Smartphones or mobile phones are now inseparable from our lives in this digital era. Considering that everyone needs a means of communication, and as social beings, we cannot live without giving or hearing news from others. Smartphones have become a primary need in recent years.
As a device used every day, smartphones will inevitably degrade in quality or, in other words, become damaged. Furthermore, smartphones today cannot last as long as feature phones in terms of usage duration. The average lifespan of a smartphone is now around 2-3 years.
Choosing a mobile phone may not be a difficult matter, but without proper research, many end up with regret. Issues may arise, such as the specifications not meeting your needs, the camera not being clear enough, or even not being able to handle heavy gaming. It is essential to consider several key points before deciding to buy a new phone.
Tips for Buying a New Smartphone to Avoid Making Mistakes Again
Here are 7 tips we have gathered for you to choose the right smartphone based on your needs, for those of you who are planning to buy a new smartphone in 2023. Please note that all the tips in this article are not absolute or mandatory to follow. You can use this article as a reference and choose what suits you best. So, without further ado, let’s get started with the tips.
1. Don’t Settle for Low Specs
When it comes to budget smartphones, everyone has different preferences. However, if you don’t want to end up with a slow smartphone, it is best to buy one that has specs that will last for at least 3 years. As a reference, you can choose a new smartphone that falls into the lower mid-range category, priced between 2.5 million to 4 million rupiahs. Typically, manufacturers will not provide low specs such as internal storage of only 64GB or RAM below 6GB in that price range. Therefore, it is worth spending more on a smartphone that is comfortable to use for the next 3-4 years.
2. Love Gaming? Prepare a Larger Budget
If you are a gaming enthusiast and are planning to buy a new smartphone for gaming, you need to prepare a larger budget. It actually depends on the game you play, assuming that you like to explore and don’t like playing the same game for a long time. Therefore, the specifications must be reliable in terms of computing power and storage capacity.
Especially if you like heavy games like Genshin Impact, the budget to play this game smoothly is not small. You need to spend at least $260 USD or more to maximize the gaming performance. So, make sure you save enough money before deciding to buy a new smartphone.
3. Do a Quick Research on the Chipset or SoC
As the brain of a smartphone, the SoC or System on Chip plays the most crucial role in determining the price of a smartphone. The higher the class of the chipset, the more features or better the performance, and the more expensive it is.
Before you buy a smartphone, make sure you know which chipset is embedded in the phone. If it’s just for daily use, it doesn’t have to be too fancy. Just make sure that browsing on social media is not slow enough. This way, you can save on expenses.
4. Battery Capacity and Charging Speed Should be Adjusted
Do you want a smartphone that doesn’t often look for a charging port? Make sure the battery capacity is large enough. At least you can look for a smartphone with a battery size of 5000mAh or more. However, there is also something equally important, which is the charging speed. Having a big battery capacity means you also need more time to charge it fully.
Fortunately, many mid-range smartphones now come with fast charging capabilities, starting from 33W, 67W, and higher. So, before you buy, make sure you check the maximum charging speed.
5. Screen and Body Size
Sometimes, many people like smartphones with larger screens. Usually, with a larger screen size, the display is more spacious and comfortable to use for watching content or playing games. However, there are also many who still prefer a small-sized smartphone that is more budget-friendly.
Smartphone sizes now range from 5.8 inches to 6.8 inches. A difference of 1 inch may not sound significant, but in practice, there is a significant difference. So, the next tip is to know if you prefer a compact and small-sized smartphone or a larger one. The disadvantage of a larger smartphone is that it is not friendly to use with one hand and feels heavier.
6. Hobby in Photography? Megapixel Size Isn’t Everything!
Talking about marketing, it’s all about selling numbers. This is also what smartphone manufacturers do. Boasting a good camera in the mid-range smartphone segment is certainly about how many Megapixels the camera on the phone has. In fact, Megapixel size is not the only measure of smartphone camera quality.
There are still many other points that make a good smartphone camera. Such as the sensor it has, ISP from the chipset, to the software computation of the smartphone. So a 200 Megapixel size on an HP ad could have inferior picture quality compared to a more expensive HP camera that uses only 48 Megapixels, for example. It sounds misleading, but that’s the reality.
7. Buy One with an Official Warranty
Have you ever heard of a case where a smartphone’s GSM signal was blocked and could only be used with Wi-Fi? Most likely, that smartphone was a product without an official warranty or a product that did not pass through customs.
Official warranties are designed to protect your hard-earned purchases from damages beyond your control. Manufacturers are willing to provide a guarantee that if something unwanted happens to your smartphone, you can still have it repaired for free within the warranty period. So, you don’t have to worry anymore if your phone suddenly dies, for example.
Those are 7 tips before buying a new phone in 2023.
