How much do smartphone specs matter these days?
Key things
- Checking specs like benchmark scores, camera megapixels, and peak brightness isn’t enough to judge a phone’s quality.
- Chip efficiency, software optimization, well-tuned image processing and good thermal management are just as important.
- Don’t overlook the repairability of the phone and the quality of the manufacturer’s customer service, as these matter more than technical specifications in the long run.
Buying a great smartphone isn’t easy given the plethora of options. While most of us are looking for the best specs at the lowest price, it’s important to remember that they aren’t everything. So let’s discuss exactly what you should be looking for in a modern smartphone.
Smartphone specifications are now less important
We tend to believe that a more powerful processor is a sure way to get smoother performance, so we tend to check benchmark scores and compare devices. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. While benchmark results give us a rough idea of expected performance, they can be inconsistent.
Two separate phones with the same chip may differ in performance. Some companies have even been accused of setting up their devices to detect when a benchmark is running and overclock the CPU to increase the rating, which is not an indicator of actual performance.
Efficiency matters as much as performance. Simply put, a chip that consistently performs well with minimal battery consumption is better than a chip that delivers excellent performance but starts to throttle after a while and drains the battery quickly.
This also shows us that your phone’s battery capacity alone is not enough to determine the overall battery life you will get. While a bigger battery is always better, you won’t be able to use that capacity if the rest of your device is poorly optimized.
Example: iPhones can deliver better battery life than Android flagships despite physically having smaller cells because iOS is so optimized and Apple’s silicon is so efficient.
There is perhaps no better example of irrelevant specifications than the number of megapixels on your phone’s camera sensor. You should check what adding more megapixels actually does to the camera sensor. So much goes into making a good camera system that most camera specs you read online are pretty much useless.
Finally, let’s talk about peak brightness. Peak brightness is not the maximum brightness you can reach by dragging the slider all the way to the right. It actually refers to the maximum brightness level of a single point on the display, tested under ideal conditions. For you, the more important spec to check is the thread count in high brightness mode.
What really matters in a smartphone
I would say that software optimization matters much more than anything else in a modern smartphone. That’s because most phones now have more than capable hardware, so the only differentiating factor is the attention to detail the company pays to its software.
Well-optimized software lets you do more with your existing hardware. For you, this means smoother animations, faster app launches, increased UI responsiveness, better RAM management, longer battery life, improved security, and less frequent crashes and crashes.
It’s the same with cameras. How well your phone handles image processing has as much, if not more, impact on the resulting photo than the size of the sensor.
As smartphone photography becomes more computational, the actual hardware won’t matter as much. Video recording does require more power, but without an optimized video pipeline, more power won’t help much.
Another thing you should pay attention to is the measures taken for thermal management. This includes heat pipes, vapor chambers, and thermal paste to help dissipate heat away from critical components so your phone doesn’t throttle or overheat during demanding tasks.
Most people forget this, but I highly recommend considering the repairability of your phone. As durable as modern smartphones are, they are not invulnerable. So if you do end up damaging your device, you should have the peace of mind that replacement parts are readily available and that the cost of repair is reasonable.
Finally, one thing that you will absolutely not find on any data sheet is the quality of customer support in your region. For this purpose, I recommend you to visit the official support page of the phone manufacturer and find out the number and proximity of service centers in your region. You can also go to the community forums to get some insight into other people’s experiences.