Planning to buy a budget smartphone? Keep these 5 pointers in mind

The budget smartphone segment has grown by leaps and bound. You no longer need to empty your wallet to get a good phone with all the bells and whistles. However, keep a few things in mind before you spend your money, says ET:


KEEP YOUR EXPECTATIONS LOW

Most budget users think that a low-cost smartphone is just a slightly less powerful version of the high-end smartphone available for double the price. This hypes up expectations, leading to complaints about disappointing performance. While a few smartphones like the Xiaomi Redmi Note and Yureka have managed to come close, most other budget smartphones do not even come close to what the high-end devices offer.

Remember they are called budget smartphone for a reason. Some of the things you will have to compromise on include screen resolution, processor type and speed, RAM, camera quality (even though on paper they will match by saying a 13MP camera), build quality and battery life.

CUTTING CORNERS

To sell you a smartphone cheap, manufacturers cut down on little features you won’t even notice while buying. So out of the 4GB internal storage, you actually get around 2GB for your use. The 4.7-inch screen would have a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. In connectivity, the device would not have WiFi Direct, NFC or the new Bluetooth 4.0. Make sure you check the features before making the payment. For instance, lack of autofocus in camera will be an issue if you want to click a lot of photos.

Also Read: Check out these phones under Rs 10,000



FOCUS ON HARDWARE

Hardware specifications are what you need to check thoroughly while selecting your smartphone. Just because it’s a budget phone does not mean it has to be running on entry-level hardware. Check out the processor (octa cores are easily available now), RAM (the more the better) and the storage available (expandable storage is always recommended). Other specifications such as display size and resolution, connectivity options, battery capacity etc. are the next things to evaluate. Also, make sure you check out a demo phone before buying to get a feel of its build quality, placement of buttons and ports.

SOFTWARE INTERFACE

There are phones running Android, Windows Phone as well as the older BlackBerry devices available. Make sure you check the operating system version before making a decision. You do not want to be stuck with a device running an older version of Android or Windows Phone with no clarity about OS update. Keep in mind that different operating systems have different hardware requirements — the latest version of Windows Phone (8 and above) requires lesser processor speed and RAM as compared to the latest in Android.

Check how many third party apps come pre-installed and if you can remove the pre-installed apps or not as this affects the phone performance.

AFTER SALES SUPPORT

Most smartphones come with one-year warranty. However, the warranty is useless if there is no service centre near by. Check out the company’s website to locate the service centres. Going through various forums to understand the support reputation of a company is vital. Most companies now suffer from lack of spare parts for the smartphones.