With 5G just around the corner for many of us, it may be time to upgrade your smartphone to something that’s 5G capable and fits in line with your uses – there has been a large amount of growth within streamed content as mobile devices have quickly become one of the most popular ways to view television series and movies, this is also true for gaming as over 50% of all gaming is now done on mobile devices – puzzle, arcade, and casinos games are amongst the most popular, especially these ones, but more demanding games are also entering the mobile market – with this and changing phone tech, there are many options available to consumers looking for something new.
Display – One of the fastest-changing features in mobile devices can be found with the display – screen size has started to normalize across devices as the mid-ranged six point something inch ‘phablet’ is now the norm, similarly with resolution as it seems 4K mobile devices may not be all that far away – the change, however, is starting to be seen in refresh rate, or how often the display updates per second – higher gaming performance is found at around 120 to 144hertz, double that of ordinary devices and offering a much smoother UI feel – if you’re serious about gaming or movies, it may be beneficial to look for a larger resolution or a faster display.
Battery Life – All these updates to displays and other hardware come at a cost – a little more juice is needed to keep things going and that juice doesn’t stretch as far as it once did. Most devices are now unibody designs, meaning finding an aftermarket replaceable battery is a little more difficult unless you’re willing to put in the time to replace one yourself, but with case mods and some manufacturers focussing on battery life as a primary feature. If you know you’ll be using the device for long hours with little chance to charge again, this may be a top priority – although it is also important to note that fast charging and wireless charging have become very normal too.
Camera – An important feature that has been developing in smartphones for a number of years is within camera technology, and whilst great for the would be a photographer there are now newer uses for these cameras – developing augmented reality and virtual reality have opened up new possibilities for what our mobile devices may be used for – if this area of development is of interest to you, keep an eye on where changes in the market are happening to inform your decision here.
There are also other little bits to look toward – differences in network chips could have an effect on your 5G speeds on the very top end, small features such as expandable memory and headphone jacks which had been taken for granted but now offered in fewer devices may be a nice optional extra to consider too – and then, of course, there is always the argument between the operating system, but that one is left up to you!
