Top 10 Smartphone Tips

Who is the best smartphone manufacturer?
Vote!

Apple

ASUS

Honor

Huawei

Nokia

Realme

Samsung

Oppo

Vivo

Xiaomi

ZTE

Total voted: 4

Vote results

The smartphone market is conditionally divided into four key niches: inexpensive devices, working gadgets, fashion models and flagship devices.The former are assembled on the hardware of past generations, the latter are designed for multitasking and are ready to run many applications at the same time, the third delight with their stylish design or impressive unique feature, for example, a super camera, and the latter are designed to demonstrate advanced technologies used by a particular brand. At the same time, representatives of these key niches are often motley in price, which makes it difficult for an ordinary buyer to navigate the market. The following gradation will facilitate the situation:

Up to 6000 rubles - the most simple devices with minimal performance. In fact, dialers with a couple of "smart" options and an elementary camera of the last generation. They will fit as a gift to a small child, because it is not a pity to lose or break such a gadget.

Up to 12000 rubles – entry-level working devices, can have a high-quality display and acceptable performance.

Up to 20000 rubles - top state employees with an optimal balance of characteristics.

Up to 25000 rubles - good models with more advanced functionality and fresher hardware.

Up to 30,000 rubles - mid-budget smartphones with modern cameras and, possibly, gaming stuffing.

Up to 40,000 rubles - last year's flagships of most brands on the market.

Over 40,000 rubles - the best and exclusive models with advanced hardware, unique options and expensive case materials. Here we also include top-end novelties and high-quality gaming devices.

The first thing that comes to mind when talking about displays is their diagonal, on which the dimensions of the gadget depend.Models with a screen up to 5 inches are considered to be compact, such a smartphone fits in any pocket, fits comfortably in the palm of your hand and can be controlled with one hand using only your thumb. Within the limits of 5-6 inches, medium-sized devices fit in, the main task of which is to ensure the maximum balance between operating parameters. Devices with a diagonal of more than 6 inches belong to the category of smartphones with a large screen, they are comfortable to watch movies, browse websites and run games.

But if the diagonal is more a matter of personal preference (you should definitely hold the gadget in your hand to understand whether it is convenient for you), then the quality of the matrix used cannot be ignored. In modern smartphones, three main types are used:

TFT - an outdated and most inexpensive option, which can only be found in cheap devices. Differs in average quality of detailing of the picture and problems with a color rendition.

IPS is the most common matrix. As a rule, IPS-based screens provide natural colors displayed, plus they have good contrast and backlight brightness parameters. Although the latter is often saved in budget gadgets.

OLED - the most modern technology, characterized by maximum richness of colors, reduced energy consumption and perfect black reproduction. Of course, it costs more, and the most advanced version of AMOLED is most often used only in the flagship models of top brands.

We look at the screen of a smartphone for several hours a day, and the level of eye fatigue, as well as the comfort of reading information, depends on the quality of its image. The first parameter responsible for this is display resolution. To date, all developers have come to a single "gold" standard and on most models they use FullHD resolution (1920x1080 pixels) or FullHD + on elongated models. It provides an acceptable level of detail at any diagonal of the device. Some brands offer smartphones with increased QHD + resolution and even 4K, but in reality this does not really improve the picture quality, so you should not chase marketing tricks. Similarly, with resolutions less than FullHD, this is a very dubious savings in image quality.

It is important to pay attention to the characteristics pixel density (PPI), i.e. the number of dots per inch of the screen. Experts say that the human eye stops seeing individual pixels at a value of 300 ppi and above, so a display with a lower value will be grainy, and this worsens the perception of information. The optimal indicator is 350-450 ppi, you can not overpay for more.

And finally update frequency. The classic standard is 60 Hz. It is used in models of any price category, but smartphones with gaming frequencies – 120 and 144 Hz – are increasingly appearing on the market.In theory, this gives greater smoothness of the picture in dynamic scenes, but the graphics chips of mobile devices are not yet perfect enough to use high frequencies everywhere in games. Therefore, it is better to choose a more economical screen with 60 Hz or a maximum of 90 Hz.

Many mistakenly believe that the overall performance of the device depends on the number of processor cores. There is a particle of truth in this, but still the number of cores speaks more about the readiness of the gadget to run many programs at the same time, and performance mainly depends on the overall balance of hardware characteristics.

For everyday tasks like chatting in social networks, checking mail, calling and surfing the net, inexpensive devices with 2 and 4-core processors. If you want to play comfortably, you will need a smartphone with an 8-core chip and a powerful graphics accelerator. A high-quality camera phone will not do without this pair, otherwise it will be problematic to use all the content processing options.

As for RAM, modern requests indicate the need at least 3-4 GB of RAM for comfortable work. Options with 2 GB will fit only when using a couple of undemanding applications, and gamers just need to look towards devices with 6 GB of RAM or more.

Do not neglect the built-in memory: as practice shows, it is constantly lacking.16 GB today is already very small, but it will do if the smartphone supports memory cards and you are not going to store your photos in it. Best Choice: Models with 64/128 GB memorywith microSD support. In this case, there is enough space for any needs, even for installing a large number of applications.

The camera is an integral part of a modern smartphone, but you should seriously pay attention to it when choosing only if you plan to use the gadget as a source of photos, for example, for a professional blog. If the quality of shooting is not so important, then any camera installed even in inexpensive models will suffice, because the quality of optical modules has greatly stepped forward in recent years.

When choosing a gadget specifically for shooting, first of all, look not at the total number of lenses and the number of megapixels, but at the technologies used. A good camera phone simply must have optical, not electronic stabilization, only it can ensure the correct capture of the picture in motion. The same is true for the zoom used - the optical one will allow you to shoot more detailed panoramas of distant objects.

As for the pixels themselves, cameras with high resolutions actually shoot with a resolution of 12/16 megapixels, but at the same time they can combine several points into one to improve the overall quality of the photograph.Whether to pay extra for this functionality is already your personal choice. The image processing algorithms used are much more important, and in this regard, Apple and Samsung devices, as well as Huawei / Honor flagships, are more effective.

The smartphone market is dominated by two operating systems: Android (developed by Google) and iOS (created by Apple). Both have recently copied a lot from each other, but still each OS has its own obvious advantages and the same obvious disadvantages.

Android - a more common operating system, it is friendly to third-party developers, which is why it has a lot of free software available for every taste. In addition, she is not afraid of customizing the interface, which is what different brands of smartphones use, offering their own design and functional features. But this OS is less stable in operation and more vulnerable to hackers.

iOS used only in Apple products, but is distinguished by a high level of software optimization, good security and the ability to access premium services. However, you will have to pay extra money for this, as well as for numerous software, because there are hundreds of times less free software for iOS.

The battery life of a smartphone depends not only directly on the type and capacity of the battery, but also on many other factors: the number of applications running, the optimization of the processor architecture and its power, the type of display matrix and the brightness of its backlight, the presence of additional functionality, and even the type of chips used random access memory. But in general, it is quite logical to say that the larger the battery capacity characteristic, the longer the smartphone can last without recharging.

Now about the types of batteries. More common lithium-ion batteries, they are cheaper and it is easier to increase the capacity in them, increasing the autonomy of the device. But Li-Ion also has disadvantages: a tendency to heat up, gradual self-discharge and a decrease in capacity during operation. Competitor in the face lithium polymer batteries it is more expensive, practically does not discharge in idle time and does not overheat, which has a positive effect on safety. On the other hand, the life cycle of Li-Pol is shorter, and its capacity for the same area is lower. Thus, a Li-Pol battery should be chosen only in order to increase the safety of using a smartphone.

In the modern world, it definitely makes no sense to buy a smartphone without support. 4G. The only exceptions are models purchased as a spare dialer, i.е. from which it is not planned to access the Internet regularly.

But with regard to the untwisted new standard 5G it is worth slowing down and not throwing away extra money, overpaying for his support. So far, in Russia, 5G communications are just starting to roll out in test mode and are limitedly available in Moscow to a narrow circle of subscribers. If you are not one of them, then wait a couple of years, by which time smartphones with 5G will significantly fall in price.

Concerning WiFi and Bluetooth, then these wireless standards are present today even in the most inexpensive devices, and here we can only recommend choosing their more recent versions.

Smartphone manufacturers offer more and more functional variations of their gadgets, but which one is really worth overpaying? We recommend that you choose only the following options:

fast charging - a frequent and very useful feature that allows you to recharge the battery to almost full capacity in a short time.

NFC is an integral part of contactless payment systems, which is gaining more and more popularity. Really saves time in stores, especially for those who often forget their bank card at home and remember it already at the checkout.

Second SIM card - the simultaneous use of two tariffs from different operators will allow you to profitably use only the necessary options for your requests. But exotic “Chinese” with three or even four SIM cards are not the best option, there is no stability in their work.

Dust / moisture protection - a very useful thing if you do not like to "dress" your smartphone in cases, but use it outdoors, where it is dusty, and no one has canceled a sudden rain. The best option is IP68, with this standard you can even dive underwater.

Type-C connector is a modern, convenient and versatile port that holds the future.

Biometric security - face or fingerprint recognition are the most reliable ways to protect access to your smartphone, because the graphic code is easily read by the trace left by a finger on the screen.

The smartphone market is oversaturated with various brands, and sometimes buyers just run up their eyes from the abundance of brands presented in stores. But among this diversity there are clear leaders, which we will discuss below.

At the end of 2020, the rating is crowned by the company Samsung, which controls 28% of the market. Koreans have been leading the list of the best for several years, and all thanks to the ability to offer a wide range of models with a well-balanced balance of features and prices.

The second line behind the Chinese brand Honor, which grabbed 21% of the market. The success of the brand is largely due to the popularity of inexpensive smartphones, which show very decent results in terms of quality and reliability.

Next is another Chinese manufacturer - Xiaomi, which captured 19% of the market. At the end of last year, this brand climbed one line higher, making the greatest contribution to the growth in sales of smartphones from China.

American manufacturer of top gadgets Apple slightly behind the top three, but retained control of 11% of the market. However, such a low figure is due to the presence only in the segment of expensive devices, where "apples" are sold more than any other brand.

Rounds out the top five Huawei (share of 6.4%), gradually reducing the import of gadgets in Russia and feeling the breath of such brands as ASUS, ZTE, Realme, Oppo and Vivo behind it.