Traveler, video maker, blind? This way you choose the phone that suits you

In the past, when you could still score relatively good deals with your telephone subscription and no BKR registration was involved, there were many people who invariably went for the new flagship every year. Even though their smartphone still worked fine. Now there were also many exciting new possibilities on smartphones at that time. Everything is different now and you can often get very far with a midrange. But at some point you may be ready for a new smartphone: what do you choose? With these tips you choose the phone that suits you.

The photographer

If you don’t feel like taking a large SLR camera with you every time, but you do want to shoot beautiful shots, then you’re looking for a smartphone that is well-versed in terms of cameras, but also in terms of photography software. Think carefully if you often or like to take pictures. If you are a real foodie, you will benefit from a smartphone that can photograph well in twilight and that may even have a built-in food mode. One likes a camera that takes very vivid photos and maybe polishes them up a bit with artificial intelligence, while another prefers to keep it a bit calmer and more realistic. So also take a good look online at reviews of devices, because they often show many photos. That helps you find a smartphone that takes photos to your taste. It is, however, advisable to go for a ‘pro’ device. They often also have pro options in the camera, so you can adjust the ISO or the shutter speed yourself. This is essential, for example, if you want to take northern lights photos. Moreover, don’t be blinded by the number of megapixels, but rather go for a smartphone with a large sensor (larger than 1/1.7 inch).

The always-on-the-go person

Maybe you like to travel to places where you don’t have a socket available for a long time, or you sometimes go to a multi-day festival where your power bank is no longer sufficient. Or maybe you just like TikTok all day. There are many reasons to want a smartphone with a long battery life. That used to be quite normal, a phone would sometimes last a week, but with the large screens that we expect today, that is impossible. If you get through the day that is a plus, although there are certainly outliers that last one and a half to two days. If you are looking for a smartphone with a large battery, look for a model with at least 5,000 mAh. In addition, choose a phone with a 1080p OLED screen and make sure you use your phone in dark mode. A variable refresh rate of the screen can also make a big difference, so look for those specifications when you choose your new smartphone.

The gamer

Although a long battery life can be useful if you play a lot on your smartphone, there is something that is even more important: the processor. A phone with a solid processor is capable of calculating hard and that is exactly what is needed to run a game. A lot happens: a lot of things have to be displayed on the screen, but you also give input with your fingers that has to be processed. A simple game like Wordfeud, Angry Birds or Candy Crush can be played well on almost any phone, but if you look at the PUBG Mobiles, Apex Legends and Call of Duty’s of this world, you need more. So look for a device with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8-series processor, a MediaTek Dimensity 9000 or a Samsung Exynos 2200. Also look for devices with a high frame rate (120Hz) and at least 8 GB of RAM. If possible, also look for a device with a touch speed that is quite high, so more than 240Hz: this has everything to do with how quickly the information about your touch is passed from the screen. There are telephones that have built-in special cooling: if you are really fanatical, it is worth looking at that.

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The video maker

Maybe you create courses for colleagues and need to make videos of yourself, or you’re trying to make it as an influencer on social media: if videography is important to you, you need a phone that makes it even easier for you to become a perfect cameraman to be. You need a device with good OIS and a dual-pixel PDAF so that it focuses quickly when you shoot. After all, there is nothing as annoying as telling a whole story, only to find out that your phone only focused on the bunch of tulips behind you. For example, it is also useful to choose a device that can switch between the lenses during filming, so that you do not have to film things twice with the different cameras that the phone has. There are even devices that film with all lenses at the same time, where you can later choose which shot you choose at any time of the video.

The planet protector

Would you like to use your smartphone for as long as possible, because you want to live sustainably? Then you have to check carefully how long a phone is supported. We are talking about security updates and operating system updates. Both are important and there are smartphone makers that have an update policy of 5 years. Check carefully what is promised in updates for the phone you have in mind and how long ago that phone appeared. Four years of operating system updates is very nice, but if that phone appeared two years ago, that update time is already half. Samsung, Google and Nokia are often mentioned as Android companies that have a reasonably good update policy, although we have yet to see the first Android manufacturer that continues to update for 7 years (something the competition with the fruit logo promises).

The traveller

If you love to travel, you will benefit from choosing a smartphone that supports many different network bands. 2G and 3G are available in many bands, but look for a quad-band device if you really want to travel well with it. The better the support of the various connections, the greater the chance that you can call, text and maybe even use the internet everywhere. You could also choose a phone on which you can use a virtual SIM card. Especially if you are staying in a certain country for a while, it is better to invest in a virtual SIM card that is valid in that country for that stay.

The one-handed

Maybe you use your smartphone with one hand because you want to eat an ice cream in the meantime, or maybe you do it because you don’t have a second hand: whatever your reason is to use your device with one hand, it’s best to look for a smartphone which is pleasant to use. Every device offers a way to make the screen smaller for one-handed use, but it is even better to opt for a smaller, more handy device. Don’t just look at the inches: a 5.9-inch screen can still be very wide, so rather look at the dimensions. And to the aspect ratio, because it says more about the aspect ratio.

The people with a physical challenge

Are you blind? Then you probably have slightly different wishes in a device than people who can use their sight to use the smartphone. The same applies to people who have little or no hearing. Fortunately, there are more and more accessibility options within Android, but smartphone makers themselves can of course build on this or come up with good solutions themselves to make their phones as widely usable as possible. For example, if you want to use Android Support for Hearing Aids (ASHA), you need a Google phone that runs on Android 10 and higher. See what a smartphone has to offer and how it interacts with technology you use, such as a hearing aid or a braille display.

What type are you, and how do you choose your smartphone? Share it now in the comments.