Buying a new smartphone? Eight things to keep in mind

Buying a smartphone can be a tricky business in today’s day and age. With a number of options floating around in each price category, deciding which phone is the one for you can be confusing. But if you are looking for a device that can offer high-end performance, distinct design and clean software, without burning a hole in your pocket, here are eight points to keep in mind:

Design

There was a time, about five-six years ago when design was one of the elements of a smartphone which could have been overlooked. Well, that is not the case anymore. 2019 comes with its own trends and one of the biggest design essentials for any smartphone today is a glass body. Any new age smartphone today should have a glass body, which makes the smartphone look and feel very premium. Smartphone brothers OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro are great examples of what a premium smartphone should look like today. Both the phones come with a metal frame sandwiched between a glass front and back. And while some brands might offer a glass body, they forget to add protection to these fragile creatures, which means cracks and smudges. Fortunately, both OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro come with Gorilla Glass 5 protection for both front and back, making the smartphones not just premium but also sturdy.

Display

Tall displays with line-like bezels are trending which is what you should be looking for in your next smartphone simply because it means you get a bigger display in a relatively compact frame. But it is not all just about a tall display, it has to be a good one as well. One of the best displays in the market come from the house of OnePlus. Even the modest sibling of the two, the OnePlus 7 brings a 6.4 inch full HD+ AMOLED display to the table with the screen resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels and a refresh rate of 60Hz while the Pro version of the device offers a massive 6.7 inch quad HD+ Fluid AMOLED display that comes with a screen resolution of 1440 x 3120 pixels and a super-fast refresh rate of 90Hz (meaning smoother graphics, especially in gaming). The display of the OnePlus 7 Pro also curves out on the edges, giving you a better screen to body ratio and adding another premium touch to the device. The display of the devices also carry in display fingerprint scanners underneath, which means you can unlock your phone by just touching the display.

Cameras

Good cameras are pretty much a hygiene factor when it comes to smartphones and one of the biggest evolutions in a smartphones anatomy has been how camera setups have gone from a single camera to multiple ones. Taking the camera game up a notch are the OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro in the smartphone world. The OnePlus 7 comes with a dual camera setup on the back which consists of a massive 48 megapixel Sony IMX586 main sensor with a large f/1.7 aperture, and a second 5 megapixel depth sensor, which adds bokeh effect to your portrait pictures. The Pro comes with not two but three cameras on the back – a 48 megapixel Sony IMX586 main sensor with f/1.6 aperture, a 16 megapixel ultra-wide lens and an 8 megapixel telephoto lens with 3X optical zoom. Camera setups on both the phones are equipped with dual tone LED flash and OIS, so that the low lighting conditions do not keep you from taking pictures.

On the front both, OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro bring a 16 megapixel sensor to the table with f/2.0 aperture. Both the devices house the selfie cameras in a very fashionable manner. The OnePlus 7 carries a drop notch on the front that holds the front camera but if you want to go for a trendier front camera experience, then the OnePlus 7 Pro is the smartphone for you as it comes with a front facing camera that pops out of the frame. Both OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro come with support for face unlock, which means you can unlock your phone by just looking at it.

Processing Speed

With the smartphone becoming a versatile device that doubles up as our camera, gaming device and even computer at times, it is absolutely essential that it is fast and does not freeze when we push it. This means you need a strong processor to help you get through your day to day tasks. Whether it is taking pictures, checking mails, browsing social media, playing a high end game or doing these things all at once, a smartphone needs to be on top all the tasks we bring its way. Two of the fastest smartphones in the market today are hands down the OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro. Both the smartphones are powered by the top of the line Octa core Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor coupled with Adreno 640 GPU. The processor is the most powerful one from the house of Qualcomm, which means it can pretty much take whatever you throw at it.

RAM and Storage

Having a high-end processor is great but what makes a great processor turn in legendary performance is lots of RAM and storage. More RAM means you can run multiple applications on your device without your phone lagging. And a great combination of RAM and storage with a high-end processor is what you get on the OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro. The OnePlus 7 comes in two variants, one with 6 GB RAM and the other with a massive 8 GB RAM. And if that is not enough for you, then you can choose the Pro brother which along with 6 GB RAM and 8 GB RAM variants, also comes in a mighty 12 GB RAM variant, something which can even turn a computer green with envy. The two OnePlus 7 phones also come with big storage numbers as well. The two phones come with 128 GB and 256 GB storage variants, so you can keep throwing whatever you want in your phone without having to worry about running out of space.

Sound

Sound is one of the aspects which is often overlooked when people buy a smartphone but you do not want to invest in a device only to find out later that it does not come with a great audio output. The OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro both come with stereo speakers which means you get louder and clearer audio output. On top of that, the phones also come with support for Dolby Atmos, features which are often missing from even the most high-end smartphones.

Software

Software is the soul of any smartphone which is why it needs to be clean, uncomplicated and clutter free, plus always updated. If you are looking to buy a smartphone, make sure you go for something which not only comes with the latest version of Android but something that also keep getting updates so that your phone does not get old and slow. One of the brands that deliver on both these fronts is OnePlus. The latest flagships from OnePlus, the OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro both come with the latest version of Android, Android 9 (Pie) out of the box topped with company’s Oxygen OS 9.5.8. While some Android skins can be a little overwhelming, OnePlus’ OS is pretty clean and very close to stock Android and offers a rich camera interface which allows you to do more with the smartphone.

Battery

Today, brands are focusing more and more on strong processors, panoramic displays and multiple cameras. But to keep all of this going, you need to have a battery that can last at least a day of heavy usage and one that comes with support for fast charging, so that even when your phone dies, you can charge it fast and get it going. That is exactly what the new OnePlus 7 and the OnePlus 7 Pro offer. The OnePlus 7 comes with a 3,700 mAh battery and support for OnePlus’ famous Dash charge which can give you battery life worth hours with just minutes with the charger. The OnePlus 7 Pro comes with an even larger and faster version – a massive 4,000 mAh battery which can easily last you more than a day on a single charge, and charges even faster than Dash Charge, thanks to OnePlus’ new Warp Charge technology.