On the business side of things, it's a cutthroat world out there. A large number of smartphone manufacturers are literally grasping at straws, trying to stay relevant, and even the big boys are known to sometimes step over the line to achieve the same. With such a terrific variety of smartphone devices on the market, most of which not much different from one another, it comes down to companies' respective marketing divisions to drive interest in its products and, ultimately, drive sales.


1. Dual "stereo" speakers
Sometimes, manufacturers decide to entice consumers by including two separate "stereo" speakers with their smartphones. You should keep a few things in mind, however.

First off, dual speakers don't automatically mean two channel sound, and that's an important consideration (not to mention, a requirement for stereo sound). But even when a smartphone does route audio through two channels, it's important to keep in mind that for a true stereo effect, the positioning of said speakers is also crucial. In other words, if both speakers are located on the bottom side of the phone, you'll experience no stereophonic sound.


2. Camera megapixels
We'll never tire repeating this, even though it's probably a long-lost battle – higher megapixel counts for your camera do not equal better image quality. In fact, in some cases, it doesn't even mean more details! As far, far greater predictor of image quality is the size of the camera sensor slapped on this or that smartphone. Remember, all things being equal, a larger camera sensor will deliver better image quality than a smaller one.

In other words, don't just assume that because the Xperia Z3 has 20.7-megapixels, it's necessarily better than the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (which has 16 megapixels). In fact, the Note 4 is actually the better shooter overall.


3. Look! A 256-core processor!
Most self-respecting techies know that processor core counts are just part of the story when it comes to performance. Indeed, chips like the dual-core A8 inside the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are incredibly potent. So next time you see a smartphone with an octa-core processor, don't just assume that it's purely a numbers game and that 8 > 4 > 2. Part of the reason for that is platforms' inability to actually properly utilize anything beyond two cores, and this also holds true for the majority of third-party apps, too.


4. Dual SIMs
The Dual SIM option is enticing because it allows users greater flexibility with their carrier plans, which, in turn, saves them money. Unfortunately, however, we often come across people that don't quite get the limitations of the most popular, dual SIM, dual standby tech that most such devices go for.

In short, the first thing you need to know with dual SIM, dual standby configurations is that when data or the call network is being utilized by one card, the other will be sitting in standby, meaning it'll be unreachable. What's more, the secondary SIM slot usually can only work with a 2G GSM network at most, so no blazing-fast internet speeds. Generally, if you expect calls to come through from both cards and are an active user, you may want to look into dual SIM, dual active devices (very few of those, unfortunately).

5.Very limited internal storage, but microSD slot
We get it – to cut down on costs and offer you as affordable a device as possible, manufacturers sometimes are forced to slash the amount of internal storage available with this or that device. This issue is usually partially resolved in most consumers' minds by the availability of a microSD card slot, the majority of which support at least 32GB of extra storage. Sounds plentiful enough, right?

Not really. There are a number of drawbacks with microSD cards. For example, in Android 4.4 KitKat and higher, Google removed the ability to store apps externally on the card, citing security concerns. This means that unless your device has a specially-crafted workaround built-in by the manufacturer, or you are ready to root your device, you'll be unable to store anything more than media on that otherwise spacious 32 gig card. This can be quite a problem with apps' tendency to require more and more space, so keep that in mind when making purchasing decisions.


6.Dual LED flash
Night photography is a sore spot with smartphones, courtesy of their teeny-tiny camera sensors that just can't gather enough light. It's because of this that some of us are excited about the idea of having a dual LED flash on our smartphones – after all, that's an extra LED flash lamp, so you should get even better illumination in the dark, right?

Not really. At least not necessarily. A dual LED flash configuration on one phone can actually provide less illumination than the single LED flash config of another. So don't assume that an extra lamp will help you snap brighter photos in the dark – it could, but it's not a given.

7.Thinness has a price
For some of us, a thinner phone equals a better-looking, more stylish phone. More than just thinness goes into what makes a device attractive, of course, but it's undeniable that the industry is set on trimming down any extra fat, as quickly as possible. We therefore now have devices with profiles measuring less than 0.19 inches (5 mm).

Sleek-looking as they might be, however, such smartphones usually come with some kind of drawback that you should keep in mind. For example, the thinner the phone is, the less space there is for the battery (so lower endurance) and everything else. The camera, too, is often the victim of certain compromises. Lastly, a thinner device generally means less efficient heat dissipation, which, in turn, means throttling of the processor when using the phone for prolonged periods, and thus, worse performance.

8.LTE
LTE is able to provide users with Internet speeds up to three times faster than 3G, reaching up to 150 Megabits per second (Mb/s) in ideal conditions. These speeds may also vary depending on the operator infrastructure, the device, the manufacturer and the speeds it supports. However, these speeds provide users with a general estimate of what speeds can be reached with LTE. These increased data speeds provide users with faster uplink speeds (approximately 50Mb/s) and faster download speeds (approximately 100Mb/s). although recently released mobile devices are LTE-enabled, LTE coverage is not available everywhere. It must be noted that LTE is still currently in its infancy stages in Africa as networks are not readily geared up for it.

9.NFC
Near field communication (NFC) is a set of ideas and technology that enables smartphones and other devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into proximity, typically a distance of 10 cm (3.9 in) or less.

While this may sound intizing, many people over here cannot afford high ends. In the West, only a small proportion of people don’t have access to a bank account, so logic says such a product would not work here. The reality is that many sections of society are very poorly served by traditional banks.

Source: http://www.phonearena.com/news/8-potentially-misleading-smartphone-features-that-you-shouldnt-instantly-fall-for_id65492

*modified* op says misleading,so which features are the leading ones someone shld check for. are these not most of the important features someone check for when you're planning for a phone.

In case

Its very important to read the reviews of phones before you buy. checkout latest phone reviews @ http://mabex.org/reviews

buccal:
*yawns* walks out of thread.

You don't appreciate scholarship! Informative write up. *like*

whoah , op keep it up

interesting! this should make frontpage

caukerzee
No source?

The camera part is on point.

Include the source and its a nice piece, maybe fp worthy too

IPhone 16gig, bunch of liars they are.

Warlord3000:
Interesting... But the SD card aspect on kitkat seems kinda wrong though

Its not kinda wrong...its totally wrong.
Kitkat allows you the luxury of storing apps on your sd card.

I dedicate this place to my
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God almighty, the alpha and omega, the greater than the greatest, the higher than the highest, the better than the best, the wiser than the wisest.
Kabiomasi.
We call you Abba father, Halloweth be your name, Halloweth be your name.....

Now relating to the topic, I thought I would see
Air gesture
LTE while still struggling with 3g
Etc

Etesam:
You don't appreciate scholarship! Informative write up. *like*

Its a nice write up but no way shcorlaship informative. The op copied and pasted an article written by someone else, so u want us to give him credit for that? He should have at least added his source, then we would give him the credit rather than trying to take credit for what he didn't write.

http://www.phonearena.com/news/8-potentially-misleading-smartphone-features-that-you-shouldnt-instantly-fall-for_id65492

abatically:


Its a nice write up but no way shcorlaship informative. The op copied and pasted an article written by someone else, so u want us to give him credit for that? He should have at least added his source, then we would give him the credit rather than trying to take credit for what he didn't write.

http://www.phonearena.com/news/8-potentially-misleading-smartphone-features-that-you-shouldnt-instantly-fall-for_id65492

It wasn't an outright copy and paste. I did make my inputs. I just added more right now. Didn't include the source because not all points were relevant to the Nigeria market. It's up there in the OP anyways if that makes anyone feel better.

Warlord3000:

Lol.... Yeah I know cos am on kitkat too
Just my way of telling the OP he is lying/wrong in a civilized way without being offensive

senorova:

Its not kinda wrong...its totally wrong.
Kitkat allows you the luxury of storing apps on your sd card.

Warlord3000:
Interesting... But the SD card aspect on kitkat seems kinda wrong though

No you're wrong. Before the Android 4.4 KitKat update, applications with the proper permissions could read and write data anywhere on a micro SD card. With the update, third-party apps are not allowed to get automatic permission to put files anywhere on a micro SD card; instead, such files must go into a folder on the card where all their content from that app must go. It may look as if the feature is there but it really isn't. In fact some apps without the proper permissions do not function properly or even at all when you move them.

iphone the best

about that NFC stuff.... I've tried beaming two phone severally Buh to no avail.
How's that thingy used sef ?
I've googled and googled + goggled x googled. Yet nothing
Who has used it before?

You are right about the camera mega pixel

Warlord3000:
Interesting... But the SD card aspect on kitkat seems kinda wrong though

I use a Samsung galaxy grand 2 and its version is 4.4.2,not rooted but I do store apps on d m card..it only saves by default in d internal storage but if u go to application manager, you can move your apps anywhere u want

Good one, but my double sim on Huawei works well

Clinton594:
about that NFC stuff.... I've tried beaming two phone severally Buh to no avail.
How's that thingy used sef ?
I've googled and googled + goggled x googled. Yet nothing
Who has used it before?

That thing works on some phones and doesn't work on others. When me and my spouse had a galaxy s3 we use NFC to send pictures, web pages and even large videos. Just touch the back of the phones and beam, the transfer is faster than Bluetooth. But then when I got my lumia 1020, I couldn't use NFC to send pictures between the lumia and Samsung, but I can use it to send a web page between both phones. Let's say I opened a page on my lumia and I want to open the same page on my Samsung, just touch the back of the phones and click accept, within a flash I will have the exact same page on my Samsung.

Now I use an LG g3 and HTC one, I've tried countless times to share files through NFC but it just doesn't work between those 2 phones.

One way that I'm very sure NFC works though is with NFC enabled speakers. It's easy to pair, just touch the speaker with the phone and they are connected, then remove ur phone, play music from ur phone and listen on the speaker. Also it can be used to make payments and open hotel doors (not yet applicable in Nigeria). NFC has also been used in cars to open the door with ur smartphone.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj52cxADj1E