Showing posts with label smart phone. Show all posts
What’s one of the first things on the Internet you come across when you’re trying to compare two different smartphones? That’s right, a spec sheet. Which phone has more RAM, which has a faster processor, how many megapixels are in the cameras? Of course you’ll see a corresponding number to answer each of these questions. But I have a myth to bust: smartphone specs don’t matter nearly as much as some manufacturers and even unbiased technology reviewers may have led you to believe.
With so many smartphones to choose from, a single spec sheet won’t supply every answer | Shutterstock
It’s true that smartphone specs do play a role in the quality and performance of every device, but if that’s the only paintbrush you have to work with, you won’t be able to paint the entire picture. It’s a combination of hardware and software factors that will ultimately determine when one phone is better than another.
Operating System Optimization
The biggest factor that can dispute the accuracy of spec sheets is the operating system your smartphone runs. It’s more than just iOS, Android or Windows Phone too. It’s iOS 9, iOS 8, iOS 7, iOS 6, Android Lollipop, Android KitKat, Android Jelly Bean, so on and so forth.
The the efficiency of the OS and its ecosystem has a significant effect on performance | Bloomua / Shutterstock.com
Operating systems have an enormous impact on the way your phone will work and can even affect those numbers on the spec sheet. A terrific and very recent example is with the iPhone. The iPhone 6s has a 1,715 mAh, which is actually smaller than the 1,810 mAh battery in its predecessor, the iPhone 6. On a spec sheet comparing the two, you might look at these figures and think the smaller battery in the newer phone means it actually has worse battery life. Sure enough, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s both have the exact same advertised battery life.
How is this possible with two batteries of different sizes? It almost certainly has to do with operating system optimization. Apple made tiny changes everywhere under the hood of iOS that will suck less life out of your phone’s battery, whether it’s negligible design changes or different ways to process high-performance tasks.
The same situation applies to many other specs, like processors. If an iPhone has a 1 GHz processor and an Android phone has a 1.5 GHz processor, you might think the Android phone is automatically faster. Now, factor in that the Android phone might have a more graphically intense UI and more apps with flashy advertisements. It’s possible that even the iPhone might be faster in this case even with a less powerful processor.
The ecosystem is arguably even more important. The operating system with apps highest in quality and quantity will dramatically affect the experience. Third-party accessory makers on board is key too, so you have a wider selection of cases and useful extensions.
Megapixels Aren’t Everything
Back in the days of buying compact cameras to carry around, we were all taught that megapixels are one of the most important factors in picture quality. A 12MP camera sensor will always produce better photos than an 8MP sensor. This is simply not true, and another reason to avoid spec sheets.
There are so many different components that go into a camera and affect the quality of the photos they can produce. Megapixels, meanwhile, are simply measurements for the sizes of the photos they capture. This means that in certain situations, more megapixels is indeed equivalent to a better photo. If you’re taking a photo to print out on a poster, a camera with more megapixels will typically look better because posters are large and therefore call for a larger photo.
However, if you’re like most people today and you just keep photos on your phone or to share on social media, megapixels don’t matter that much at all. An 8 MP camera takes photos at a resolution of 3264 x 2468, while a 12 MP camera takes photos at a resolution of 4200×2800. When you’re posting photos on social media where they typically aren’t any larger than 1,500px in width, whether a photo is double or triple that in size is meaningless.
What About Build Quality?
Another important test to carry out is build quality, and it’s a very hot debate in particular between iPhone and Android loyalists. iPhone fans argue that the iPhone has better build quality than most Android phones because it uses aluminum and glass components, while Android phones are usually made of plastic.
Build quality is everything if you want to avoid a shattered display | Shutterstock
First, the latter isn’t always true, especially in recent years. Second, the issue of build quality is again something you won’t find on a spec sheet, except maybe the occasional list of materials. Will your phone last over the years? What if the buttons on the side of the phone are prone to becoming loose? What’s your phone’s resale value after a year of daily usage? These are all very important questions.
What should be very important to a lot of people is the strength of the display glass. Can it hold up without shattering if you drop it? Don’t be afraid to ask these questions when shopping for a new phone, and always do research about the marketing behind it.
Important: All of this boils down to real-world usage. Since you can’t see how an OS or camera megapixels affects quality on a grid, it’s all about what feels better to you. Before making a purchase, walk into stores and get some hands-on time with phones on display or maybe even ask to use your friend’s phone. Observe performance, camera quality and build quality. Buy a phone based on how it feels to use it, not what a spec sheet tells you.
Decisions, Decisions!
We know buying a new phone is not the easiest decision to take these days. But, what was the tipping point for you in your last purchase? Let us know in our forum.
The poor design of two different smartphones, a low-resolution front camera with the new iPhone, the Moto G’s lack of LTE, and the hefty price tag of the Amazon Fire led to disappointment this year when it came to smartphone releases.
The design of the Samsung Galaxy S5
I almost feel sorry for Samsung Electronics and the year the company has had. For example, while the overall smartphone market grew during the third quarter, Samsung’s sales dropped by about 9 percent to 73.2 million units, according to Gartner. And there is no getting around the fact the all-plastic design of the Galaxy S5 was a huge miscalculation and put a damper on the company’s most important product. Samsung has started to make some changes with the use of metal on smartphones like the Galaxy Note 4, but it remains to be seen if that is enough to turn around its high-end fortunes.
The front camera on the iPhone 6
One of the big smartphone trends this year was the addition of high-resolution front cameras for better selfies. But this trend was unfortunately ignored by Tim Cook and his colleagues at Apple. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus only have a 1.2-megapixel front camera, which simply isn’t good enough for products that are as expensive as the new iPhones.
Apple has always been good at knowing how much it has to upgrade the iPhone and still have fans line up to buy one. With their larger screens, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were always going to be big hits, irrespective of other changes. But now Apple has at least one thing it can easily improve on next year’s new models.
The lack of LTE on the Motorola Moto G
When I went to the launch of the new Moto G in September, I didn’t even think to ask if the it smartphone had LTE. To me, that was a given after the company had launched the 4G version of the original model. But the product planners had decided against that. An LTE version of the new Moto G is likely on the way, but Motorola hasn’t reveled any official plans.
Luckily for smartphone buyers, next year LTE will become a standard feature on smartphones priced just below $200 without a contract, thanks to cheaper components. I’ll even bet that the next version of the less expensive Moto E will have LTE.
The screen on the Nokia Lumia 530
One of the main reasons Windows Phone is still around is the success of the Lumia 520, which offered good design and performance for not much money. But when Nokia finally got around to developing a successor things didn’t go well. The Lumia 530 may be cheap at less than $100, but the sacrifices the company felt it had to make to get there were too big. The screen is especially disappointing, and I am not alone in thinking that.
“We hate the Lumia 530’s display. Even though its pixel density is better than that of the Lumia 520, we can honestly say we found that phone’s display more satisfying. And the Lumia 530 can’t compete with the Moto E in this regard. It really is a poor-looking display, in our view. And we can’t really fathom why,” PC Advisor wrote in its review.
The Amazon Fire Phone’s original price tag
Amazon finally launched its first smartphone, the Fire Phone, in July. While the company can be forgiven for not getting everything right on the first try, the decision to charge $199 with a contact, or $649 without one, was delusional. The smartphone didn’t have the features or hardware specifications to justify the price. Amazon quickly realized its mistake, and lowered the price. But it still missed the buzz that comes with a product launch.
Even though Amazon has struggled to sell the Fire Phone, the company shouldn’t give up. The contextual menus and gesture navigation are promising, and the smartphone market needs companies that dare to do something different. So I am looking forward to what Amazon has in store for next year.
