Smartphone 101 — Pick a smartphone for me

24 min readJan 20, 2023

When it comes to choosing a smartphone, there are a few things you need to take into account. First, what operating system do you prefer? Android or iOS? Then, what brand do you prefer? Apple, Samsung, Huawei, Xaomi, or Google? Finally, what model of phone do you like best? The iPhone 13 or 14 Pro Max, the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the Huawei Mate 50 Pro, the Xaomi 12T Pro 5G, or the Google Pixel 7 Pro?

Read full post at https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=65ioEAAAQBAJ or https://enoumen.com/2020/11/06/smartphone-101-pick-a-smartphone-for-me-android-or-ios-apple-iphone-or-samsung-or-huawei/

To help you choose the perfect phone for you, we’ve put together a quick guide to the top features of each phone. First, let’s take a look at operating systems. iOS is known for its ease of use and attractive design while Android offers more customization options and a wider range of apps. Next, let’s take a look at brands. Apple is known for its high-quality hardware and cutting-edge software while Samsung is loved for its powerful specs and expansive features. Huawei is known for its long-lasting batteries and impressive camera quality while Xaomi offers high-end features at an affordable price. Finally, let’s take a look at models. The iPhone 14 Pro Max is Apple’s newest and most advanced phone with a huge screen.

Smartphone Specs — Smartphone 101 — Pick a smartphone for me

Are smartphone specs actually a good representation of the smartphone? Any modern smartphone has a list of required parts: a battery, CPU (central processing unit — the brains of the computer), storage (think of it as a filing cabinet or bookshelf where information is stored, just a lot smaller), RAM (random access memory — think of this as a desk where you put books/information you pull from storage to keep handy), camera, screen, and more… There’s also the software which isn’t a physical part, but can be wildly different from one phone to another. When you buy a phone, specifications must be one of the last aspects you should worry about. Every phone has enough specs to go about our daily tasks(casual browsing, Facebook, email etc) smoothly. So unless you are a heavy gamer( a person playing Candy Crush Saga or Subway Surfers 24 hrs a day isn’t one!!!) 3gb or 2gb RAM won’t matter!

The specs of any device is a mere representation of it computational and other capabilities. It might not necessarily translate into the best possible experience for the user.

There are other factors like the OS used along with the hardware. The combination of represent the device properly.

Below are the top 10 phones with the overall best specs to date (2023):

Best Mid Range Phone by Specs:

Best mid-range phone on a budget: OnePlus 8T,
Best performance on a budget: Samsung Galaxy S20 FE,
Best camera for cheap: Google Pixel 5,
Best for cheap 5G: Moto Edge 5G,
Best for Dual Screen: LG Velvet,
Best for Apple: iPhone SE 2,
Best screen on a budget: TCL 10 Pro,
Best for megapixels on a budget: Xiaomi Mi Note 10

Smartphone 101 — Pick a smartphone for me — Smartphone Batteries -

Typically, a modern phone battery’s (lithium-ion) lifespan is 2–3 years, which is about 300–500 charge cycles as rated by manufacturers. After that, the battery capacity will drop by roughly 20%.

Batteries provide power to all the different components of the phone, the biggest draws generally being the screen and the processor. Depending on the other components in the phone, they will require different amounts of power. For example, the Snapdragon 625 processor (CPU) doesn’t need much power to work, but doesn’t provide the best performance either. Meanwhile, the Snapdragon 845 processor requires quite a bit more power, but it also provides a lot more performance.

Usually the standard for a flagship phone is about 4 hours screen on time, maybe 8 hours average., but today’s smartphones have gotten much more power efficient and are lasting 8–9 hours screen on time or 2 days worth of battery depending on how you use it.. but phones today should last all day on average.

With moderate use a 5000 mAh battery is expected to last typically a day and a half!

Best phone battery life at a glance (hours:minutes)

Moto G Power: 16:10
Moto G7 Power: 15:35
Asus ZenFone 6: 15:01
Samsung Galaxy A20: 13:46
LG V60 ThinQ 5G: 12:46
Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus: 12:35
Moto G Fast: 12:17
Moto G Stylus: 12:13
Motorola Edge: 12:12
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra: 11:58

Charging
Smartphones all use rechargeable batteries that are charged by plugging your phone into a wall charger.

How to make your smartphone battery last longer

It’s best for your smartphone if you charge it before the battery runs out completely. You should also unplug it once it’s fully charged, but once every now and again it’s good for your phone to let the battery run out completely.

Smartphone 101 — Pick a smartphone for me Smartphone CPU -

The CPU inside your phone is responsible for running all the logic and operations required by the Android operating system as well as your apps. The CPU is one of the most important things to consider when choosing a phone. If you want to get something done on a phone, it needs to go through the CPU.

How do I check CPU usage on android smartphone?

On an Android smart-phone, enable the Developer mode by tapping on “Build number” in Settings→About until it says “You are now a Developer”. Under Settings, open “Developer mode” and locate the option “Show CPU Usage” and enable it to see the CPU usage live on screen.

How do I check CPU usage on iPhone?

To check the CPU usage on an iPhone, you can use the built-in “Activity Monitor” app. To access this app, open the “Settings” app, then tap “Battery” and look for the “Battery Usage by App” section. This will show you a list of all the apps on your iPhone, along with their current CPU usage. You can also use third-party apps from the App store to check the CPU usage.

Below are some of the more common smartphone processors:

Qualcomm Snapdragon processors are by far the most common. Qualcomm is the company that makes them, and Snapdragon is their branding. Snapdragon CPUs have a number-based naming scheme, the first number indicating what family of processors it’s in (8 being high power, 6 being somewhere in the middle, and 4 being budget friendly), and the second number is which generation chip (higher numbers mean it’s newer). The last number isn’t as important. Note: this isn’t exactly true, as sometimes generation numbers are skipped or repeated, but generally this method will give you an idea of what processor you’re looking at.

So, for example the Snapdragon 855 is a high power processor (indicated from the 8 in front), 5th generation (indicated by the 5 in the middle) processor. The Snapdragon 625 is a midrange processor (indicated by the 6 in front) from the 2nd generation (indicated by the 2 in the middle). Likewise, the Snapdragon 808 was a high power processor from a few generations back.

Check out Qualcomm’s website if you’re looking for more info.

Huawei Kirin processors are made in-house by Huawei, and (as far as I know) used exclusively in their phones. While traditionally they offered weak gaming performance, these days they’re in the same ballpark as Snapdragon processors. The Kirin 980 is currently the latest and greatest.

Samsung’s Exynos processors are (as far as I know) exclusively used in Samsung phones, generally in the global versions (they tend to use Snapdragon processors for American phones because of LTE bands). They are also very high end, and comparable to the best from Qualcomm.

MediaTek processors are more budget friendly (and lower performance) from the rest mentioned above. MediaTek doesn’t always provide proper documentation for their processors, and as such sometimes it’s a limitation as to why they stop receiving Android updates or why the manufacturer’s software may be poorly optimized. Personally I tend to steer clear of MediaTek processors, but if you’re on a tight budget they can still be a viable option.

GPU vs CPU: What’s the difference? While CPUs are designed to handle a bit of everything, GPUs are built with a very specific purpose in mind — parallel data crunching for 3D graphics processing. They’re designed to be much faster and more power-efficient at this task, but as a trade-off, aren’t as flexible in their range of workloads.

Below are the top 10 smartphones with the fastest CPU:

To test and rank processors, Tech Centurion has developed Centurion Mark which evaluates the performance of a processor. Centurion Mark evaluates the CPU performance, Gaming Performance, and battery efficiency of a chip based on real-world usage and we combine all that data to assign a score to every SOC.

Smartphone RAM — Smartphone 101 — Pick a smartphone for me

RAM (Random Access Memory) is storage used for a place to hold data. If your mobile device or tablet has a small amount of RAM, you may find that it will start to slow down when you have opened and used lots of different applications at the same time.

RAM is basically really fast storage. Your phone pulls information from the storage (think of filing cabinets) into RAM (think of a desk). There’s only so much room in RAM (the desk) before you have to start putting things back into storage. More RAM means that you’ll have to re-load apps less (they’re already loaded in the background in a suspended state), which saves on processing power and therefore uses less battery power.

4GB has become common for most phones, with some going as high as 8 and even 10gb. 2gb has become outdated at this point.

How much RAM does a smartphone need? 4GB

The Current RAM Standard Android runs on many, many more and RAM can run the gamut. For most smartphone owners, 4GB is plenty.

Which phone has highest RAM?

Here are five of the top phones with a massive RAM:

Xiaomi Black Shark 5 Pro . When it comes to the best smartphone, the Xiaomi Black Shark allows you to operate multiple functions simultaneously — thanks to its 12 GB RAM. …
OnePlus 1o PRO 12GB RAM
Samsung Galaxy Note 22 Ultra 12GB
Google Pixel 7 Pro 12GB RAM

How do I clear the RAM on my Mobile device?

If your mobile device or tablet has a small amount of RAM, you may find that it will start to slow down when you have opened and used lots of different applications at the same time. This is one of the reasons why some devices are more costly — more expensive devices will usually have a larger amount of RAM, and will be able to run more applications at the same time without slowing down as much.

Clearing the RAM will close and reset all running applications to speed up your mobile device or tablet. You will notice improved performance on your device — until there are too many apps open and running in the background again. It is good practice to close down applications regularly.

RAM in any device, be it handheld or a PC, is a piece of hardware where the current application data is kept for instant access to the processor. This serves as the main memory for devices and is faster than HDD, SSD or Optical drives.

A device’s performance is not just dependent on the processor but also the amount of memory (RAM) it carries. If a user has opened multiple apps then their current state is logged onto the RAM, which helps the user access the app in its current state after finishing work on another app. More RAM ensures more data and multiple apps running in the memory for a seamless user experience.

How do I clear RAM on android?

There are a few ways to clear RAM on an Android device:

Force-close apps: Go to the recent apps menu by tapping the square or multitasking button on your device, then swipe left or right to find the app you want to close. Swipe the app up to close it.
Restart your device: Press and hold the power button until the power menu appears, then tap “Restart” or “Power off” and then turn it back on.
Clear cached data: Go to Settings > Storage > Cached data, then tap “OK” to clear the cache.
Use a RAM cleaner app: There are several third-party apps available on the Play Store that can automatically clear RAM and close background processes.
If your device running low on storage, Clear some data by deleting unnecessary files and apps.

Please note that force-closing apps or restarting your device may cause you to lose unsaved data, so be sure to save any important information before performing these steps.

How do I clear RAM on iPhone?

There are a few ways to clear RAM on an iPhone:

Force-close apps: Double-click the Home button to bring up the app switcher, then swipe up on any app previews to force-close them.
Restart your iPhone: Press and hold the power button until the “slide to power off” slider appears, then swipe it to turn off your iPhone. Turn it back on by pressing and holding the power button again.
Clear Safari’s cache and cookies: Go to the Settings app, select Safari, then tap “Clear History and Website Data.”
Enable “Low Power Mode” to automatically reduce background activity and clear RAM.
If your iPhone running low on storage, Clear some data by deleting unnecessary files and apps.

Please note that force-closing apps or restarting your iPhone may cause you to lose unsaved data, so be sure to save any important information before performing these steps.

Why do Android phones need more RAM than iPhones?

There are multiple reasons for it, but the major one will be their approach towards memory management. Unlike Android, iOS doesn’t rely on Java Virtual machine to execute its codes and the app codes are directly executed on the hardware thus limiting the need for RAM to run virtual machines on iOS.

Android is built for various devices with varying hardware specifications, hence, it needs more memory to execute the right code for the right device. Also, apps on Android are allowed to use as much of RAM that is required, so, they end up collecting more data on the RAM and when it is not used the data is cleaned.

Smartphone Storage

If you’re someone who uses your phone primarily to talk, text, read email and browse online, 32 GB is likely enough storage, especially if your phone has a microSD card slot, which you can use to cheaply expand your storage. For more active phone users, a 64 GB phone is a good option.

Internal memory is the manufacturer-installed storage space, usually 16, 32 or 64GB, where the operating system, pre-installed apps, and other system software is installed.

The total amount of internal storage cannot be increased or decreased by the user, so if your phone has only 16GB of internal storage and no expansion slot, this is all the storage space you will ever have. And remember, some of this will already be used up by the system software.

Storage is fairly simple: the more you have the better. 64GB is fairly standard these days, with 128GB having become the standard for higher end phones. Typically more than 128gb of storage is only found on very high end phones. If you find yourself running out of storage, there are some ways to manage (like clearing cache, uninstalling some apps, moving photos to your computer/upload them to a service like Google Photos or Facebook so you can remove them from your phone).

Micro SD cards can be found on some phones (they’re more rare now, but some are still available), and can allow you to add additional storage after you’ve already bought a phone. It’s going to be slower than the built-in storage, so movies, music, or files are best stored on SD cards (apps and especially games aren’t recommended).

Best Android Phones with Expandable Storage 2020

Best overall: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.
Great for one-handed use: Samsung Galaxy S20.
Dual screens: LG G8X ThinQ.
Maximum productivity: Sony Xperia 1 II.
5G for cheap: Motorola Edge.
Best budget phone: Nokia 7.2.

How to free up space on your android phone:

USE ANDROID’S “FREE UP SPACE” TOOL

Android has a built-in tool to help you increase the amount of useable storage on your phone. It’s easy to find:

Go to your phone’s settings, and select “Storage.” Among other things, you’ll see information on how much space is in use, a link to a tool called “Smart Storage” (more on that later), and a list of app categories.
Tap on the blue “Free up space” button
You’ll be given the choice of using Google’s Files app (if it’s installed) or the built-in “Remove items” feature. The latter gives you the opportunity to clean out your photos and videos (if they’re backed up), your downloaded files, and your infrequently used apps.

How to free up space on your iPhone?

Here are a few ways to free up space on your iPhone:

Delete unused apps: Go to the “Settings” app, then tap “General” and “iPhone Storage.” This will show you a list of all your apps and how much storage they’re using. Tap on an app to delete it.
Clear your browser’s cache: Go to “Settings,” then tap “Safari” and “Clear History and Website Data.”
Delete large files such as videos, images or audio files that you no longer need by going to the “Photos” app, “Videos” app, “Music” app and delete the files you no longer need.
Use “Offload Unused Apps” feature, this will remove the app but keep its documents and data, so you can reinstall the app later without losing your data.
Enable “Optimize iPhone Storage” feature in “Settings” > “Photos” to keep your full-resolution photos and videos on iCloud and save storage on your device.
Backup your iPhone and then restore it as new to clear all the data and settings.

It’s also a good idea to regularly review your storage usage and delete files and apps that you no longer need. By freeing up space on your iPhone, you can ensure that it runs smoothly and that you have enough storage for new apps, photos, and videos.

Smartphone Camera

Most smartphones have one camera on the front for taking selfies or for using apps such as FaceTime, and another on the back for taking regular photos.

When you open the camera app, you can usually swap between the cameras by tapping a face or camera icon surrounded by arrows.

The camera on the back of the phone is usually much better, so unless you’re taking a selfie, stick to the back camera. Usually tapping on the screen controls the camera, but most smartphones also allow you to use the volume button to take photos. Smartphone cameras are generally the only camera that people own these days, so they tend to be pretty important. Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to directly compare them. There are benchmarks like DxOMark that try, however these aren’t always accurate and a single number can’t possibly identify all the conditions a camera can be put through (lowlight, HDR, megapixels, focal length, aperture size, pixel size, plus all the video aspects…). Generally speaking, you get what you pay for in a camera — that is more expensive phones almost always have better cameras. Don’t both looking at megapixel count — a 20MP Sony smartphone won’t take pictures as good as the 12MP Pixel 4 or iPhone 11. If you’re looking for the best of the best in terms of cameras, the modern Pixel phone is about as good as you can get.

Below are The best camera phone in 2023

Google Pixel 7 Pro.
Samsung Galaxy Note 22 Ultra. The best Android camera phone — with the best zoom
Apple iPhone 14 PRO Max
iPhone 13 Pro
Samsung Galaxy S21 5G.
Sony Xperia PRO-I 5G

Smartphone Weight

For most people, the ideal weight of a phone is between 140g and 170g. We were surprised to see how many people commented on our poll that “lighter is better”. There’s a sort of stigma around light phones — the heavier handsets just feel more durable.

Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro Max is perhaps the heaviest phone you can buy today. Maybe ever. It weighs 8.47 ounces, or half a pound.

What is the lightest weight smartphone?

Nokia 225 4G 90.1 g / 3.18 oz.
Nokia 215 4G 90.3 g / 3.19 oz.
Nokia 125 91.3 g / 3.22 oz.
Apple iPhone 12 mini 135 g / 4.76 oz.
Motorola Moto E6 Play 140 g / 4.94 oz.
Huawei Y5 Lite 142 g / 5.01 oz.
Google Pixel 6 207 g / 7.04 oz.

Smartphone Contracts

A contract is a service agreement between you and a carrier (ex. Verizon, AT&T, Sprint) that states that you will be a customer for a certain period of time, usually 1 or 2 years. During this time frame, you’ll be bound to that particular carrier unless you cancel your contract (at the cost of Early Termination Fees “ETFs”, usually several hundreds of dollars).

So why get a contract? It all comes down to price… I’ll use the iPhone as an example. The TRUE cost of an iPhone Pro is $999. When you buy an iPhone, regardless of how much YOU pay out-of-pocket, Apple is getting $999. Many people can’t just drop $999 on a pocket-sized device, so there’s an issue… unless you get a contract. If you get a 2-year contract on AT&T/Verizon/Sprint, you’d only pay $42/month, and be locked to that carrier for 2 years in exchange for the subsidy that the carrier paid (in this case, $999). The main benefit of phone contracts is the lower upfront cost.

But there are several disadvantages to contracts. I’ll run through the top three I find:

Monthly price: In order to recoup some of the phone subsidy, carriers will often charge more per-month on plans with a contract. For example, AT&T charges $15 more per month per line that you bought on-contract (versus off-contract). Furthermore, since unlocked phones can be used on a variety of carriers, competition tends to drive the price down.

Carrier exclusivity: When you buy a Sprint phone, it’s very unlikely that it’ll work easily on other carriers. Unlocked phones tend to work on all GSM carriers, though there are CDMA versions available on some phones. (Check out a description on CDMA vs. GSM for more information)

Is it better to get a phone on contract?

A contract makes it easier to upgrade. While it’s normally cheaper to pay upfront, this only applies in the long run. With many popular phones now costing upwards of $1,000, paying it off on a contract can be easier to afford upfront — especially if you’re looking to move to a newer model.

Pay-as-you-go SIMs tend to be cheaper and give you more flexibility. However, you’re wholly responsible for maintaining, repairing or replacing your phone. Phones under contract are usually repaired or replaced by the network provider at no extra cost.

Best Cell Phone Plans & Providers (USA)

Mint Mobile: Best value phone plan — $30/mo. *
T-Mobile Essentials: Best unlimited plan plan — $60/mo. *
Verizon Do More Unlimited: Best coverage — $90/mo. *
Visible Wireless: Best family plan — $100/mo. *, 4 lines.
Metro by T-Mobile $50 Unlimited Plan: Best prepaid family plan — $90/mo.

Best Cell Phone Plans (Canada)

Koodo 6GB Plan for best smartphone plan: $50/month.
Rogers Infinite +30 Promo for best unlimited data plan: $85/month.
Public Mobile Prepaid 1GB Talk and Text for cheap prepaid/pay-as-you-go plan: $25/month.
Fido iPhone XS for best $0 iPhone deal: $19.99/mth for 24 mths.

Guide on choosing the perfect smartphone

Read Ben’s guide on choosing the perfect smartphone here.

Features you should be looking for in general

One of the most important things in your phone is it’s longevity, and I’m not talking about battery capacity. I think most of us want our phone to perform as good as if it were new, even if it is 2–3 years old. On iOS it is pretty simple, because there is only one version of it on every device but on Android we have many third party skins. A Google Pixel looks and feels incredibly different from a Xiaomi Mi Mix or a Samsung handset, yet they might be running the same android version deep down.

The longevity depends on multiple things. First of all, how you handle it. You don’t want to install 3 antivirus and 200 apps , because it will slow it down significantly. But let’s assume you keep things pretty clean. The next thing: Stock Android (Stock = What Google makes. An OS without many modifications.). In general, the closer you are to stock, the smoother and faster your device will be. I recently installed a custom OS on my old LG G3 and the OS size was 300 MB while an OEM OS like Samsung’s UX can take up to 3–4 GB. The bigger OS size results in more unused junk, that overall makes your phone slower overtime.

Memory: You don’t need 8 GB. If you have 3–4 gigs your device should rarely reload apps. You shouldn’t pay extra for that much memory.

Processor: The rule here is to get something from Qualcomm. MediaTek processor tend to be cheaper but they are much worse. You want to look for phones with current gen processors. The Snapdragon 660 is almost as good as a SD (SD = Snapdragon) 821, which is a 2 year old flagship processor, but it is much more efficient. Mid-range chips have come a long way and they are much much better than a few years ago.

With that said, if you want nice performance you should be looking at the new SD 400 series at least and nothing less.

Screen: This is important too. If you like a phone try to look up a review where outdoor visibility is mentioned. Trust me, a bright screen worth so much more that anything in a display. And btw 1080p is still enough.

IP rating: It doesn’t really matter what IP rating it has, it will survive a splash. Don’t base your decision on this. IP 67 is basically the same as 68 and even 58 is not far behind.

Reputable brand: If you want to save yourself from a lot of trouble, pick a phone from a reputable brand with decent customer support. If you buy some janky Chinese crap, you might not be able to get a repair or a replacement. Just to name a few brands with good customer support: Samsung, Huawei, OnePlus but the best is Sony. They repaired my brother’s phone for free, out of warranty.

Most important attributes for every budget

Now that we have seen what are the most important things, take a look at each price range, and what you could expect in them. Keep in mind, I’ll be talking about new, off-the-shelf phones. You can always get used phones for crazy low prices and I would recommend picking up a 2 year old flagship new as opposed to a brand new cheap phone. Remember, that phone used to be the top end.

Low-end (0–200$): You shouldn’t expect anything fancy. Try to go for the basics, a decent processor, close to stock android and sufficiently bright screen. Forget about an amazing camera. Recommended phones: Nokia phones, Xiaomi Mi

Mid-range (200–400$): You have much more flexibility here. You should still be focusing on the basics but you can go and look into some extras, like a better camera or water resistance or a nice build. Recommended phones: Still Nokia, if you can find older, but still new Sony or OnePlus phones.

Upper-mid-range (400–600$): This is OnePlus territory. You can get almost everything in the high-end market. Processors are reaching the SD 8XX range, which means amazing performance. These phones are the sweet spot on the price to value chart. Recommended phones: Google Pixel 6, 7

The best smartphone for under $500

High-end and Premium (600$ + ): You get the idea. The more you pay, the more wiggle room you have for you needs. These phones have the best cameras and build and will probably last the longest. Recommended phones: One Plus 10, Samsung S22, iPhone 14 (bright display), iPhone 14 Pro Max

Some examples:

Xiaomi Mi A2: Well this is a really basic phone, but it gets the job done. Has stock android and decent battery life, plus the modding community is pretty great for it. Recommend it as a really low end option or a secondary device.

Nokia 5, 5.1, 6, 6.1, 7.2: They are better in many aspects than the Mi A1 and offer a better overall experience. Would recommend to budget users as a solid option.

Nokia 7+: If the OnePlus 6 did not exist, this would be the perfect mid-range phone. Everything is just really solid about this phone. Recommended.

OnePlus: Yes, they copy the iPhones but they are also really good. The SD 845 is a beast and you get an amazing package. Best bang for the buck

Sony phones: They are underrated so much. They run close to stock and they have an amazing battery saver feature. They only charge the battery to 90% overnight and reach 100% by the time you wake up, and this preserves the heath of the battery. They are also fast and reliable and get fast Android updates.

Samsung: From my experience you should only get the high-end ones. The skin they have is so bloated that it will slow down on lower-end ones but the flagships are amazing. Their screens are magically beautiful and the build is amazing. The cameras are decent too.

Top tier smartphones

Samsung is a behemoth in the smartphone space, and many consider their phones the ones to beat.

The 10 best smartphones of 2023: Z Fold 4 tough to beat for productivity

Smartphones on a budget

Best mid-range phone: OnePlus 10
Best performance: Samsung Galaxy S21 FE
Best camera: Google Pixel 6
Best for cheap 5G: Moto Edge
Best for Dual Screen: LG Velvet
Best for Apple: iPhone 12
Best screen on a budget: TCL 20 Pro
Best for megapixels: Xiaomi Mi Note 12

So what is a mid-range phone anyway? For us, it’s phones that are mid-priced, found neither at the premium and of the market nor in the budget ranges. Created by the sheer volume of competition between modern phone manufacturers, this appealing mid-range space offers impressive bang for your buck from established brands, with models that encompass a range of uses. Xiaomi is legendary in the budget and midrange phone space.

There’s a trend with smartphones: As models get cheaper, they generally lose features along the way. That’s not the case with the $699 iPhone 12 Mini.

The small but mighty wonder is as feature-filled as the iPhone 12. Like the iPhone 12, there’s two lenses on the back — a wide and ultrawide — with the ability to capture Night Mode and Portrait Mode shots. It’s powered by the A14 Bionic chip and lets you experience iOS 14 to the fullest. All that despite being smaller than the iPhone SE, falling somewhere between the size of the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 8.

We’ve spent the last week with the iPhone 12 Mini and, quite frankly, think it’s the answer for an affordable flagship device that’s actually full-featured.

Smartphone and tablets Apps

A mobile application, also referred to as a mobile app or simply an app, is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Apps were originally intended for productivity assistance such as email, calendar, and contact databases, but the public demand for apps caused rapid expansion into other areas such as mobile games, factory automation, GPS and location-based services, order-tracking, and ticket purchases, so that there are now millions of apps available. Apps are generally downloaded from application distribution platforms which are operated by the owner of the mobile operating system, such as the App Store (iOS) or Google Play Store. Some apps are free, and others have a price, with the profit being split between the application’s creator and the distribution platform.

Key Mobile App Statistics

Mobile apps are expected to generate $200 billion in revenue by 2023.
The Apple App Store has 2.5 million apps available for download.
There are 3 million apps available for download on the Google Play Store.
22% of Millennials open an app 50+ times per day.
49% of people open an app 11+ times each day.
57% of all digital media usage comes from mobile apps.
The average smartphone owner uses 30 apps each month.

Most popular Apps for Android:

Facebook (social media)
Read Aloud For Me
Messenger (messaging)
Instagram (images sharing)
Whatsapp (chat)
Twitter (where things happen)
Quora (knowledge sharing)
Amazon (shopping)
Flipkart (shopping)
Snapdeal (shopping)
Myntra (for fashion products)
Swift Keyboard (best keyboard)
Poweramp Music Player (best music player)
VLC Media Player (audio and video player)
Way2/Newshunt (news)
Gmail /Inbox (emails)
YouTube (entertainment)
UC Browser (browser)
Google Chrome (browser)
Google Drive (cloud storage)
PicsArt Photo Studio (best photo editing app)
Ganaa /Saavn (online songs streaming)
Dictionary from Innovative Software
Google Play Store (for books, apps, games, movies)
Adobe Reader (pdf viewer)
BookMyShow ( movies, show bookings)
Paytm (recharge, cinema, shopping..)
Free charge (recharge)
Google Maps (directions)
Google Translator (language)
Share it / Xender (to transfer files from one device to another)
Hotstar (watching cricket, movies, serial)
Jio TV (live TV)
Uber /Ola (online taxi booking)
CrickBuzz (live cricket score)
Parallel Space (creating second account for any app)
IRCTC (booking rail ticket)
Skype (video call)
Snapchat (video clip sharing)
MakeMyTrip (flight, hotel booking)
Amazon Prime Video (to watch movies)
Es File Explorer (best file explorer)
Tubemate/Vidmate/KeepVid (To download video from YouTube)
Foodpanda/Swiggy (food delivery)
WPS office (Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
Your Banking App
Tik Tok (shorts and video sharing)