First tips The purchase guides Design screen the OS: Android or iOS SOC and RAM Camera internal memory not forget

Finding the ideal smartphone that best meets your needs is not always easy.Many criteria must be taken into account before making your choice.Do not panic !Frandroid you books the keys to choose a smartphone.

Not a week without a smartphone brand launching a new reference on the market.It is a device that we have most of the time with you, and that we will use daily for a little while.The choice of a smartphone is therefore neither simple nor trivial.

Define your needs and criteria

First of all, here are the first tips that we could give you:

Start by asking yourself the right questions: what maximum price I want to put in my phone?What is the maximum size of screen I want?What is the maximum size of the shell?For what uses my smartphone will serve me: watch videos?Use social networks and connect to the Internet?Work ?To play ?These are really the first compulsory questions to ask and it is only then that you can start targeting devices and interested in their technical sheets.

Do not hesitate to put a certain price in your phone.This does not mean that it is necessarily necessary to put the highest price.If for you, the smartphone is an important and essential element in your life, set yourself a budget of at least 250 or 300 euros.Mid -range smartphones between 200 and 500 euros are of excellent quality and can easily last two to three years.And if you want a good phone before a state -of -the -art phone, don't hesitate to watch high -end smartphones from the previous year.Their price has often been divided by two in 12 months!

Fundroid purchasing guides

Choosing your smartphone can therefore be a long quest.To find your way easier, find our guide for the best Android smartphones at this address.This guide, like all our other guides, is updated very regularly with a selection of our favorite smartphones.We also have guides adapted to each budget (for 200, 300, or even 400 euros)), or for certain specific criteria (the best in photo for example)).

To go further our selection of the best smartphones

This goes without saying, but we add to our purchasing guides only with smartphones that we have tested ourselves and that we can recommend.We explain how we test and note the smartphones in a dedicated article.

The screen: LCD or OLED?HD or 4K?HDR?

The screen is one of the essential elements to consider when buying a phone, since it is he who will ensure most of the comfort he will give you.And to choose it well, there is no question of being content to check the number of pixels.

The type of slab

When choosing a smartphone, the characteristic that probably matters the most when you are interested in the screen is the slab technology used.Two large technologies compete, the LCD (most often LCD IPS)) on the one hand and the OLED on the other (POLED, AMOLED, etc..)).More recent, OLED technologies have long been reserved for the high -end market.

The advantage of the OLED is to allow the screen to display perfect blacks, and therefore an infinite contrast, because the backlight is managed individually by pixels.Everything else equal, the OLED should therefore win on an LCD screen when making a choice.Fortunately, the horrible TN technology has now disappeared from the market.

The colors displayed: SRGB, DCI-P3, Adobe RGB

A criterion often put forward by brands is the displayed color spectrum, we also speak of Gamut.The more a screen has a large gamut, the more it can display different colors.In order, we will favor Adobe RGB or DCI-P3 screens rather than a simply SRGB screen.

Color calibration test of a screen.Here the Samsung Galaxy Note 10+.

Be careful however, showing colors does not necessarily mean that the screen display them correctly, this is where calibration is getting all its importance.Unfortunately to find out if a screen is properly calibrated, there is no choice but to read tests from the device.Impossible to guess it on a product sheet.

Definition and resolution

La définition d’un écran est un élément important (le fameux HD, Full HD, QHD ou 4K)), mais il ne fait pas tout. Vous rencontrerez peut-être un « + » à côté de la définition (Full HD+, HD+)), il s’agit en général de la même définition, mais avec quelques pixels en plus pour s’adapter à un format d’écran différent (19:9 au lieu de 16:9 par exemple)).

The definition is absolute, and does not take into account the size of the screen, however important when talking about the number of pixels displayed.Then comes into play the concept of resolution, or pixel density.It is calculated according to the size of the screen, and expresses itself in pixels per inch (pp, pixel per inch, or dpi in English, dot per inch)).The 350 pixel bar per inch is a good level to cross to have a comfortable screen to read.

Learn more about the definition and resolution of a screen

Glass treatment

Look if there is any anti-scratch treatment, which will significantly increase the life of your device.The most widespread, the Gorilla Glass de Corning, is very effective.The screen can also benefit from oleophobic treatment against fingerprints, but this detail is rarely written on the technical sheets of devices.

Design: notch, plastic and metal

We are not going to teach you, the appreciation of the design of a phone is especially subjective.The generalization of borderless screens forced manufacturers to find new ways to integrate the camera into the front: pierced screen, notch or even mechanical camera.It's up to you to decide, but note that any additional mechanism is a potential source of subsequent breakdown.

We can note several objective points concerning the design: is the smartphone in plastic or metal?With or without 3.5 mm jack port?Is it certified as water resistant and dust?

The famous notch of the iPhone

On the top of the range, we will favor smartphones with a metal or glass back, materials deemed more noble than plastic.Glass generally allows better flawless transmission of data, and compatibility with wireless load.

If your budget is particularly limited, really try to take the phone in hand, it is on these ranges that we can most easily meet inconvenience: grinking shell or badly integrated screen glass.If it is not possible to take the phone in hand, you will once again have to trust the various tests.

Which operating system to choose for a smartphone?

The smartphone market is divided between two operating systems: Android from Google, or iOS at Apple.This is the software installed on the smartphone on which its features, its performance, data security, and more simply, the application store depend.

Android and iOS are two stable and mature solutions, the new versions are no longer revolutionized and are content to make some improvements each year.The differences between the two environments are no longer as marked as before: multitasking, notification, the essentials are there.Obviously iOS remains the ideal choice if you already have Apple devices, while Android is rather to be preferred in a Google or Microsoft ecosystem (Windows)).

Miui, the Xiaomi smartphones interface

If your sights are worn on an Android smartphone, you must then pay attention to the interface used by the manufacturer.Smartphones brands like to personalize the Android experience to better stick to their image, we are talking about Samsung Oneui, Miui de Xiaomi or Coloros at Oppo and Realme or Emui at Huawei and Honor.Some manufacturers make the choice to keep Android's default interface, this is the case with Google, but also Motorola, or Nokia.

Also remember to check the version of Android.The best is of course to be under the latest version, Android 10, and to have the latest security updates installed.These updates are offered each month by Google, but can be deployed by the manufacturer at its own pace according to the smartphone model.

SOC, processor, RAM and AI: Snapdragon, Kirin, Mediatek…

SOC, System on Chip, is the central component that will determine the power and performance of your smartphone. Il s’agit en fait d’une puce qui comprend à la fois le processeur (CPU)), mais aussi la puce graphique (GPU)), et beaucoup d’autres choses : le modem, les capteurs, le GPS, l’ISP pour la photographie et ainsi de suite.It is quite difficult to navigate, especially since the shops and operators do not always give all the necessary details on the product sheet.

Two manufacturers are known to offer their SoC to smartphones brands: Qualcomm, with the Snapdragon, and Mediatek. Certaines marques utilisent directement leur propre SoC, c’est le cas de Huawei (Kirin)), Samsung (Exynos)) et Apple notamment.

To readsoc: everything you need to know about mobile processors

The processor

This processor includes one or more hearts, each of them based on an architecture, and with a given maximum frequency.These are the three compulsory criteria that allow the power of a processor to be gained on paper.Architecture is particularly important: a high -end soil with four cores clocked at 1.2 GHz can be much more efficient than an eight -core processor clocked at 1.5 GHz.

Qualcomm divise ses processeurs en quatre catégories : les Snapdragon 4xx, les Snapdragon 6xx, les Snapdragon 7xx et les Snapdragon 8xx, qui correspondent schématiquement à l’entrée de gamme (4xx)), au milieu de gamme (6xx, 7xx)) et au haut de gamme (8xx)).Forget the Snapdragon 4XX, they do not offer sufficient performance for a smartphone to be pleasant to use.

Fortnite does not run on all the Soc

Mediatek SOC generally find themselves on entry and mid -range smartphones.Mediatek's problem is that the latter does not have such a clear and orderly classification as Qualcomm.It is therefore very often very difficult to know which processor we are dealing with and if it is rather entry or mid-range.No secret to check their power, you must consult tests and technical sheets.Some Mediatek SoCs are very convincing and sometimes more powerful than those of Qualcomm.

Beyond a certain CAP, the difference in power between the SOCs will have an influence only in the games, or for the photo processing. Le reste des usages (téléphone web et streaming vidéo)) est agréable sur la plupart des SoC.Caution is mainly betting on entry and mid -range smartphones.On Frandroid, for example, we always take the time to launch some games and benchmarks on the phones that we test to assess their power and compare them to devices of the same price range.

RAM

Finally, on the subject of the RAM, we will be categorical: on Android, do not buy a smartphone with less than 3 GB of RAM, it is the minimum union to run correctly and the OS and the applications.Below this limit, the experience will be strongly degraded according to us.

From 6 GB and more, the use becomes comfortable and guarantees not to have any problems to keep a large number of applications in the background, if the manufacturer's optimizations do not come to cut them unnecessarily.

Note that this criterion is not very important at Apple, which generally guarantees a proper functioning of its smartphones and does not even specify the capacity in RAM of the iPhone of iPhones.

Camera: the number of sensors does not do everything

The camera, or rather the cameras integrated into our smartphones have become the number 1 criterion for many users or users.It is also one of the most complex criteria today, as the market offers various things.

While the most powerful chips equip certain mid -range smartphones, the longest autonomy is sometimes held by entry -level devices or that design innovations are done ... Read more

The number of sensors

Today, the majority of smartphones offer at least two cameras in the back.This is an interesting evolution in more than one title, but the manufacturers have adopted different strategies.There are indeed several types of cameras that can be combined on the back of a phone:

The interest of these additional devices will necessarily depend on the planned use of the smartphone.

The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 integrates 5 cameras

Megapixels and sensor size

As on a traditional camera, several important data.If it is mentioned, the size of the sensor will have to take into account.The greater this sensor, the better it will be.You can be tightly and check the size of the photosites (the bigger they are, the more they will be able to capture information as light)).

Goals

After the sensor, let's go to the optics and more particular to the opening of the objective.This is the figure formulated thus "f/1.7" or "f/2".Remember that the smaller this figure, the wider the lens and therefore the better it will be to restore an illusion of depth of field and capture a lot of light.

Stabilization, night mode, etc..

Some manufacturers evoke their "Ois" system, ie Optical Image Stabilization, optical stabilization of the image.This is mechanical and non-software, allowing to alleviate the effect of blur when you move and therefore to capture more light in low light without having a blurred cliché.If you take a lot of photos with your phone, or film, it is an essential.

Finally, we have not mentioned it: all the points raised in this part can be applied to the front camera.Check the size of the sensor, the quality of the optics, but also the presence of a second extra camera.

Storage: How many GOs do you need in a smartphone?

Smartphone storage has a little less importance since the generalization of online photo backup services, and music and video streaming that can be used to solicit the precious GOs of your smartphone.On the other hand, there is nothing more frustrating than ending up with a full storage on a smartphone that we appreciate, so you have to plan.

First remember to check if the smartphone offers a microSD port.This allows you to easily extend storage at a low price, and can give a second life to a device.The presence of a microSD port allows you to be less difficult in the storage space of the device.

The micro SD card reader of a smartphone

More concretely, in 2019, a smartphone must at least offer 64 GB of storage.Of course, the greater the storage space, the better.

Regarding storage performance, speed of installation of applications for example, it depends on the technology used.On the market, there is first the aging EMMC, an ineffective storage which must leave its place in memory UFS (UFS 2.1 or UFS 3.0)) bien plus rapide.

Battery: Autonomy and fast charge

For the battery, two parameters are to be taken into account: its capacity, which will largely determine the autonomy of the smartphone, and its recharging speed.

Find out more about the batteries: myths

The capacity of the battery, expressed in Mah, is what to assess the autonomy of the smartphone, according to its consumption.The battery alone is not enough to become the autonomy of the phone: the consumption of the screen, the SOC or more simply the software optimizations of the manufacturer are to be taken into account.

It is estimated that a smartphone must be equipped with a battery of at least 3500 mAh.The higher the capacity, the better for the autonomy of the smartphone, but it also means a larger weight and thickness and a recharging time that can lie down.

The speed of recharging the smartphone is another point to take into account.The user experience of a smartphone with average autonomy can be saved if it is enough for a few minutes to recover precious hours of autonomy.This speed depends on the compatibility of the smartphone with fast load standards, but also on the power of the charger supplied with the smartphone.

A 10 to 15W charger is the minimum to offer quick recharge on smartphone.

The details not to be forgotten

Here are a few details to be careful that you have to be careful.

SIM cards and 4G/4G compatibility+/5G:

The smartphone can integrate several SIM card readers, it is practical to have two different phone numbers, or alternate between two mobile networks of two different operators. Vérifiez si le smartphone est compatible dual active (DSDA)) pour qu’il puisse passer d’une carte SIM à l’autre, même pendant un appel.

You must also check whether the smartphone is compatible with the 4G frequencies used by your operator.This is the case for the vast majority of smartphones sold in France, without going through a market place, but this is an important element to check for import.

Should you buy a 5G smartphone in 2020?

The transition to 5G networks begins in 2020 in France, but it will take time before it becomes a primordial criterion for purchase.

DAS or specific absorption flow: we are not going to explain to you in detail what the DAS is.What must be remembered is that the higher the das, the more harmful it is for health.In France, the maximum das authorized by law is 2 W/kg, maximum supposed to be benign.

After -sales service: all manufacturers' after -sales service are not equal.Indeed, the vast majority of manufacturers now prefer to subcontract the after-sales service.As we had seen in our file on broken screens, telephone support varies greatly from one manufacturer to another: overcrowded numbers, long -term expectations and other forms to be filled can change at all.

To follow us, we invite you to download our Android and iOS application.You can read our articles, files, and watch our latest YouTube videos.