Using the smartphone market becoming ever-more competitive, the amount of choice available to consumers keeps growing all the time.
But while on the one hand this is often a good thing, it can also make the process of choosing the next handset fairly daunting.
After all, where would you start? How can you possibly workout which offers the best value for the money or is the least susceptible to break down?
Luckily, consumer group Which? has come to your aid, with a new review identifying which smartphone brands it believes are the most and least reliable.
So, let’s go through the figures.
While Apple and Samsung might be the market leaders, the Which? review found that Huawei is really the most dependable smartphone manufacturer.
Just seven % of its phones developed some type of fault through the three-year survey period, as the likelihood of a Huawei phone breaking completely within the first three years of ownership are just two per cent.
Direct Mobile Phones can provide you with the tools to compare the leading UK networks and retailers so that you can save a tonne of money on your next contract and handset. Use our comparison tools to view a range of devices before you jump into your next mobile phone purchase. Whether you’re the type of user to eats through their mobile phone data like no tomorrow, or you need to make regular International calls, there will always be a device and network to suit your individual needs and preferences.
Interestingly, this is actually the second time in succession that Huawei has topped the rankings. That’s certainly not a coincidence and instead demonstrates an extraordinary level of consistency.
The survey was not quite so kind to LG, which revealed that 32 % of its phones are likely to create a fault within 3 years.
Similarly, the probability of an LG handset breaking completely in the first 3 years of ownership are 17 per cent.
Which? detailed this as a “stressing” physique, as it’s more than eight times the amount of risk shown by Huawei.
Overall, LG scored just 73 per cent for stability, which is well behind the 93 % amount that Huawei achieved.
You need a smartphone, and you need it now. Maybe it’s your first telephone, maybe your contract is up for renewal, or possibly you just fell the previous one in the toilet. Fear not. There are a great number of good options out there and we’ve got an instant guide about how exactly to choose a cellphone that’s best for your family.
FIND OUT WHAT YOUR PREFERENCES ARE
There are a great number of different things to consider when you’re buying a fresh smartphone. Do you need a cellphone with a sizable screen? Perhaps you prefer something that you can use one-handed? Are you looking for long electric battery life or the best camera cellphone you can find? Do you need a whole lot of storage area for your music collection? Maybe you’re a repeated traveler and a dual-SIM telephone would be useful?
Begin by drafting a set of the most crucial features for you and put it to use to compare devices to make sure your new smartphone ticks all of your boxes.
CHOOSE AN OPERATING SYSTEM
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There are really only two smartphone os’s worth taking into consideration today: Android and iOS.
Both are user friendly and support a wide variety of apps and video games. While you can transform from Android to iOS, or from iPhone to Android, there’s a learning curve. You’ll be most instantly at home on whatever program you’re used to.
Android offers a wider selection of devices at different prices, it provides more customization options, and Google’s excellent suite of services and applications is made in. In the event that you already use things such as Yahoo Maps, Gmail, and Yahoo Docs, then Android would be the better choice for you. In addition, it features the best va – Yahoo Assistant – which keeps growing more useful on a regular basis.
Apple’s iOS offers a more uniform, accessible experience, it’s better, and the App Store experience and quality of programs is slightly better. If you curently have a MacBook or an iPad, then an iPhone is most likely going to make the most sense for you. You’ll also find a massive selection of accessories for iPhones, something that can be limited for lesser-known Android devices.
For a far more in-depth break down of the most notable two smartphone websites check out our guide to Android vs. iOS, where we put them head-to-head in various categories.
FEATURES YOU’LL WANT INSIDE YOUR PHONE
Picking the right contact for you will be tough, and you can’t trust most employees at stores to really know what they’re talking about or to steer you in the right direction. We advise that you check around and get a hands-on with the smartphone you elegant before buying. If you don’t know much about specs, make an effort to bring along an educated good friend if you have one, but if not, here are a few things you’ll want to take into account.
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Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
Design
If you’d like something you may use one-handed, then pick out it up and try it out. A lot of telephones nowadays are a glass front and again, but which makes them delicate and susceptible to smudges, so they won’t suit everyone. Be sure the fingerprint sensor position fits you as well – they’re generally being migrated from leading to the trunk. The proper design for you should look and feel good.
Nice screen
You’re going to invest many hours gazing at it, so make sure that your smartphone display is a good size for you and that it boasts a high resolution. We recommend at the least Full HD, which is 1920 x 1080 pixels, or simply 2160 x 1080 pixels if the telephone has today’s 18:9 aspect ratio. Anything that’s 1080p or higher will be well-defined enough. In conditions of the root technology, OLED monitors have better contrast, with deeper blacks than LCD screens, and we favor them overall. Both Samsung’s Galaxy range and Apple’s iPhone X sport OLED monitors, nevertheless, you won’t see them at the budget end of the marketplace.
Good performance
This will mainly be dependant on a couple of things: The processor and the RAM. The processor is the main thing, and newer is generally better in terms of both swiftness and vitality efficiency. Apple’s A series chipset will outperform the competition. For an Android mobile phone, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 happens to be the cream of the crop. It’s debatable how much Ram memory you will need in a smartphone, but we recommend looking for at least 4GB. This doesn’t connect with iPhones, however, because they package with memory management differently and don’t require all the Memory. If in hesitation, read reviews or play with your possible smartphone in a store to test it.
Up-to-date OS
In the event that you buy a fresh iPhone, then you’ll find the latest version of iOS on it, but this isn’t always the truth with Android mobile phones. As the manufacturers often apply their own individual interfaces on top of Android, normally it takes a while to receive the latest changes, and you might not get future versions of Android after their release – or possibly never, if the maker decides never to revise. Only stock Android cell phones from Google, including the Pixel 2, are assured to get immediate and consistent Android changes. The existing version to consider is Android 8.0 Oreo, but Android P is merely nearby. Always make an effort to get the latest version you can.
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A good camera
Smartphone cameras have come on in leaps and bounds over the last several years. The decision can be bewildering, but it’s important to notice that good camera performance is approximately a lot more than only a high megapixel count up. If you’re in a position to test the phone out for yourself, you should, but you’ll also find useful information in reviews, and we do a whole lot of camera shootouts here at Digital Trends.
Bloatware
Be cautious of bloatware or hobbled features, especially if you’re buying Android. Sometimes service providers stop specific features or change defaults. Service providers and manufacturers also often add a whole lot of programs that are superfluous, and you’ll find that you can’t uninstall them.
Battery life
Removable batteries are rare nowadays, so you want to pick a phone that’ll be able to match you. Check the consensus on electric battery life in reviews. The mAh ranking will give you some indication, but the capacity is also impacted by the display screen size, quality, and software, which means you need to look beyond the quantity.
Storage
The most recent smartphones generally include enough storage built in. When 16GB devices were common – and they got 10GB used up from the field – you can go out of space alarmingly quickly. We recommend at the least 32GB, but 64GB is way better. Much depends on how you utilize your mobile phone. You’ll definitely need more space if you want to fill your MP3 collection on there. Having a MicroSD card slot gives you to extend your space for storage relatively cheaply, but Apple never includes MicroSD card slots, which means this is something you’ll only find in a few Android devices.
Durability
We mentioned the hazards of glass mobile phones briefly, but if you get a glass phone and you’re susceptible to dropping it, ensure you get a protective circumstance. It’s also advisable to get a mobile with some normal water resistance. The most notable flagships tend to have IP67 or IP68 ratings nowadays, this means they could be submerged in water without damage. Even budget phones often include some water level of resistance, but it’s worthwhile checking.