Ranked: The 4 things I look for in a smartphone

It’s straightforward to get caught up in all of the advertising mojo by tech corporations, making an attempt to persuade us that the newest options are one thing we are able to’t reside with out.

At any time when I’m shopping for a new cellphone, I at all times step again and take into consideration what I really need. What are my priorities — the specs and options I’m not prepared to compromise on a lot. I have a record of 4 important things I look for in a smartphone, and I’ll share it with you in this publish, beginning with an important one.

Whereas everyone seems to be obsessive about the newest SoC and that large privacy-focused show, I’m extra centered on what the cellphone appears like and the way it feels in the hand. I’m a very visible particular person, and I can’t see myself utilizing an unpleasant cellphone, even when it’s probably the most highly effective and most cost-effective one on the market.

Design has to evoke emotions. It has to inform a story. It has to point out some character that’s distinctive to a particular system. Whereas it’s laborious to attain that with a glass slab of a cellphone, there are a number of nice choices on the market.

Personally, I love the look and really feel of the Pixel 10 sequence. That signature digital camera bar is sufficient to make the telephones distinct. Paired with a few nice colorways — Obsidian is my favourite — and a nice construct high quality that mixes glass and steel, and we’ve got a winner.

I by no means use a case on my cellphone, which doesn’t at all times find yourself nicely, however it’s the one method for me to correctly expertise the great thing about a system. Slapping a low cost plastic case on a $1,000 cellphone appears like a crime to me, particularly when that cellphone was very fastidiously designed and appears excellent.

Small, medium, and huge telephones. I’ve used them everywhere in the years and have a clear desire. Small telephones, that are arguably these with shows of as much as 6.3 inches, are those I like. If a cellphone is greater than that, I cross it off my record instantly. A 6.3-inch show continues to be fairly substantial, however it’s the norm for “smaller” flagships today.

I’ve used each the usual (base) Pixel telephones and the extra reasonably priced A-series for the previous few years, and I don’t see myself switching to one thing greater. A 6.3-inch show of the Pixel 10, Pixel 10a, or the Galaxy S26, for instance, is large enough for me to comfortably browse the net and even watch movies, whereas it’s nonetheless compact sufficient to make use of with one hand on the identical time. It’s additionally very pocket-friendly, which can also be necessary to me.

Personally, I’m greater than prepared to skip all of the extras you get on large flagships just like the Pixel 10 Professional XL and the Galaxy S26 Extremely for that compact footprint of their smaller siblings. The thickness I’m snug with for now, so these super-thin telephones just like the Galaxy S25 Edge don’t do it for me, primarily due to the subsequent merchandise on this record.

An ideal cellphone has to have a massive battery. Interval. I don’t wish to plug my cellphone in each night time, so I’m ideally wanting for one thing that may make it by means of not less than two days.

The Pixel 10a is sort of good in this class, sporting a 5,100mAh battery that’s paired with a 6.3-inch show. For reference, the huge 6.9-inch Galaxy S26 Extremely solely packs a 5,000mAh battery, which isn’t ok — particularly when contemplating the value tag of the system.

Nevertheless, even the Pixel 10a is much from the strongest contender in this race. Chinese language corporations have switched to silicon-carbon batteries, which maintain extra cost in the identical package deal. For instance, the OnePlus 15 has a 6.8-inch show and a 7,300mAh battery, whereas the OPPO Discover X9 Professional bumps that as much as 7,500mAh whereas retaining the identical show dimension.

These telephones additionally beat out each Pixels and Galaxies on the subject of charging speeds, so I hope these two corporations are taking discover. Nevertheless, each fashions are too massive for me, so regardless of excelling in the battery and charging departments, they aren’t on my shortlist.

And whereas I love small telephones, I keep away from the skinny fashions just like the Galaxy S25 Edge, as talked about in the earlier part, as a thinner physique means a smaller battery.

The final on the record is the digital camera setup. It’s necessary, however I’m not as demanding right here as I am with a few of the different things talked about in this publish. I don’t want three or extra rear sensors, for instance — a commonplace and an ultrawide digital camera are ok for me.

I’m wanting for simplicity. No friction in any respect. I just like the processing to be on level, so I don’t must edit photographs after I take them. I particularly care about night time photographs, as I hate it when I wish to take a image on a metropolis avenue at night time and it comes out all blurry.

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

I’m not very centered on the front-facing digital camera, although, as I hardly use it. Most of my video calls are carried out on my PC, and I’m not a lot of a selfie man.

These are my 4 pillars of a nice smartphone — the 4 things I care about most and what I look for when shopping for a new system. In fact, I additionally care about efficiency to a level. Nevertheless, it’s much less of a difficulty today than it was years again, as even a mid-range cellphone can deal with all of the duties I want it to with ease. I’m not a gamer, so I don’t want the newest and best SoC.

I additionally don’t care a lot about wi-fi charging or an IP ranking. They normally come commonplace on units in my value vary, however even when they didn’t, I’d be advantageous. I seldom use wi-fi charging since wired is quicker, and I’ve by no means had a drawback with my cellphone dropping in a pool of water.

Now it’s your flip. What are an important options you look for when shopping for a cellphone? Let me know in the feedback.