices for each tier. The basic line averages anywhere between $700-$1000 the premium line averages $1000-$1200. To some users, the price is one thing to consider before anything else.
Battery life:
Smartphones are kept on you and go with you everywhere and you won’t always be near a charger or have a phone charger to charge your device. So battery life is super important. Most phones can last the entire day, but having a bigger and better battery would take some of the pressure and anxiety off. Typically the pro and premium line phones have the better battery, and the bigger one has the larger battery. Another tip is to carry a portable battery charger and a fast charger. I do both :)
Quality:
This is something I think is overlooked and something I overlooked as well. Smartphones these days seem to be more fragile than the devices we have 10+ years ago. I mean the Nokias? You can drop a brick on it, dust it off, and go on with your life. If you use your phone, quality is something to consider as well. Most smartphones will be made of aluminum and glass. But the premium and pro models will be made with stainless steel. Just in general, the premium line will be made with better materials. However, the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max will be made with Titanium, the same kind of metal that is sent out in space! Phone build and material quality are something we should consider and I believe it’s something that isn’t considered enough.
There are a lot of things to consider when purchasing a new device and with the upcoming releases of new devices. It's important to create a criteria list that we need from our devices and select the best device that suits you. If you are a TikToker, and you film, edit, and post everything through your phone? Get the top phone as an INVESTMENT because that is how you are growing. If you are an average Joe who just needs to connect with loved ones, read the occasional email, and take pictures of the leaves falling (it almost fell around the time this was written), then maybe just the basic line phone is best. I hope this provided some help and value and perspective in your device selection process.