It is important to keep certain things in mind
before buying a new smartphone, this is so you
can make the best decision and maximise your
user experience.
Smartphones, over time, have become a sort of
indispensable companion, especially because of
their use in helping to stay on top of important
emails and social updates. With this, it is safe
to say that choosing the right smartphone for
yourself is indeed a big deal.
Here are six things you should know and
consider before you buy a new smartphone,
according to Jumia Travel:

1. The operating system

When your budget for a new smartphone is able
to get you either an iPhone with the Apple iOS,
or a smartphone with the Android Operating
System, the burden is then about which of the
two to choose. Some people say the Apple iOS
is better than the Android OS, but the truth is, it
depends.
The Apple iOS on all iPhones is an easy to use
operating system and you can be sure of
getting the hottest and best apps first, along
with the timeliest software updates, tight
security and very rare malware problems.
However, with the Android OS, you have more
hardware choice and more control over your
user experience. The Android OS is easier to
customise as you can change almost anything
you want and file transfer is easier than that of
the Apple iOS. In the end, it depends on which
OS best suits your needs and taste.
Not forgetting the Windows OS; Windows is also
a good choice if you are looking for an OS with
good performance, because it’s tailored to offer
better performance than the Apple iOS and
Android OS.

2. Screen size

Smartphones with a below five-inch screen
should be sourced if one-hand-use is important
to you and you are looking for a portable
smartphone you can perform quick tasks with.
However, if you like to watch videos, play video
games, browse online (especially for reading
text on a website), basically if you use your
phone mainly for media rather than quick tasks,
a smartphone with a large screen size (five-
inch screens and above) is better for you.

3. The camera

This is unarguably the most important
smartphone feature for most smartphone
buyers. When buying a smartphone, consider
the camera specs like megapixels (the larger the
better), aperture (the lower the better) and, if it’s
within your budget, try to get one with Optical
Image Stabilisation. If you are unable to get one
with OIS, it is fine, simply consider mainly the
megapixels and aperture of the camera.

4. The RAM and processor

For Central Processing Unit results, speedier
operations and better multi-tasking on your
smartphone, you should consider both the
Random Access Memory and processor of the
smartphone. For example, a good RAM and
processor will reduce, if not completely
eliminate the incidence of your smartphone
‘hanging’ while in use. However, these days
RAM is becoming a more reliable indicator of a
phone’s performance than the processor,
because sometimes a dual-core processor can
be far more powerful than an eight-core
processor.
Smartphones with 2GB RAM and above are
recommended. Smartphones with very limited
RAM are the cause of rudimentary performance
problems. 1GB and 1.5GB RAM can be quite
tight and lead to performance problems on your
smartphone. However, if 1GB and 1.5GB RAM
smartphones are the ones within your budget,
you can make the best of this by downloading
very few apps and refraining from opening
multiple apps at the same time. You should
close every app you open the moment you are
done using them.
Multi-core processors like the dual-core, quad-
core, hexa-core and octa-core processors are
recommended when sourcing for a good
smartphone. But be careful, powerful
processors tend to drain the battery of your
smartphone. If you will only perform simple
tasks with your phone like communicating
through text messages, making calls, checking
emails or browsing the Internet, a smartphone
with a low but reasonable processing power,
like the dual-core or quad-core processor, is
good for you.

5. Battery life

When buying a new smartphone, you have to
make sure the smartphone has good battery
life. Usually, smartphones with a 3000mAh
battery are recommended if durability is
important to you. You can settle for one above
2000mAh, but avoid going for one lower than
2000mAh.

6. Storage options

Most smartphones come with 4GB to 64GB
internal storage; 16GB internal storage is
usually recommended when buying a
smartphone because after system partitions are
considered, the user accessible storage ends up
being as low as 8GB. However, if a 16GB
smartphone is outside your budget, you can
settle for an 8GB smartphone, which you can
couple with an external storage device like the
microSD memory card.