With companies creating and releasing new phones and upgrading features almost every 6 months, it is hard to keep up with all the different phone functions. With each new phone model and company releasing new software, and versions for all the features, it can become extremely confusing to understand what you are paying for when you get a phone. We decided to explain some of the acronyms and terms to help you become tech savvy too!
- Display features:
nits: Nits is the unit of measurement for luminance per square unit. In terms of buying a new phone, nits is the amount of brightness your phone can reach. Ideally, you will want to be purchasing a phone with at least 600 nits to be able to comfortably use your phone outside. Our phone display’s are easy to see when the display light is brighter than the light source around you. If you live in a colder area with not as much sunlight, you will not need as much nits as someone who lives in a very sunny area.
OLED: Also known as ‘Organic Light Emitting Diode’ is the type of light panel in your phone. It is one of the latest panels used by phone companies for their newest phones. The OLED panel brings even better screen, display and image quality. While it is not a needed function, spending a little bit extra to get a phone with OLED is totally worth it!
ppi: Self explanatory with its name ‘pixels per inch’, it is the number of pixels a phone screen can display. It is always a good idea to get phones with higher ppi, as the more pixels the better the quality. The average amount of ppi on a phone is 300, so a good phone will have 400-500 ppi. This is also a worthwhile expense!
- Platform/Device software:
CPU: Known as the ‘central processing unit’, the CPU is the main component that runs the operating system and applications of your device. In simpler terms, it is the brain of your phone. Phones come with ‘processor cores’. These ‘cores’ are chips to help run the phone and all the calculations needed. Newer phones now come with at least 2 processor cores, and higher end devices have more than that. Looking to see how many processors your phone comes is a good way to check device quality.
RAM: Known as ‘Random Access Memory’, the RAM is the main memory for the device. The RAM is a really fast type of storage that helps your phone run faster. Your device has two types of storage, the OS (operating system) and the RAM. All of your data is stored in the OS. When you use an app on your phone, the data stored in the OS is moved to the RAM, allowing you to access the information quickly.
More RAM does not necessarily mean your phone is better quality. For example, iPhones typically have less RAM than androids. To explain it simply, androids have a bit more of a complex process, so they need more RAM. Apple has eliminated that process in their phones which is why they require less RAM. We do not consider either of the processes to be better than the other, but when looking at the RAM of a device it is important to compare it to devices under the same company.
GPU: Known as the ‘Graphics Processing Unit’, the GPU is the circuit in charge of accelerating image output in a frame buffer. Its main purpose is to support the CPU to help the graphics of the device run smoother. The GPU is especially important for apps, mainly phone game apps. It supports the apps to run smoother and process the graphics. If you are someone who downloads many gaming apps on your device it might be worth it to look for a phone with a higher GPU.
mAh: The mAh (milliampere hours) of a phone is the measure of the electric charge capabilities of the battery. The mAh represents how long your phone will stay charged before it dies. A good mAh for a phone is around 4000. The higher your mAh is, the longer your phone will last. However, the higher the mAh, the bigger your battery will need to be so you could end up with a bulkier phone. Unless you want a long battery life, saving on cost with a phone with less mAh is worth it in our opinion.
We hope our definitions break down has helped you understand the parts of a phone! Knowing the different aspects of your phone will help you know what phone is best for you! If you ever need assistance on getting a new phone and phone service, email support@rmcsolutions.ca from some great prices and deals!
Recent Comments