How to: Research your next phone
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Choosing a new phone can be stressful if the only thing you know is that, well, you need a new phone. It can be made much easier though if you are aware of your needs and do a little bit of research, so when it comes to buying a new one you know enough to not get talked into something you don’t want.
First, be aware of your needs. Think about all the things your current or most recent phone does that you did or didn’t like, and what you used it for.
Are you sick of being 4 hours into your day at uni and your phone dying, so you have no idea what time it is or what class you have, because it’s all in your phone? Battery life may be an important factor for you when buying a new phone. Does your phone double as a MP3 player for you? Large storage space so you can hold all your jams will probably be something that you need to look at.
Decide what features you won’t compromise on - must have 32 gigabytes or more in internal storage, and a screen no bigger than 5 inches, for example.
Also think about what you’d like to have but could live without if necessary (for example, voice activated calling), so that you could potentially find your perfect phone, but you also have wiggle room when deciding between brands.
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Sheri decodes the research to help you decide the best phone for you!
When it comes to research, two of the best sites to compare and explore are Techradar and Geekaphone.
Techradar is run by people who know their stuff, and have taken the time to give a thorough review of each product.
Their reviews are easy to read, and written in a way that sounds like a conversation – someone is giving you their straight up opinion of the phone. The top of the page gives a picture of the phone, what its name is, and how much it costs. Immediately underneath is a rating out of 5, and the phone’s top advantages and disadvantages. This gives you a fair idea straight away of whether this phone is for you (Can you afford it? Can you really deal with battery life being a disadvantage?). Using the iPhone 5 as an example, you can see the layout below.
From there the review gets incredibly in-depth. The review for the iPhone 5 alone is 16 pages! Depending on the phone and each sections relevance, the review is broken down into heaps of different categories including design, display, interface, calling, texting, usability, and many others. Most of the reviews are thousands of words long, so it’s not for the faint hearted, or anyone just trying to get a general overview of a phone. If you want to know everything there is to know, this site is definitely your best bet.
Geekaphone is a site that compares one phone to another.
Type in any 2 phones and it will bring up both phone’s stats right next to each other, so you can tell exactly which phone is better at what.
The top 4 statistics it gives you are
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Gigahertz (how fast the phone runs)
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Gigabytes (how much space the phone needs to run itself),
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Inches (how big the phone is, in inches obviously)
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PPI (Pixel Per Inch – how good the graphics on the screen are)
From there it doesn’t give you sentences, only figures or words comparing each phone under different categories. These categories are display, processor, camera, video, battery, music, form factor (how big the phone is and what it’s made of), software, connectivity, features and sensors. In other words, it lists just about everything Techradar does but without explaining or discussing each point, you just get the cold hard facts.
Of course you can always look at other sites, ask friends, as well as go down to a techstore and ask a professional. When it comes to actually buying, make sure you know what you’re getting and you’re going to be happy with it, because either way, chances are you’ll be stuck with it for a while!
What factors do you consider when you buy a new phone? Let us know in the comments!
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