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In Pakistan, many mobile phones get launched every year, and many users find it difficult to select among multiple devices, especially when they are looking for pure value for money, a camera-centric phone, better overall performance, or a budget-friendly option. Almost every segment has many smartphones, and this is where many users get confused. Well, today we are going to provide you with all the checklists which you can perform before buying a phone to get the best value-for-money device while staying within your budget, or you can say buying the best phone of its category.
Before we start, here is one thing that you must clear before reading further. This is a buying guide, and we are not going to cover any specific price bracket in it. However, you can apply all these checklists on any phone that falls under your budget category to finalize the best-performing phone as per your requirement. This is more like being a pro at selecting the best possible phone of a category. So here is how you can choose the best phone for your needs.First of all, start with your requirement. Either you need a camera phone, a gaming phone, a performance-centric phone, or you are on a tight budget. Once you clear your requirement, then the real checklist begins. It is mandatory to clear the requirements because no phone is almost perfect in all areas. Some phones are known for cameras while others focus on gaming, some target long battery backup while some prefer style or design. So once you are clear about what your requirements are, things get clearer and you cut many useless options from the raw list.
Now after this, you need to make a list of phones which you think are good for you. You do not need to limit yourself to specific options based on camera, processor, or design. Instead, make a list of 5 to 10 phones and then perform the following checks which we are going to mention in our buying guide.
First thing first, the display. It is a known fact that the display of a phone must be good. A phone with a good display still makes sense and other features get ignored somehow, but if the display is not good, then other good features feel useless. So here is how to select a phone with a good display.
TFT display: this is the worst display you can buy these days. The quality of this display is useless, and you cannot enjoy screen time on your phone even with some gimmicks proposed by many brands, like a 120Hz refresh rate with a TFT display, which is still useless. It not only feels bad but also consumes a lot of battery. So if you see a TFT display, just skip the option instantly unless you are very tight on budget or you need a secondary phone which can act as a calling phone, hotspot, or power bank. Otherwise, do not waste your money on a TFT display.
Now comes the superior version of TFT, and it is known as IPS. This is a good option if you need a budget-friendly phone. IPS displays are much better than TFT displays. They are a little bit power-efficient and consume less battery, provide better image quality, and the overall experience is better than TFT. But still, this is not the last option you can choose. There are better display options available, but if you go with an IPS display, then we assume you are looking for a budget-friendly or mid-range phone, and that is fine. You can choose it unless your budget allows you to go a little higher.
Now comes the AMOLED display, which is one of the best displays available in the smartphone market. This is the best display option as it consumes less battery, especially in dark mode, so you get the advantage of saving battery power. It provides vivid colors, excellent video quality, and a smooth scrolling experience. Please know that OLED and AMOLED are a little bit different from each other. OLED and AMOLED are closely related technologies. AMOLED is the most commonly used OLED implementation in smartphones, mostly used by Samsung and other brands, while some brands like Apple call it OLED. Whatever you choose will work best, so OLED is good and AMOLED is great. Choose whatever you like.
Other than that, now comes pixel density. Whenever you see the specification list of a phone, you notice something like this: AMOLED 1080 x 2400 pixels (~411 PPI). In this, AMOLED is the screen type, 1080p is the resolution, and 411 is the pixel density. We read it as pixels per inch. This defines the quality of the screen. More pixels mean a clearer and more vivid view. Image or video quality increases as PPI increases, so a higher pixel count is better.
After completing this step, now let us talk about the processor. The processor is the most important part of a mobile phone, so you must choose it wisely; otherwise, you will regret it later. There are many processors in the market. Some entry-level chips like MediaTek Helio G85, G90, G99, and some mid-range chips like MediaTek Helio G100, G200, Snapdragon 685, etc. are pretty common nowadays, but these chips perform almost the same in daily use. MediaTek Helio G90, G99, G100, G200, and Snapdragon 685 chips should not be considered if the phone price is above 45-50,000 PKR.
If you buy a phone with these chips, make sure you are not compromising on other specifications like display, camera, battery, etc. One additional tip: use our mobile comparison tool to compare two phones side by side and choose the phone with a higher AnTuTu score.
While selecting internal storage, make sure a phone has a minimum of 128GB internal storage because 64GB nowadays is not common and might cause storage problems after using the phone for a few months. You can choose a 64GB ROM variant if you are tight on budget or if you fall into the category of a secondary phone, power bank, or hotspot phone. Select a minimum of 6GB RAM. Avoid the gimmick of extended RAM options, as this virtual RAM does not provide any performance benefit. 4GB RAM is not common today. Other than that, prefer UFS storage type, as this type of memory is much faster than older storage types.
Now let us talk about the camera. You have seen many phones with 108MP cameras, 200MP cameras, etc., but what if we tell you that the megapixel count is not what makes picture quality? Yes, that is right. Lens quality decides the picture quality, not the megapixel count. Even a 12MP camera can outperform a 200MP camera if the lens quality is better on the 12MP sensor. Here is how you can judge a camera by its specifications. Check this:
Camera: 50MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide lens)
This is the primary camera where 50MP is the number of pixels in the image. More pixels mean more detailed images if the sensor quality is good. f/1.8 is the aperture size; the lower the value, the better the image quality. It controls how much light enters the camera. Higher light entrance means better picture quality. And 24mm is the lens size. For reference, 13mm is normally for ultrawide lenses, 23 to 26mm is ideal for the main camera, while 50 to 75mm is for telephoto lenses, and 100mm plus lenses are for periscope cameras. So now you know how to read it correctly:
12MP f/1.8 camera is better than a 200MP f/2.2 camera.
Now last but not least is the battery. Nowadays, 6000mAh and 7000mAh battery sizes are common, and that is a good thing. But when selecting a battery, make sure it has a minimum capacity of 5000mAh and at least 25W fast charging support. If you choose a 7000mAh battery with only 10W charging support, then you are going to spend hours charging the phone, and that is not what we call value for money. Always choose a good battery with good charging speed.
Additional checklists are not mandatory but good to know. NFC support is a plus. If you get a phone with NFC, you will have an advantage over many mid-range phones. OTG support is also a good feature, as well as reverse charging support. Also, choose a Type-C cable over a micro-USB cable.
So that is it for the guide. We hope you now know how to get a better phone while managing your budget. If you have any questions, you can directly send us feedback, and we will try to respond as soon as possible.