How To Actually Choose a New Smartphone

If you ’re in the market for a new smartphone , you ’ve certainly got plenty of choice to pick from — but it ’s not inevitably all that comfortable to spot the differences between the dozens of glass - and - metal - and - plastic slab that are out there . At the same time , certain specs and characteristic that were once crucial are now less significant , while others have become more authoritative over the age .

This guide should aid you beak a new smartphone , ready for 2023 , if you ’re struggling to bang where to bulge or what you should be looking for to find the correct phone for you . We ’re not going to mention any specific models , so the point here can be applied to any machine — if you take some specific recommendations , ascertain outour best phones guide .

Android vs iOS

This remain a key determination , and it ’s one that you may have made your mind up on many years ago . We ’re not going to do a decimal point - by - point equivalence here , but most of the most pop apps are now uncommitted on both program , and Google and Apple have copied plenty of features from each other for their own wandering operating system . In 2023 , iOS stay a little more polished , while Android is a lilliputian more customizable .

Clearly , you ’re going to want an iPhone if you ’ve hail to rely on Apple ’s mobile apps — there ’s an Apple Music app for Android , but not much else . Meanwhile almost all of Google ’s apps are available on iOS , though you could argue that they ’re somewhat well integrated with the sound and with each other on Android . Messaging is very important of course , and iMessage is one of the chief reasons mass cohere with iPhones .

Choosing a smartphone is n’t just about choosing a smartphone of course of study , because you need to suppose about all of the other gadgets you own , too : Is there an Apple TV 4 K or a Chromecast plug into your television readiness ? Is there a HomePod Mini or a Nest Mini in your kitchen ? Does your laptop run macOS or Windows ? The answers to these questions are go to have a bearing on whether you opt for Android or iOS .

The Samsung Galaxy S23 might be the phone for you—or it might not.

The Samsung Galaxy S23 might be the phone for you—or it might not.Photo: Samsung

Screen and design

There ’s not much pas seul out there in terms of phone design , but there is some — and it ’s worth check out not just the aesthetics of the handset that are on the market , but also the color they fare in , to discover your arrant sound . Camera prominence are one orbit where maker still use some creativity , and it ’s definitely easier to differentiate between smartphones from the back rather than from the front .

Sadly for fans of smaller devices , there ’s not a outstanding deal of option when it comes to screen sizes , with most phone displays now around the 6 inch scratch or big . There are still one or two handset out there with small screens , but they ’re few and far between , and you may have to make compromise elsewhere . The superior OLED display tech is now used on flagship and mid - range handsets , though you ’ll still find LCD on budget models .

bet out for the screen resolution in pel , which will assure you how sharp text and images are going to be on the display , and break its refresh pace , which is evaluate in hertz ( Hz ): this give you an indication of how suave and fluid everything from TV to animated menus are going to be , though headphone velocity and memory direction wreak a part here as well . Finally in terms of form factor , we ’ve got foldaway phones to consider , though terms persist high-pitched and the options remain limited for the time being .

iOS shown off on the iPhone 14.

iOS shown off on the iPhone 14.Image: Apple

Camera quality

One of the most mutual uses for a phone is to snap pictures and bewitch television with it , and the good tidings is that even the cheapest phones are in reality pretty expert at this now . pay more for a sound will typically get you bigger , sharper and comfortably balanced images , as well as increased optical zoom ( being able to zoom in with no loss of character ) .

You ’ll see phones list with the number of cameras they have on gameboard , together with each camera ’s megapixel evaluation ( the size of it of the images they can take ) , pixel size ( bigger pixel are ripe ) , f stop value ( a smaller value means more ignitor and contingent can be grabbed ) , and sensor sizing ( with child detector think more sluttish seizure and better shot ) .

These eyeglasses are all useful to know , and all influence exposure and video quality , but to really understand how dear a phone ’s camera is , you ’re best off learn review and looking at sample shots : That ’ll give you a much good melodic theme than look at a specification sheet or believing the plug attached to a camera frame-up by the earphone manufacturing business . That ’s in part thanks to the post processing algorithms most modern phone apply to their pic . you may get a glimpse of Google , Samsung ’s , and Apple ’s in actionhere .

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 from Samsung is one of few foldable options.

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 from Samsung is one of few foldable options.Image: Samsung

Battery life

We all need more barrage life in our phones , and you ’ll see battery capacity list in milliampere hour or mAh : The higher the number , the big the capability . However , there are numerous other factor to bear in mind , admit the sizing and luminosity of the screen , or how well optimized the phone software and its apps are .

As with camera character , there ’s really no reliever for read review of phones to check on battery spirit , rather than believing any manufacturer claims — the experience of people who ’ve in reality used the handset should give you the well idea of how long you ’re going to get between charges , though a large electric battery capacity certainly assist .

It ’s also deserving check up on charge focal ratio , evaluate in watts ( W)—the higher the number , the quicker the charging . When you ’ve sustain a phone that can refill its bombardment in minute rather than hour , the electric battery life does n’t matter quite so much , because it ’s easier and quicker to keep it topped up throughout the day .

You can’t miss the camera modules on the Google Pixel 7.

You can’t miss the camera modules on the Google Pixel 7.Image: Google

Other specs

mainframe speed , and to a lesser extent the useable memory ( RAM ) , indicate how fast a headphone is . Alongside bone efficiency , it determines how promptly apps will adulterate , how well multiple apps ( or browser app tabs ) are handled simultaneously , the lag you might see in games , and so on . Then there ’s the internal storage , measured in gigabytes ( GB ) , which is still authoritative for storing apps , photos and videos , even if most content is now streamed .

There ’s an argument to be made that the fastest processors of the moment offer up more business leader than the median exploiter is going to need , but commend that the phones with these chipsets inside them will last you longer as well — sometimes the excess investiture is deserving it if it mean you ’re sound to be able to go another year or two without upgrading again .

Newer processors typically need less get-up-and-go as well , which helps with battery biography . Then there ’s everything your phone expend unreal intelligence for — infer your voice commands , optimize ikon , and more — which will also be serve by a more hefty processor under the lens hood .

Apple promises up to 23 hours of video playback between charges on the iPhone 14 Pro.