It can be stressful buying a new
smartphone, especially as prices climb beyond $1,000. You don't necessarily
need to spend that much money; you just need to know what to look for before
you make a purchase.
The Display
If you're like most of us, you're
going to spend hours each day staring at your smartphone screen. Make sure
you're buying one that's bright enough to see outdoors, and sharp enough where
text doesn't look blurry while you're surfing the web.
If you're buying a phone with a
large screen, don't go under a resolution of 1920 x 1080p and, if you can
splurge, look for the sharper 2560 x 1440 Quad HD resolutions. Consider the
screen size, too. Can you easily reach across it? Do you want a larger screen
for movies or a smaller one that's easier to hold and less likely to drop out
of your hands?
The Battery
Read reviews or talk to people
who already own the phone you're interested in buying. You want one that's
going to last all day, if possible. The biggest complaint from friends and
family is that their smartphones are "always dead." If you're in this
bunch, consider a smartphone with a fast charging battery. Most Android
smartphone makers include the special chargers that can juice up a battery to
at least a half charge in just minutes. Or, if you own an iPhone, consider
buying an iPad charger to get more juice.
The Storage
A lot of people try to save money
by buying cheaper phones, but often they ship without much storage on board. I
recommend buying a smartphone with at least 64GB of storage, or more if you
plan to download music and movies. Apps are much bigger these days, and
pictures can take a lot of space if you're not storing them in the cloud (Apple
Photos, Google Photos, or other services offer these options. Some Android
smartphones also offer "microSD" card slots that allow you to boost
the storage space.
The Camera
If you like sharing pictures with
friends and family, make sure you're buying a phone with a good camera. Most of
the more expensive phones (the GalaxyS9 and the iPhoneX) are particularly adept at taking pictures in low light, too, which means
you'll still get good pictures in a dim restaurant without the flash. Budget
phones don't usually have great cameras, so consider spending a bit more if this
is important to you.
The Age
It can be tempting to buy a
refurbished or older-model smartphone to save a few bucks, but there are a few
things to consider before you do. If it's too old (typically 2-3 years) it
might soon stop getting important software updates, including security patches.
Also, as apps become more powerful, the processor and memory but not offer
enough power to run the latest games or photo-editing software. If you're just
sending texts and checking e-mail, however, a refurbished or older phone could
be a perfect fit.
The Company's Reputation
If you can, do a bit of research
on the company that makes the smartphone. Apple, Samsung, LG and most other
household names are safe bets. Others, like Blu, Huawei and OnePlus, which
often sell more "affordable" flagship smartphones, have come under
fire for various reasons. U.S. intelligence agencies advise
against buying smartphones from Huawei, for example, while Blu and OnePlus
have been caught sending private data back to headquarters.
The Rest
Finally, consider a few other
things that might be important to you now or down the road. Does it have stereo
speakers? High-end phones like the iPhone X and Galaxy S9 do, which means you
hear audio coming from the top and bottom (or left and right if you're watching
a movie and playing games.) Does it support wireless charging? This can be
convenient if you want to just plop your phone on a pad at your desk. Does it
have a headphone jack or will you need to use Bluetooth headphones or an
adapter with your wired headset? Does it support newer 5G networks? U.S.
wireless carriers are going to roll out faster networks this year, which means
you'll be able to download apps, games, files and more at much faster speeds.
If you want a bit of future-proofing, consider that, too.
THE BEST SMART PHONES OF 2018
With Android thoroughly
dominating the mobile industry, picking the best Android smartphones is almost
synonymous with choosing the best smartphones, period. While Android phones
have few real opponents on other platforms, internal competition is incredibly
fierce. From sleek devices that impress with premium design, to powerhouses
brimming with features, to all-around great devices, and affordable phones that
punch above their weight, the Android ecosystem is populated by a staggering
variety of attractive phones. But which of them are the best smartphones of
2018?
“Greatness” is subjective, and sometimes
spec sheets and feature lists are not enough to make an idea of how good a
phone really is. In this roundup, we’re looking at the absolute best — the
Android phones of 2018 you can’t go wrong with. After careful review, the
following have been selected among many as the best:
The Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are
Google’s latest and best flagship smartphones, and they’re great at just about
everything. They don’t have as many bells or whistles as some of the other
entries on this list, but if you’re in the market for a simple Android phone,
the Pixel 2 and 2 XL are great options.
The Pixel 2 and 2 XL have 5- and
6-inch OLED displays, front-facing speakers, and top-of-the-line specs under
the hood — a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB of LPDDR4x RAM, as well as
64 or 128GB of on board storage.
They also have two of the best
Android smartphone cameras available. Not only have these phones been named two
of the best smartphone cameras on the market according to DxOMark, we found the
Pixel 2’s main camera to be incredibly impressive in most situations. There’s
even a portrait mode on the front and back cameras, even though the phone
doesn’t have a dual-camera setup.
Despite the handful of issues
with the Pixel 2 XL’s display, we’d still happily recommend either phone to
anyone looking for the best Android phones of 2018 out there.
SAMSUNG GALAXY S9
SAMSUNG GALAXY S9 PLUS
The Galaxy S9 is all about
refinement. Design, display, photography, and performance were all strong areas
for the Galaxy S8 line, and the S9 does all of them better.
The biggest improvements in the
Galaxy S9 have to do with the camera. The S9 sports a single Dual Pixel 12MP
autofocus sensor with OIS, along with support for two apertures at f/1.5 and
f/2.4. This mechanical iris lens is able to switch between apertures depending
on the lighting conditions. If you need something even more powerful, the
Galaxy S9 comes with a dual-camera setup on the back.
Samsung also included its own
creepier version of Apple’s Animoji, called AR Emoji, allowing you to make GIFs
and send cartoony videos to your friends.
These are new Samsung smartphone
flagships, so it’s no surprise that they feature the most top-of-the-line specs
currently available. They come with 5.8- and 6.2-inch Quad HD+ Super AMOLED
displays, 4 and 6GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and both
are powered by either the Exynos 9810 or Snapdragon 845 SoC depending on your
region.
Huawei’s new P20 and P20 Pro are
finally here, and they’re both huge steps up from their predecessors. They are
the best Android phones coming from China.
For starters, these are some of
the most eye-catching devices we’ve see so far. Both models are available in a
few different colors, but the P20 Pro comes in a unique twilight edition that
features a glossy blue-to-purple gradient that changes tone depending on the
lighting condition. That’s not the only reason the P20 Pro will be a
head-turner, either. The higher-end model comes with three rear-facing cameras
at 20, 8, and 40MP. The 20 and 40MP cameras do lack OIS, but Huawei says its
AI-assisted stabilization will make up for users’ shaky hands.
These are Huawei’s first 2018
flagships, so both phones have some killer under-the-hood specifications, too.
The P20 comes with a 5.8-inch Full HD+ LCD display, 4GB of RAM, and a 3,400mAh
battery, while the P20 Pro sports a 6.1-inch Full HD+ OLED display, 6GB of RAM,
and a 4,000mAh battery. Both devices are powered by Huawei’s Kirin 970 SoC,
which can also be found in the Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro.
The OnePlus 5T is still a solid
smartphone by today’s standards, but that’s not stopping OnePlus from pushing
the smartphone boundaries even further. The OnePlus 6 is all about refinement.
OnePlus introduced an all-new,
all-glass design with the OnePlus 6. The back is sleek — almost resembling the
Galaxy S9 — and the front houses the 6.28-inch AMOLED display. Yes, there’s a
notch, but you can basically turn it off in the settings menu.
This phone also has the latest
and greatest specs available: a Snapdragon 845 SoC, 6 or 8GB of RAM, and up to
256GB of storage. The cameras have been improved this time around too. It comes
with dual 16 and 20MP sensors around back with f/1.7 apertures, along with a
19-percent larger pixel size than the 5T. There are also slow-motion video
modes that allow for 720p footage at 480fps and 1080p at 240fps. You can also
shoot 4K video at 60fps.
Also, this is probably one of the
first devices that will receive Android P when it launches. For all you folks
who aren’t a fan of the Pixel but still want quick updates, the OnePlus 6 may
be just for you.
The new LG G7 ThinQ is an
amalgamation of last year’s V30 and G6… with a little iPhone X thrown in.
On top of that super bright 6.1-inch
display, you’ll find the oh-so-2018 notch cutout. If you aren’t a fan, you can
“turn off” the notch in the settings menu.
LG phones have always provided a
solid audio experience, and the G7 ThinQ is no different. The phone actually
uses its inner space as a resonance chamber to boost bass and deliver
all-around louder audio. It also comes with a 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC and DTS:X
3D Surround Sound support.
This phone also comes with some
of the best specs you can find on any smartphone out there: a Snapdragon 845
SoC, dual 16MP wide-angle cameras, as well as IP68 and MIL-STD 810G
certifications. As an added bonus, there’s also a dedicated Google Assistant
button that lets you talk to the voice assistant like a walkie-talkie. It’s
pretty neat.
After a controversial 2016,
Samsung’s Galaxy Note line is back in full force. With top-of-the-line specs, a
stunning design, a dual-camera setup, and new software features, the Galaxy
Note 8 is still one of the best Android phones you can buy right now.
The Note 8’s near-bezel-less
6.3-inch Quad HD+ Infinity Display with an 18.5:9 aspect ratio is one of our
favorite parts about this phone. DisplayMate agrees with us too. It’s big —
maybe too big for some people — but at least the company puts that screen to
good use. There’s a new App Pairing feature that allows you to open up two
favorited apps in multi-window at the same time, and there are a few new S Pen
features that will satisfy the stylus users out there.
What’s more, the dual-camera
setup on the back performs incredibly well. While picture quality isn’t a huge
step up from what we saw on the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus, the extra 12MP sensor
with OIS allows you to take clear, concise photos and impressive bokeh shots in
just about any situation.
No, it’s not perfect, but no
phone is. Samsung’s fingerprint sensor placement on the Note 8 is still super
annoying (luckily it’s been fixed with the S9), and this phone is expensive. If
those things don’t matter to you though, the Note 8 might be the right phone
for you. Check out our full review below!
Culled from:
Techradar
CNBC
Culled from:
Techradar
CNBC
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