Who are the expected audience of this blog? A human who is in the midst of deciding what smartphone to buy, on which he can waste more of his precious time.

TLDR; Buy an iPhone, believe me it will be worth it. why? Simple answer, best overall specs, good camera, long term updates, what else do you want?

I am writing this blog in the mid of 2022, most of the smartphone model updates in this year had only marginal performance improvement when compared to their predecessors. There is shortage of silicon chips, with inflation on the rise and with the pandemic round the corner with warning signs of another wave.

I am currently Android user and was a iPhone user, having used both worlds of smartphone and have recommended a dozen to family and friends, I think I have learnt a thing or two about which smartphone are actually good to use.

Before starting, I would like to highlight 2 things from MKBHD:

• Good phones are getting cheap and cheap phones are getting good
• Buy a smartphone for the software which you see installed on it and not for the promise of future updates

One point from me, smartphone usage difers from person to person, you cannot recommend something which according to your usage is good. For. eg. if you are not someone who ocassionally uses camera for pics, a phone with decent camera will work for you, but for someone who is a fashion designer who takes lots of photos and if their day-to-day work concerns with color shade, then the camera in their phone needs to be damn good.

I am going to categorize the decision making process:

1. Processor / Silicon / Chip
This one is easy, Snapdragon, Mediatek, Samsung Exynos, Google Tensor or Apple Silicon, anything is fine, it doesn't matter. Why? Coz all the chips are good these days with differences between them on paper, actual work app usage are similar, just need to checkbox below things:
• CPU throttling test graph should not be in red, if its in red, it means CPU is unable to handle tasks properly
• If you are in dire need of 5G mobile connection support, then it should be supported by that processor


2. Screen / Display

If your profession/work/hobby requires a good screen then do not compromise for a mediocre display.

• 720p or 1080p or even higher? It doesn't matter, take any.
• Refresh rate? Between 60 Hz and 90 Hz you won't notice a difference, but higher the more smooth your scrolling experience will be, but it also comes with the cost of battery life.
• Amoled or TFT? Any type of Amoled (Super Amoled, PAmoled, etc) is always good than a TFT, but TFT nowadays are also good, so take any.
• Gorilla glass? Not required, because it doesn't matter, you are anyway going to invest in a screen protector. "Glass is glass, and glass breaks" - Jerry
• Size? bigger the better but not too big, you should be comfortable using one hand, do not take mini/small screen smartphones, you will regret it.
• Notch /pinhole /water droplet /punch hole /2 holes, etc? Doesn't matter, it becomes invisible as you use your phone.


3. Camera and Video

If your profession/work/hobby requires a good camera output then the photo quality should be among the best.

Let's imagine you are out with your friends and someone took out their phone for a group pic, nobody is gonna try to adjust camera settings.

Photos taken from the camera should be good looking in that same phones screen, it will look different on a laptop screen or on someone else's smartphone screen.

• Do not fall for those big megapixel numbers and the number of cameras
• See the uncompressed images taken from the front and back camera of that particular smartphone and in view in that smartphones's screen and decide.
• Night mode should be good and is non negotiable.
• Wide angle? Macro lens? Not required, craze for these last only few days, after that nobody actually uses them.


4. Microphone and Speakers

There should be dual microphone, needless to say Speaker sound output quality should be good, dual stereo speakers? Good but not necessary unless you require them specific for some gaming/media entertainment via speakers.



5. Battery

Even this one is simple, higher capacity the better, but higher battery also makes phones heavy, do check in-hand feel.

Pro-Tip: while charging, always keep battery level between 20-80, and do not let your smartphone heat up, heat is bad for battery, either in open or inside your car, this will help battery last long.



6. Build quality
Just need to pass below checkpoints:
• Should not bend, i.e It should pass the bend test.
• Weight should be around 200 gm (With cover), yes, never ever use a smartphone without a case/cover.


7. OS / Software
• Android is good, but iOS is the best in providing guaranteed updates for years to come.


8. Conclusion

If you expect your phone to last long and are a privacy concerned user then buying an iPhone makes sense. Otherwise, if budget is tight then even Android is good, but you will have to compromise on things.

P.S. if it is not possible for you to hold smartphone in your hand for checking before purchase, then find some good youtube review videos, also there are lot of garbage videos out there, avoid them.

Also, this website helps in specs description and view 3D model of the smartphone.