It is hard to think of another situation that is as difficult as trying to find the best smartphone for yourself. It is kind of like looking for a drop of water while standing on a huge dried boat surrounded by desert. Anyway, it is 2024 and we are in the market of insane new technology! So in this article we are going to take a look at various aspects that go into deliberating what’s best for you.
Plus, we have a special feature under ‘Performance and Hardware’ to really break down what’s under the lid of these super gadgets, so let’s crack on with our smartphone buying guide.
Define Your Priorities
Figure out what’s truly important to you:
- The Camera
- The Battery
- The Processor
- The Ecosystem?...
Once you are clear you are ready to enter the world of smartphone hunting, so let's get into the tech, features and options.
Operating System: Android or iOS?
The debate has been raging on. If you want to customise things and tweak your handset with a lot of hardware choices, you might want an Android phone. If you want a unified ecosystem and better updates on your handset, you might want an iPhone.
Camera Capabilities
What matters for the smartphone snapper of 2024 is not just the megapixels but also things like optical zoom, low-light performance and AI-driven image enhancement.Therefore, if you want to take high-quality photos, the camera could be the clincher.
If you are a budding amateur photographer wanting to get into photography on the cheap there are some really excellent lenses that you can get on the cheap, and use with your smartphone for high-resolution macro work.
Performance and Hardware
The soul of your smartphone is the processor. For smooth operations and the ability to multitask and game effortlessly, look for a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 or something even more powerful (the Apple of the world will have their own silicon, such as the A17 Pro). Similarly, the amount of RAM and storage will depend on whether the mobile phone app you want to use will keep running while you’re using another app.
Let’s Delve in for a Closer Look
Processor (CPU)
The smartphone’s CPU (central processing unit) might be modelled as its brain, performing the heavy computations necessary to run the apps and operating system.
The high-end smartphones of the year 2024 will be powered by processors like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, with a thick single-core Cortex-X4 (max. clock speed = 3.3 GHz), to do the heavy lifting; a penta-core Cortex-A720 to do medium-duty work; and a dual-core Cortex-A520 that’s more energy-efficient.
Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)
The GPU is responsible for rendering your screen, whether it is images, animations or videos. For example, a high-end smartphone may feature the Adreno 750 GPU for excellent graphics performances.
RAM
Such data is stored in RAM, so a phone’s RAM stores data that is currently used by one or more applications that are open at the present moment.
On the other hand, let us consider an application that works with graphics consisting of a large number of polygons: This means this application requires additional data in its RAM content, so we can say that more RAM enables parallel running of a larger number of applications, and enables it to do this more smoothly. In 2024, the RAM quantity on a smartphone can easily exceed 8GB, a sufficient number to ensure a smooth running even if a phone’s applications work under a heavy load.
Storage
Inside any smartphone, the storage is classified, but you can usually find options between 128GB and 512GB to 1TB and more. These are basically the programs you run (called apps or applications), photos, videos, files and more. All the apps are usually faster if the smartphone uses UFS (Universal Flash Storage), a faster type of storage compared with more traditional storage.
Battery
Battery technology has advanced to the point where dozens of smartphones can get a day or more of use from a single charge, fast-charging technologies are common, and new interfaces – such as wireless charging – are proliferating.
Display
The showing is part of that hardware – many phones now have OLED or AMOLED screens in brilliant colours and deep blacks, with 120Hz or 144Hz refresh rates now de rigueur, making scrolling and gaming smoother in general.
Connectivity
Nowadays, latest smartphones are compatible with various networks like 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 or higher, hence providing faster speed for the internet connection, more reliably established for the connection and their reach out for with more oomph than before.
Sensors and Additional Hardware
For example, smartphones have embedded sensors such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, and proximity sensors, which facilitate features like auto-rotation, tracking how many steps you’ve taken, or turning off the screen when you’re on a call. Higher-end models can even incorporate niche hardware such as LiDAR (light detection and ranging) scanners for augmented reality apps.
A smartphone’s performance in terms of hardware and software depends upon the combination of:
CPU + GPU and RAM + storage + battery + display + network (3G, 4G, LTE) + extra sensors.
To buy a smartphone, please take into consideration these parameters according to your usage patterns to choose a smartphone that matches your personal preference and delivers the greatest performance.
Display Quality
Display features such as OLED and high refresh rates can completely transform your viewing experience, so be sure that the screen you’re experiencing passes your visuals checklist
Whether you’re watching the latest blockbuster on Netflix or continually checking SquareSpace for visitor stats, you’ll always want to be able to see what’s going on.
Battery Life
If your phone can’t keep up with your day, you’ll be stuck. That means you should look for a smartphone with increased battery life and fast-charging technology. The best smartphones will give you all-day battery life, so you’re not chained to a charging station.
Design and Build
But it’s not only the technical aspects that count: your smartphone should also look and feel the right way. Do you want a slim design or a more robust and water-resistant one? That’s up to you.
Price Point
Set a budget and, regardless of how tempting it may be, don’t go over it. The best phone for you does not have to be the most expensive handset you can find. Wonderful options can be found at almost every price tier, from the so-called flagship killers to budget-friendly picks.
Future-Proofing
For example, if faster data transfers and more seamless connectivity are important to you, consider buying a 5G smartphone as the 5G network increasingly becomes available in your location.
Reviews and Recommendations
Finally, expert reviews and recommendations can be a good indicator of real-world performance and user experience.
Smartphone Buying Guide Summary
In 2024, your best smartphone should be a combination of the factors you consider most important at a price point you can afford: pick from the iPhone 15 Pro Max for its best-in-class silicon and camera system or, it’s the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra for its long battery life and AI smarts.
NOTE - Just remember, the best smartphone is the one that checks all your boxes and fits in your hand; maybe you can swing the extra cash for that one. Good luck shopping for smartphones, we hope this smartphone buying guide has been of help.
