How To Choose a New Smartphone ?

Your smartphone will follow you wherever you go. An operating system, screen size, autonomy, memory... Here are the criteria to consider to find the best phone for you.

The operating system

Your choice of operating system will determine the range of applications you can use and the features offered, such as the ability to customize your device's interface.

Android

It is the most widely used mobile operating system in the world. It integrates well with Google services (Gmail, Drive, Maps, Photos). Android offers access to Google Play, a market of about 3.5 million applications, generally sold at a lower price than on Apple's App Store.

If you are looking to customize your device's interface, this is the system for you. For example, you can choose the number of home screens you want and the size of the widgets that will be displayed on them.

iOS

Known for its user-friendliness and aesthetics, this operating system is easy to use. However, the degree of customization of the device interface is not as great as that of Android or Windows.

The App Store has a collection of approximately 2.1 million high-quality applications.

The size of the screen

Devices with a screen larger than five inches, also known as "phablets", have a large touch keyboard that allows you to type text faster and more accurately than on a standard size phone. They are particularly popular for web browsing, playback, and video viewing. However, they are sometimes difficult to handle with one hand. These devices can be carried in a trouser pocket, but not without some discomfort.

Phones five inches or less in size are lightweight and easy to operate with one hand. Since their price is generally lower than that of larger devices, they are still very popular in Canada.

Feel free to handle devices of different sizes in store to find the one that is right for you.

Battery life

The larger your phone's display and powerful processor, the more important the battery's ability to store energy, expressed in mAh, should be in order for the battery to have a good battery life. Most smartphones offer about 16 hours of battery life, or about 2,900 mAh, which is a reasonable use.

Very thin phones, such as some iPhone phones, often have a shorter range than thicker devices. Conversely, models with a display larger than five inches often have two or three hours more battery life than a smaller phone, because their housing can accommodate a larger battery.

The internal memory

The operating system alone requires about 6 GB of memory. This number must, therefore, be subtracted from the memory announced by the manufacturer to determine the actual capacity of the phone.

- 8 GB 
This capability may be sufficient if you plan to use your device only to make phone calls or send text messages. You will quickly reach full storage capacity if you decide to add applications to it.

- 16 GB
For non-technophiles or novices, this capacity is ideal and can store about 2,000 songs, 500 photos and 50 applications.

- 32 GB and more
Especially for music and photo lovers. Are you a cinephile? Choose a capacity of 64 GB or more. Some models have a memory card slot to increase capacity for future needs.

The camera

The quality of photos taken by a phone depends, of course, on its physical components (such as the size of the sensor) but also, and to a large extent, on the efficiency of the algorithms used to process the images. Of course, to stay slim and portable, cell phones cannot have a large sensor or lens like cameras. Their performance is therefore based above all on sophisticated and powerful processors that are able to combine several photos or determine the light and dark areas of an image to create beautiful shots.

The NFC chip

Similar to the one found on credit cards, this chip allows contactless information to be transferred, a feature useful for mobile payment and other applications. This technology has been available since 2010 on Android phones. Apple followed suit in November 2015 by offering its Apple Pay in Canada. The number of businesses accepting this payment method is likely to increase.

The type of network

The HSPA network, often used by entry-level phones, is sufficient for web browsing, application use and photo synchronization.

The LTE network is faster for transferring a large amount of data, such as videos. However, the territory covered by this network is still limited. Check with your service provider for accessibility before making your phone choice.

The processor

Processor power is no longer a criterion of choice, as recent smartphones are almost all equivalent in performance for the average user. The multi-core processor (several circuits that run programs independently) has become the standard and allows multitasking: you can check your emails during application updates, for example.

Screen density: 576 dpi, is that too much? 

The number to remember is 300 dpi. From this value, the eye no longer distinguishes pixels at a distance of about 10 inches from the screen. Since almost all recent models offer this resolution, and even more, rely on instead on the brightness of the colors, the contrasts and the ability to see the screen despite strong lighting. However, a higher definition may be useful if you plan to use the phone with a virtual reality accessory (headset).