Mobile Buying Guide 2015 – For Indian and Other Buyers

A Mobile Buying Guide 2015 for Indian and Other Buyers

Should I have done this article at all? As most of us have grown up texting more than talking and flipping through Facebook post & YouTube channel list more than our text-book, we know everything about mobile phones. Right? But then every time we decide to buy a mobile phone, there are plethora of options and trouble selecting a handset. Hence I was forced to prepare a mobile buying guide for the year of 2015. We list out few of the common dilemmas while buying a phone/ tablet and list out our preferences. We have also put in Bollywood themes in between to make it cool, like the GenNext.

  BUY A PHONE THAT IS ‘AFFORDABLE’ AND NOT ‘CHEAP’.

• The salesmen is trying to sell you an I-Phone 6 specification handset at the price of few thousand rupees and you are tempted to buy it. But beware, such ‘cheap’ phone may give you ‘high-end’ features but afterwards most of your time will be spent at the repair shop or waiting for that YouTube video to come alive. On the other hand, an ‘affordable’ phone will have very few features but will give you quality in body as well as performance.

• Try to list out your need and select the phone which gives you best of your needs. Also, after deciding on these ‘important’ features, don’t compromise on them for few thousand rupees. For example, if your requirement is just phone, texting and basic internet, you don’t need powerful processor/big RAM.

  HADWARE IS PHONE’S HEART (PROCESSORS AND RAM)

• A powerful processor and more RAM means your background processes will be faster, applications will run without a lag (e.g. your subway surfer character will not hang in air), will switch between applications faster (so you can quickly move from your candy crush game to WhatsApp message from your crush) and will help in opening big e-mail attachments quickly.

• As said in tip 1, the solution lays in prioritizing your needs. If you want to play games like Asphalt 8 or HD videos, surely you need to have a Qualcomm processor with 2 GB RAM. Whereas, if your usage is limited to mid-level applications like subway surfer, candy crush, WhatsApp, Facebook etc., a dual-core processor with 1/1.2 GB RAM will suffice. For basic calling, texting and web/e-mail application even a 512 MB RAM will be more than sufficient.

  OPERATING SYSTEM IS PHONE’S MIND

• There are primarily four operating systems available at present: – iOS, Android, Windows and Blackberry.

• iOS is the most sophisticated and polished operating system of these all. Most of the applications and games are generally available on iOS before Android. However, since the iOS is available exclusively on Apple phone/ tablets, you don’t enjoy that much variety. Also, compare to the other android mobile handsets, cost of Apple iPhone is generally on higher side.

• Android is the most common operating system of all and the handsets are available in all price range starting as low as few thousands. Many games/ applications are available free in Android as compared to iOS. Also, the user compatible of Android OS is much higher than the remaining OS.

• The Windows are OS of Microsoft and the biggest advantage of the OS is that it is integrated with MS Office and Outlook. Also, it supports Xbox games.

• Blackberry was the first of smart phone OS and considered status symbol at one point of time. It has been lagging a bit behind after launch of the other OS. The best feature of the Blackberry is Blackberry Messenger (BBM). However, many similar chat applications are available in other OS nowadays.

• We will not like to influence your choice by our priority, but generally consensus in the market is choice between Android and iOS.

PHONE CAMERA OR DIGITGAL CAMERA (DSLR)

• Although a tiger is called big-cat, it still remains a tiger and not cat. Similarly, whatever your salesman tells you, a mobile camera can never replace a digital camera. At the same time, we are not denying that over a period of time, the mobile cameras have certainly become better.

• First of all, don’t buy a phone to replace your DSLR. Photography involves many more features than just Megapixels. Apart from megapixels, you must check resolution, zoom quality, flash, auto-focus, other modes (viz. panorama, HD, scene specific mode etc.). Also, if you are a selfie-lover or interested in video-calling, ensure good quality front camera. There are many websites offering photos to compare various mobile cameras. I prefer GSM Arena’s Photo Compare Tool.

SCREEN SIZE AND DISPLAY (THE FACE OF MOBILE)

• Here the opinions are as varied as human beings. Some people prefer phones that fits into their pocket and then there are others who believe ‘bigger the better”.

• I think the minimum size for a smart phone should be 5”. It fits into your pocket as well as hand and gives good display for web browsing, gaming and other applications. Also important aspect is display/ resolutions, a phone with big screen but smaller resolution i.e. more than 5” screen size and say less than 200 PPI (Pixels Per Inch) will not give you good viewing experience. Try to go for a phone which gives you right balance of these two important aspects.

DO ONLINE RESEARCH

• Don’t depend on feedback from your friend. For simple reason that since your friend has bought the phone after spending hard-earned money, it is very unlikely that he will list of shortcomings of his phone. The salesman at the local mobile shop has, of course, his own interests like commission, pending stock etc.

• The solution is just in front of your eyes. Yes, you are on www.techtiptricks.com that means you have taken the first step. Go online. Surf through review websites. Best place is to read users’ review on phone selling websites. We often miss it but on mobile selling websites, under each display, there are reviews by the users. Surf through it. If it is a popular phone, go few pages back and read older reviews. And last but not the least – google it.

I am sure you will like these mobile buying guide and recommend to your friends too.