Ranked: The 4 issues I search for in a smartphone

It’s simple to get stuck up in the entire advertising mojo through tech firms, seeking to persuade us that the newest options are one thing we will’t are living with out.

Each time I’m purchasing a brand new telephone, I at all times step again and consider what I actually need. What are my priorities — the specifications and contours I’m no longer keen to compromise on a lot. I’ve a listing of 4 major issues I search for in a smartphone, and I’ll proportion it with you on this publish, beginning with a very powerful one.

Whilst everyone seems to be obsessive about the newest SoC and that vast privacy-focused show, I’m extra concerned about what the telephone looks as if and the way it feels within the hand. I’m an excessively visible particular person, and I will be able to’t see myself the usage of an unsightly telephone, despite the fact that it’s probably the most robust and most cost-effective one in the market.

Design has to rouse emotions. It has to inform a tale. It has to turn some personality that’s distinctive to a selected instrument. Whilst it’s arduous to reach that with a tumbler slab of a telephone, there are a number of nice choices in the market.

In my opinion, I like the feel and appear of the Pixel 10 collection. That signature digital camera bar is sufficient to make the telephones distinct. Paired with a couple of nice colorways — Obsidian is my favourite — and an excellent construct high quality that mixes glass and steel, and we’ve got a winner.

I by no means use a case on my telephone, which doesn’t at all times finally end up smartly, nevertheless it’s the one means for me to correctly revel in the wonderful thing about a tool. Slapping an affordable plastic case on a $1,000 telephone appears like against the law to me, particularly when that telephone used to be very in moderation designed and appears remarkable.

Small, medium, and big telephones. I’ve used them far and wide the years and feature a transparent choice. Small telephones, which might be arguably the ones with presentations of as much as 6.3 inches, are those I love. If a telephone is larger than that, I move it off my listing instantly. A 6.3-inch show continues to be fairly considerable, nevertheless it’s the norm for “smaller” flagships in this day and age.

I’ve used each the usual (base) Pixel telephones and the extra inexpensive A-series for the previous couple of years, and I don’t see myself switching to one thing larger. A 6.3-inch show of the Pixel 10, Pixel 10a, or the Galaxy S26, for instance, is huge sufficient for me to conveniently browse the internet or even watch movies, whilst it’s nonetheless compact sufficient to make use of with one hand on the similar time. It’s additionally very pocket-friendly, which could also be necessary to me.

In my opinion, I’m greater than keen to skip the entire extras you get on huge flagships just like the Pixel 10 Professional XL and the Galaxy S26 Extremely for that compact footprint in their smaller siblings. The thickness I’m pleased with for now, so the ones super-thin telephones just like the Galaxy S25 Edge don’t do it for me, basically as a result of the following merchandise in this listing.

An excellent telephone has to have a large battery. Length. I don’t need to plug my telephone in each night time, so I’m preferably on the lookout for one thing that may make it thru no less than two days.

The Pixel 10a is fairly just right on this class, wearing a 5,100mAh battery that’s paired with a 6.3-inch show. For reference, the large 6.9-inch Galaxy S26 Extremely handiest packs a 5,000mAh battery, which isn’t just right sufficient — particularly when bearing in mind the cost tag of the instrument.

Alternatively, even the Pixel 10a is a ways from the most powerful contender on this race. Chinese language firms have switched to silicon-carbon batteries, which grasp extra price in the similar bundle. For example, the OnePlus 15 has a 6.8-inch show and a 7,300mAh battery, whilst the OPPO In finding X9 Professional bumps that as much as 7,500mAh whilst protecting the similar show dimension.

Those telephones additionally beat out each Pixels and Galaxies in the case of charging speeds, so I am hoping those two firms are taking realize. Alternatively, each fashions are too giant for me, so in spite of excelling within the battery and charging departments, they aren’t on my shortlist.

And whilst I like small telephones, I steer clear of the skinny fashions just like the Galaxy S25 Edge, as discussed within the earlier segment, as a thinner frame approach a smaller battery.

The final at the listing is the digital camera setup. It’s necessary, however I’m no longer as hard right here as I’m with one of the different issues discussed on this publish. I don’t want 3 or extra rear sensors, for instance — a normal and an ultrawide digital camera are just right sufficient for me.

I’m on the lookout for simplicity. No friction by any means. I just like the processing to be on level, so I don’t want to edit photographs when I take them. I particularly care about night time photographs, as I hate it once I need to take an image on a town side road at night time and it comes out all blurry.

Give me the Pixel 10a’s digital camera setup, for instance, and I’m just right. If it’s much more succesful than that, even higher, however I’m pleased with what Google’s most cost-effective telephone in its lineup brings to the desk.

I’m no longer very targeted at the front-facing digital camera, even though, as I hardly ever use it. Maximum of my video calls are carried out on my PC, and I’m no longer a lot of a selfie man.

Those are my 4 pillars of an excellent smartphone — the 4 issues I care about maximum and what I search for when purchasing a brand new instrument. After all, I additionally care about efficiency to some degree. Alternatively, it’s much less of a topic in this day and age than it used to be years again, as even a mid-range telephone can care for the entire duties I want it to conveniently. I’m no longer a gamer, so I don’t want the newest and biggest SoC.

I additionally don’t care a lot about wi-fi charging or an IP score. They typically come same old on units in my value differ, however despite the fact that they didn’t, I’d be advantageous. I seldom use wi-fi charging since stressed out is quicker, and I’ve by no means had an issue with my telephone shedding in a pool of water.

Now it’s your flip. What are a very powerful options you search for when purchasing a telephone? Let me know within the feedback.