Understanding Phone Specifications
Many people go ahead to buy phones without them knowing that there are needful information they have to get about the phone before they come to conclusion if the phone fits what they need it for. For example if you want to enjoy swift internet connectivity on any phone let us take the popular Android OS phones for instance, you should check for the connectivity of the phone I.E 2G, 3G, HPSG, or even 4G which is the fastest of the three. Others also include camera features that is to say the quality of the camera which may be determined based on the mega pixel (MP) if you are into craftsmanship which you will always like to take a snap shot of you works.
I have highlighted the essentials / necessary Specs you have to check out for when getting any smartphone of any OS. Also note that most of the features does not apply to phones alone but also to other computerized devices.
I will divide them into the following group namely:
General Features, Display, Camera, Network Support, Internet & Connectivity, Messaging, Entertainment, Navigation, Sensors and control, Battery. I will throw lights on the bold ones because they are the vital ones in our daily life.
GENERAL FEATURES
These are the general basics and general functions of the phone which include
Platform: the operating system (OS) the phone is running o whether it is android, java, Symbian, iOS, windows, or blackberry.
Processor: in a layman word it is how stuffs are being processed when you use you mobile phone. Think of it as the brain. The higher it is the better it performs or works faster when handling files.
Memory: the memory here has to do with the internal storage of the phone when it has to do with storing of applications by default. I would recommend you go for a phone that has at least 1GB memory (RAM), others also include 2GB or 4GB ram
Sim Type: It is either a dual sim (2 sim) or a single sim card compatibility
INTERNET AND CONNECTIVITY
The internet and connectivity here include-
GPRS: GPRS (General Packet Radio Service). It is the slowest speed of Internet data transfer or connectivity in your mobile phone. When the G signal strength appears it indicates, that your net connection is working at the slowest speed.
GPRS is considered to be the second generation (2G) mobile technology. It is the slowest and oldest among all mobile technologies. It is mainly good enough for sending text messages using apps like WhatsApp, and works fairly good with low end smartphones not with the android smartphones. Data rates in GPRS are between 56 and 114 Kbit/second.
If your mobile signal is weak, you might get even slower speed on Internet. There are ways to boost mobile signal strength hand thus the Internet speed.
EDGE: EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution). It is also called Enhanced GPRS. This technology lies somewhere in between 2G and 3G technology. So, some people refer to it as2.5G.
EDGE is faster than GPRS but still not good enough to browse the Internet. It takes lot of time in loading websites when your signal bar is showing E letter alongside. Typically EDGE provides a data rate of 400 Kbit/second but in ideal conditions data rate of up to 1 Mbit/second can also be achieved. This technology also lies somewhere in between 2G and 3G. Those who call GPRS as 2.5G, they refer EDGE as2.75G.
3G: 3G means the third generation of mobile telephone technology. It uses the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System and is based on GSM standards. Typically 3G provides data transfer rates 384 Kbit/second. But depending upon how it is implemented in various networks, the data rate can go up to 42 Mbits/second. Usually 3G is faster than EDGE and you can easily browse websites and stream videos on YouTube etc.
HSPA: HSPA (High Speed Packet Access). It is an enhanced form of 3G technology. HSPA provides higher data transfer rates than the basic 3G. Tabular comparison of data speeds offered by various generations of mobile technology. HSPA can provide peak data rates of up to 14 Mbit/s for downlink and 5.76 Mbit/s for uplink. High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) is a further enhanced version of HSPA. HSDPA supports download speed of up to 99.3 Mbit/s. When you see letter H near the signal bar in your mobile phone, you can stream music and even YouTube videos without much interruption. But if you want to download a movie, it is going to take a very long time
H+ : H+ in Mobile Signal this is enhanced HSPA. It is faster than basic HSPA (as explained above). Relatively speedier data transfer in H+ will make your video to download or stream much more smoothly. At present, 4G technology is not very widely available. So, in most parts of the world, HSPA+ is the fastest speed you can get through mobile Internet.
WCDMA: WCDMA is also a 3G technology. It stands for Wide-band Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA). Interestingly, this technology is actually used in the GSM systems. WCDMA in GSM increases the data transmission speed by using the air interface of CDMA. International Telecommunications Union has adopted WCDMA.
4G: 4 Generation (4G) in Mobile Signal means you’re using the fastest mobile Internet connection available on the globe at present. 4G is the fourth generation of mobile technology. It is also called LTE (Long Term Evolution). 4G connection works as good as a Wi-Fi connection of your home or office. With such a connection you can do everything on your mobile that you can do on your desktop. Just to round it all up, the bars in signal indicator show the strength or quality of the signal you are getting at your present location.
WLAN: WLAN wireless local area network it provides wireless network communication over short distance computers.
NFC: NFC near field communication is a wireless technology that does not depends on internet connection, Wi-Fi, or 3G network. One things NFC does is that it allows enabled phones to share information or exchange of data with each other just like Bluetooth does, but it is a more professional connectivity. It works within a radius of 40mm
SENSORS AND CONTROLS:
According to Cambridge dictionary, a sensor is a device that is used to record that something is present or there are changes in something.
Accelerometer: handle axis-based motion sensing and can be found in fitness trackers as well as phones—they’re the reason why your smartphone can track your steps even if you haven’t bought a separate wearable.
As the name tells, accelerometers measure acceleration, so the map inside Snap chat can put a cute toy car around when you’re driving, plus a host of other actually useful applications.
The sensor is itself made up of other sensors, including microscopic crystal structures that become stressed due to accelerative forces. The accelerometer then interprets the voltage coming from the crystals to figure out how fast your phone is moving and which direction it’s pointing in.
Gyroscope: this is where fun comes in. The gyroscope’s extra precision comes in handy for games and 360-degree photos.
The gyroscope helps the accelerometer out with understanding which way your phone is orientated— it adds another level of precision so those360-degree photo spheres really look as impressive as possible.
Whenever you play a racing game on your phone and tilt the screen to steer, the gyroscope rather than the accelerometer is sensing what you’re doing, because you’re only applying small turns to the phone and not actually moving through space.
Iris scanner: Technology is becoming interesting. One of the most secure forms of biometric authentication, since an iris pattern is practically impossible to replicate. The iris scanner is practically a camera designed with a very specific function in mind which works alongside an infrared LED in order to recognize the unique pattern in your iris. To use the iris scanner to authenticate yourself, users will need to lift the phone to eye level at arm’s length and wait for the iris scanner to capture
There are other sensors that can be found in mobile phones which also include: heart rate monitor, finger print scanner, motion sensing / gesture control, voice control, pedometer etc.
These are interesting and feature you have to check for before you buy a phone rather just the size and colour of the phone.
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THIS IS REVEALING. I never knew the meaning of terms like, 3G, 4G, H+, 2G,etc until now. Thank you.
Never thought this much deeper before buying a phone. Thanks for sharing. It really made me think about blunders I made these years while purchasing phones