Smartphones are computers
Smartphones are small computers that make calls. A computer has a motherboard, a computer chip, memory, storage and system and application software. Don’t smartphones have all those?
This means that the process of identifying the right smartphone is as a daunting task as choosing a good laptop computer.
The first natural thing to look for is the size of the screen. This is in inches and is the measurement across the diagonals of the LCD. Most smartphone displays range from 4 inches to 6.3 inches. Be aware, though, that one smartphone could be taller yet narrower while another could be shorter but wider and both could measure 4.7 inches across diagonals.
It is very important to check the storage capacity. This is the granary of your photo memories, downloads and other files. 8 GB should be a good minimum storage these days but 16 GB is desirable. And why not 32 GB? You should realize that files for all the apps you download reside in the storage.
Closely related to this is memory. This space is only available for the smartphone to use when on and working. The storage is like the drawers of your desk while memory is like the top of your desk. Whenever you want to work on a file, you fish it out from the drawer and place on top of the table and start working. Probably this is why the first personal computers were called desktops.
2 GB of memory as a minimum is fine but 4 Gb is desirable. Memory enhances speed of apps. Most smartphone manufacturers including Samsung and Apple play hide and seek on memory; you have to dig deeper to find this spec.
The computer chip is the engine-room. These days, don’t accept anything below 1.2 GHz quad-core. Well, never mind the technical chutzpa; think of it as a car engine firing from four cylinders.
The modem is your smartphone’s signal receiver. While 3G may be fine, it is now outdated. By next year, or late this year, the world will start talking the language of 5G, so it is important that our melody should be in sync with modern times. All I am saying is that if you are in the market for a smartphone today, it has to be 4G.
Unless I want to offend ladies, the camera specs should be omitted. As the rule of the thumb 5 megapixels for front facing camera, I mean the one for selfie. 12 megapixels rear facing camera will give you real good quality pictures for that birthday treat at the lake.
Because we live in part of the world where electricity is not as ubiquitous as oxygen, it is important to go bigger on battery. Batteries come in micro amps hour (mAh). Let that not boggle your mind; all you have to know is that an ordinary smartphone consumes 650 mAh per hour. This means that a 2200 mAh battery should give you 4 hours of usage before the phone starts to sound that annoying beep.
Next time when you are in Game, Sky Electronics or Globe, pretend to speak the language and you will immediately notice the reverence and I assure you, it is easy to get a good discount if you can prove to them that you can utter one or two technical terms. And when you do, remember to send me a ‘thank you’ note.
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