How to choose a phone for the Internet

When choosing a phone for the Internet, it is necessary to take into account its “communication” capabilities and screen size, as well as some other parameters.

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How to choose a phone for the Internet: what to look for
Internet phone selection options
What tariff to choose for the Internet
The best manufacturers

we choose a mobile phone for internet

How to choose a phone for the Internet: what to look for

The main criteria to consider when choosing a phone for the Internet are:

Supported mobile standards (2G, 3G, 4G, LTE-A);
Screen diagonal;
CPU model and amount of RAM;
Battery capacity;
Operating system.
Also important is the manufacturer of the device.

Internet phone selection options

All parameters of the choice can be divided into technical and operational. The technical specifications are smartphone specifications, and operational specifications are capabilities that determine the ease of use (for example, screen size).

Supported Mobile Standards

cellular standards

Supported standards determine the speed of data transmission over the mobile network. There are:

2G (GPRS, EDGE) - the least fast standards, but consume the least battery power. The maximum data transfer rate is up to 128 kbps. They are suitable only for communication in resource-efficient messengers like Telegram and ICQ. Browsing web pages, videos, listening to music online, using social networks on EDGE will not work;
3G (UMTS, HSPA) - standards with an average data transfer rate. The limit is 2 Mbps. Suitable for web browsing, chatting on instant messengers and social networks. You can watch online video, listen to music, make video calls over 3G except in low or medium quality;
4G (LTE) - standard with high speed data transfer. The limit is 326.4 Mbps. Suitable for browsing the web, using any instant messengers, social networking, playing videos, streaming music in high (up to FHD) quality, making video calls. The disadvantage is high energy consumption;
LTE-A (LTE-Advanced) is the fastest standard. The speed is the same, but a smartphone can use a dual band connection to increase it. Suitable for all of the above. Videos can be played without preloading in resolutions up to 4K, and streaming music - up to Hi-Fi.

Standards are best suited for everyday use. 3G and 4G LTE. But their speed limit does not always correspond to the actual due to several factors - the operator’s limitations, the distance to the base station, the quality of the coverage area, the load area of the “screens” reception area, weather phenomena, and much more.

Nevertheless, smartphones with 3G and 4G are recommended for selection. Models without LTE support may not provide enough comfortable web surfing.

Screen diagonal and other parameters

phone screen

The amount of information that the screen is able to accommodate is influenced by its three parameters — the diagonal, the actual resolution (PPI) and the program resolution (DPI). It is clear that when surfing the web the more text and images fit on the display - the better.However, this content should also not be extremely small - otherwise there will be difficulty in reading and using various controls.

The optimal screen for a smartphone that you plan to use for web surfing - 5-inch, with a resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels. For a 4-inch display, the optimal resolution is 1280 × 720 pixels. If you plan to purchase a smartphone with a screen whose diagonal is more than 5.5 inches, it is worth considering that its resolution should not be less than 1920 × 1080 pixels - otherwise the controls will be too large, as well as the content on the screen.

The operating system Android 7 Nougat allows you to independently set the software resolution of the screen, making the controls and content larger and smaller. Therefore, the actual screen resolution for smartphones that operate under its control does not really matter.

CPU model and amount of RAM

These parameters determine the speed of the smartphone, including on the Internet. In addition, the speed of the device operation on the Internet depends on the processor model. For example, in each new Qualcomm chip, more elaborate modem models are installed and therefore the quality of the network connection, as well as the data transfer rate, are getting better.

Similarly with smartphones on MediaTek processors. The only "but" is that this company rarely changes modems in its chips, as a result of which there are no noticeable differences in the speed and quality of the connection.

The ideal solution for the Internet would be to buy a smartphone on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 6XX or 8XX processor (where XX is any number) or on MediaTek Helio.

The amount of RAM determines the number of applications and web pages that a smartphone can keep open "in the background." The minimum optimal value for an “Internet smartphone” is 2 GB, the recommended one is 3 GB.

Battery capacity

The higher the battery capacity - the longer the smartphone will be able to work on a single charge. So, devices equipped with 2800 mAh or more batteries will “live” about 8-10 hours of mixed use. But smartphones with a battery of 2500 mAh or less will require recharging after 6 hours of mixed use.

operating system

The operating system determines the usability of smartphones. In addition, modern versions of Android and iOS support the most current application releases.

Thus, smartphones with the most current operating system versions are recommended for purchase. For Android, this is 6.0 / 6.1 Marshmallow and 7.0 / 7.1 Nougat (as well as 8.0 / 8.1 Oreo, but it is not yet available on all devices), for iOS it is 9, 10 and 11.

An important advantage of modern operating systems is the correct work with background applications. Programs such as clients of social networks or instant messengers are not executed in real time, but hybridized - and only some of them are active to receive notifications. This allows you to increase the battery life of the device with mixed use.

What tariff to choose for the Internet

Almost all mobile operators in 2017 offer peculiar tariffs for Internet access. The subscription fee of such plans includes unlimited access to certain services and a limited number of GB for other needs.

Usually unlimited traffic is offered in such “economical” services as instant messengers and social networks. In rare cases, the operator includes unlimited access to streaming music services such as Boom from Vkontakte or Yandex.Music in the monthly fee. The rest of the traffic - for example, through a browser, email client, etc. - it is limited and can both be charged separately or included in the tariff package.

The best way to determine which tariff is needed for the Internet is to purchase one for one month, and then analyze traffic usage statistics using the operating system. For example, in Android, the relevant information is directly in the settings of mobile networks.After evaluating which applications consume the most traffic, you can choose the ideal tariff for the Internet - so, if the most voracious turned out to be messengers, then the tariff plan should be chosen with unlimited traffic for them. But if the browser turned out to be the leader of statistics, then you should pay attention to packages with the necessary and sufficient number of “extra” GB.

The following selection technique will become more optimal:

If you use infrequently, only social networks, instant messengers and a little bit of web browsers - up to 4 GB of traffic is enough;
If you plan to listen to music online, but rarely, make voice calls through Viber or WhatsApp - then enough for up to 10 GB;
If you plan to watch videos, including movies, but not every day - from 20 GB;
For active use of the Internet, daily watching movies, etc. - from 30 GB.

Of course, the more traffic is included in the tariff, the more expensive it is.

The best manufacturers

The best manufacturers of smartphones for the Internet are:

Apple, Samsung - in the top price segment;
Sony, LG, Huawei, OnePlus - in the middle price segment;
Xiaomi, Huawei, Meizu - in the budget price segment.
You can also highlight the company Nokia, which recently returned to the smartphone market, and Google - but it is represented only in the "ultra-top" price segment.