Planning To Buy A Phone This Festive Season? Things You Should Consider
It is no coincidence that big smartphone manufacturers always ensure they have already launched their latest devices to the market by this time of the year. Chances are high that there will be a slowdown in the release of new devices until spring next year. This time of the year is when retail businesses record big sales resulting from the shopping frenzies from Black Friday, Thanks Giving, Christmas and New Year celebrations.
If you are planning to treat yourself or your loved one this festive season with a gift of a smartphone, here is a breakdown of few things you should keep in mind while shopping for a smartphone:
How badly do you need a smartphone?
If you have been using a feature phone all along, you could be missing out on a lot when it comes to conveniences and services packed within a smartphone. There are numerous apps on the app stores and more still in development meant to make our lives easier. But then again, some of these apps cost money to buy and use. If you were doing just fine without all these apps, perhaps you could wait a little longer and channel that money towards another Christmas shopping expenditure.
Which Mobile Operating System is the best for you?
Perhaps the most important and basic question you should ask yourself: is Android, iOS, Windows Mobile or BlackBerry operating system (OS) the best for you. Your choice will determine your experience and the influence your phone will have on your life. You should be aware that whichever platform you choose, it will make switching from one platform to the next considerably hard. In regards to your contacts, calendar, apps and favorites feature on a particular OS.
If you are big on iOS, you have a comparatively limited choice when it comes to the number of devices. There is the iPhone 6 Plus (phablet), iPhone 6, iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. The latest Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have chip that will enable you make payment is stores via Apple Pay. If you prefer Google’s Android OS, you will have a wide variety of smartphones from different manufactures to choose from; ranging from Samsung, Sony, LG, HTC, ZTE and many others.
Android has the advantage of being more flexible and different manufacturers can customize it to suite their preference. Additionally the platform offers developers more say in terms of what apps they would like to run on Android phones; Android is literally a free-for-all platform. This has led to it being the most popular mobile operating system in the world. Then there is the Windows mobile OS, which is quite a promising platform though has less number of apps compared to Android and iOS. Then there is BlackBerry, the once highly acclaimed platform, but as for now all I can say is that it has seen its better days.
Which features on a smartphone best serves your interest?
This is perhaps the most tricky question. There are those who want an esthetically beautiful smartphone: the look at the design, the curves on the phone, color and feel. There those of us who go for a phone just because of their iconic logo; there consumers who just love having a phone with the iPhone trademark logo.
Then there those of us who are more interested in what’s under the hood. You consider the phone’s processor speed, RAM size and internal storage capacity with a provision for memory extension by a microSD card. You also look at the display size, its sensitivity to touch, proximity sensors, resolution and ppi. You should be very keen on the display especially if you are the type to play video games, take notes and watch movies from your phone.
You also need to consider the phone’s camera capability; both the primary and secondary cameras, connectivity (LTE, HSPA+, 3G, Edge), WiFi, Blutooth, NFC and GPS among others. When you are making your choice on these features, you should know that your choice for a phone ought to be determined by your personal need. You might go for a phone with the latest advanced features that would probably cost you a lot of money, yet you will only be using 30 percent of those features.