Are you looking for a new smartphone but don’t know which model suits you best? The smartphone guide will tell you.
New year, new smartphones – but which model is the right one when a new purchase is pending? A question that cannot be answered in general, because which smartphone makes you happy depends on various factors. Some prefer a huge display, while others would prefer to operate their smartphone with just one hand. Still others only use the pocket computer for WhatsApp and the next one films and cuts videos with the cell phone. Which smartphone suits you is therefore decided:
1. Which smartphone suits me? The WhatsAppers
Yes, every buyer wants as much value for money as possible. However, the gap between price and performance is often wide, especially with the latest premium devices, if the performance offered is not used at all. Even a high-end smartphone can offer good value for money if the buyer uses it to shoot professional videos and needs a lot of reliable performance over several years. WhatsApper and Mail-Checker usually don’t do that.
If you chat, surf and check emails, you don’t need to expect much from a smartphone. The only important thing is a reasonable display so that the content is not muddy or pixelated. You don’t want to spend more than 200 euros for such a smartphone. A solid entry-level model is the Samsung Galaxy A22. The resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels with a diagonal of 6.6 inches (16.8 centimeters) is easily enough for WhatsApp
There are smartphones for less than 300 euros that you can use for simple games in addition to chats and surfing. Of course, most models in this price range have decent cameras. But they are more suitable for photos in good light.
Smartphone cameras under 300 euros, on the other hand, often have problems with darkness. In addition, this price segment is more likely to be used by Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Oppo
A potent representative of the smartphones under 300 euros is the Poco F3. What makes it special is its 120 Hertz display and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor. Both components make gamers especially happy who want to play “Fortnite” or “Call of Duty” on their cell phones.
Most prospective smartphone buyers are willing to shell out up to 500 euros for a new device. Depending on the manufacturer, there are already mobile phones that can compete with the upper class in some cases.
In Apple’s iPhone SE 2022, for example, the processor installed in the iPhone 13 Pro Max works with the A15 Bionic chip. More raw power is not about 500 euros. With Android, it is worth taking a look at the previous generation, namely the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, which currently (April 2022) costs around 460 euros.
Both smartphones offer excellent photo quality even in low light and still have enough power for the next three years. The iPhone SE 2022 should even be supplied with updates for the next five years.
Naturally, iPhones are among the most powerful smartphones on the market because Apple is one of the few manufacturers to develop its own software and hardware and can therefore coordinate the two better. That doesn’t make the smartphone any cheaper. Most Apple users pay a lot of money for performance they don’t really need.
An example: The jump from iPhone 12 to 13 is mainly buried in the camera and the better processor. The camera on the iPhone 13, for example, offers a cinema mode that enables focus shifting with a bokeh effect when filming. In addition, the built-in sensors on the iPhone 13 are slightly faster, which allows for better photos in low light.
If you film little or not at all with your iPhone, you don’t need cinema mode. So why pay for it? Apple bargain hunters therefore often resort to previous and previous generations. Care should be taken here, because Apple does not reveal how long its iPhones will receive updates. As a rule, it is up to five years after the release.
Whether the previous generations are worth it depends on their useful life. The cheapest way into the Apple world is therefore usually the latest iPhone SE. The 2022 version is available from 520 euros in the smallest storage variant.
2. The sustainable ones
Smartphone buyers who place a particularly high value on sustainability are similarly pinched as Apple bargain hunters. Unfortunately, the reality is that no smartphone can be produced completely fairly using only recycled materials. Fairphones come closest, but unfortunately they are not particularly cheap. The Fairphone 4, for example, currently costs 580 euros in the smallest memory variant without a contract.
After all, it is particularly durable because Fairphone users can easily replace individual components such as the battery or camera. This means that a new smartphone is not needed every three to four years if individual parts fail. Unfortunately, that’s why Fairphones are so popular and often out of stock. A manufacturer that works with a similar modular system is the Berlin startup “Shiftphone”. According to the manufacturer, the Shiftphone is “the most modular smartphone in the world”.
3. Photographers and social media junkies
If Instagram
With smartphone cameras, however, that is only half the truth of the photo quality, because the software post-processing of the image is at least as important for the image quality of a photo. And sometimes it needs a lot of processing power. Accordingly, photographers often dig a little deeper into their pockets than normal users.
In the under $1000 category, iPhone photographers have a choice between the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini. The only difference between the devices is the size of the display. If you want to use the smartphone with just one hand, you can use the mini version.
Unfortunately, neither offers a telephoto lens that zooms in on objects that are further away. The Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus or the iPhone 12 Pro offer just under 1000 euros. However, the price tip in this category is the Google Pixel 6 Pro, which was launched in October 2021 and also shines with excellent photo quality and a telephoto lens.
4. The gamblers
Mobile games are becoming more and more popular and a market for smartphone gamers has developed accordingly over the past few years. In general, it must be said that gamers definitely want a powerful processor and at least a 120 Hertz display. Video and photo quality are of secondary importance.
If you want to play with the iPhone, you have to dig deep into your pocket: Only the top versions of the Apple smartphone work with a refresh rate of 120 Hertz. For less than 1000 euros, gamers only get their money’s worth with the iPhone 12 Pro.
The price tip for gamers is the Poco F3 with Snapdragon 870 processor and 120 Hertz refresh rate. Alternatively, there is also the Xiaomi Black Shark 4, whose display even works with a refresh rate of 144 Hertz with the same processor. Noble gamers reach for the Asus ROG 5s.
It costs almost as much as an iPhone 13 Pro without offering more performance, but at least the smartphone also has a display with a 144 Hertz refresh rate. Otherwise, top devices from Samsung also make sense as gaming smartphones, such as the Galaxy S22.
5. The videographers
If you use your smartphone for filming to a large extent, there is no way around an iPhone 13 Pro or Pro Max – and at least in the 256 gigabyte version. Why? Only that supports 4K recordings at 30 frames per second in the ProRes codec. The 128 gigabyte variant only supports ProRes codec at 30 frames per second and Full HD resolution.
Apple’s in-house ProREs codec is particularly recommended for post-processing with Final Cut, for example for professional color grading. Why Apple makes the restriction is not known. It is possible that ProRes video material simply eats up a lot of memory and the manufacturer therefore only considers 4K at 30 frames per second to be useful from 256 gigabytes.
Too bad: videographers cannot use the new cinema mode in connection with ProRes. This enables a focus shift with a bokeh effect when filming and even in post-processing on the iPhone! If you can do without ProRes but want to use the cinema mode, you should reach for the iPhone 13 or 13 Mini.
Unfortunately, Android smartphones lack a comparable mode. Nevertheless, there are also smartphones that record excellent videos. As for photographers, the Google Pixel Pro 6 is excellent for videographers who prefer to work with Android.
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