How to buy a Cellphone (Smartphone) running Android OS

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How to buy a cell phone running Android OS?

Android is one of the most powerful OS in the smartphone market today. Android powered smartphones are selling like hot cakes and to stay ahead in the competition, different handset manufacturers add their own special touch. While this helps the handset manufacturers, the buyers get confused and lost. Some smartphones are better to look at, offer better hardware while some have an excellent battery backup. Undoubtedly, choosing an Android powered smartphone that you would love to show off is like finding a needle in the hay stack.

Recently, I happened to be in the same boat confused about which Android handset I should go for. After many recommendations, research and hours of browsing through different mobile handset manufacturer’s website, I finally got the smartphone that I wanted. So, here is an account of how to go about buying a smartphone based on Android OS. These tips would equip you to hunt down the best without being too confused:

1. Software version

Most of the Android handsets today are either based on Android 2.2 or 2.3. However, there are still a few old models that run on the older versions of the OS like the Donut (Android 1.6) or Éclair (Android 2.0/2.1). Out of all these models Android handsets running on older versions such as the Donut are not likely to be upgraded to the latest Android OS. Therefore, it’s one of the most important things to consider when you look for a new Android handset. The most recent version right out of the box would be a perfect choice in most cases.

2. Carrier

It is the second most important factor to keep in mind. There are different carriers such as Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T, in the market, each offering different plans and services. In some areas Verizon might offer you the best coverage while in some AT&T may score over other carriers. Before you decide the carrier, check each of their websites or the local stores to find out more about their plans, coverage and perks. Also give more weight-age to carriers who have a good coverage and are consistent with OS upgrades.

3. RAM

Often buyers do not pay much attention to this aspect of the smart-phone. It is very important to have sufficient memory to be able to run multiple applications. It’s quite unlikely that in spite of having a smart-phone you wouldn’t download a few apps, games or use it for purposes other than calling and messaging. It is ideal to have at least a minimum of 512 MB of RAM in your smart-phone.

4. Processor

While browsing through different handsets, you would find different manufacturers stressing on the processor that the smartphone sports. Why you may wonder? The reason that these manufacturers boast of the processor used is because this is the area where the real power of the smart-phone lies. A faster processor speeds up the phone making multitasking, launching of apps, navigation, gaming and movie viewing experience much smoother. However, you shouldn’t solely depend on the processor speed for choosing a smart-phone. Anything above 800MHz would just do great for most of your needs.

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5. Battery life

There is one big annoyance in today’s smartphones – the battery life is never too good. Surfing on net, auto synchronization, chatting, listening to music, gaming, GPS, widgets use up the battery pretty quickly. Therefore, it is very important to read up about the battery of the smartphone you are considering buying in the manufacturer’s description, forums and review sites. Ideally a battery with power above 1200 mAh is considered to be good if you turn off the battery draining things when not in need.

6. WiFi/GPS/Network

If you are going to use your phone for navigation, ensure that it has a good GPS support. To be able to use Internet, also check if the handset supports WiFi. In future 3G or 4G would have even better tariff plans, so knowing that your device supports both these networks would be an added bonus. Although, it’s not necessary that your cell phone should have 4G support, consider these only if you are a heavy user of 3G plans.

7. User interface

One of the benefits of buying a phone based on Android is the availability of a customized UI that sets apart the Android phones. Most of the manufacturers add interesting features and UI tweaks to serve you the same OS in a different plate. For example, HTC uses HTC Sense while Samsung offers a different UI using touchWiz and Motorola relies on Moto blur to give a different look and feel to the operating system. Different people have different choices, therefore check out the features that make each of these UI different and settle for the one that suits you best.

8. Screen type and resolution

Today most of the handset manufacturers are coming out with different types of screen such as AMOLED, Super LCD and qHD, which adds on to the different look of the phone. Although the type of screen used doesn’t matter much as most of these are more or less the same under direct sunlight and indoors. And if you are planning to use a lot of apps, then you should choose at least a minimum screen resolution of 320×480.

9. Hardware and form factor

Features like HDMI out, front facing camera, kick stands, extra speakers, dedicated buttons, physical QWERTY keyboard, flip phone etc add on to the plus points of the handset you choose. These additional hardware requirements are entirely up to how and for what purpose you are going to use your phone. For instance, if you want to make frequent use of video calls, it’s necessary to have front camera in your device.

10. Build quality

Whether you spend 10K or 30K on your phone, it is important to see that the phone is well built and strong. You can check if the phone is scratch proof, shock proof or not before buying them. It would be nice to have a phone that you don’t have to worry about all the time.

Tips before buying

1. Try not to buy an outdated version of the Android OS.

2. Sign up for a trial contract to test the carrier yourself.

3. For normal day-to-day use a processing speed of 600-800MHz is good enough.

4. Make a list of all the phones that you like and read up their reviews on tech sites and discussion forums.

5. If the launch of some new smart-phones is just round the corner, you might want to wait for some time if there’s no urgency.

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