Which Phone is Right For You?

Munam Ahmed
Staff Reporter

      Phones are always improving each year, and 2018 has been a big year for the advancement of cell phones. Companies such as Apple, Samsung, Google, Red, OnePlus have all released phones this year, each with different strengths.
      Every year conglomerates in the phone market releasing a new phone, usually in the same quarter as the previous year. This keeps customers upgrading to the latest and greatest they have to offer. With these constant updates, companies have to emphasize research and development to provide their customers with the best they can, which makes customers want to purchase a new phone every year or two.

       This is the breakdown five of the newest and top rated phones in specific categories available on the market. Which includes the Iphone Xr, Samsung Galaxy S9, Red Hydrogen One, and LG V30.

      According to Matthew Miller of ZDnet, “The base model iPhone XR is $250 less than the base model iPhone XS and $350 less than the iPhone XS Max. Over a 24 months payment plan, that’s $10.42 to $14.58 per month less for the iPhone XR.” With other upsides like the battery life, large range of colors, and affordable 128GB option. The iPhone XR seems to be the best consumer phone available on the market as of now, it has everything the typical user needs and more at a fair price. This makes it the number one phone for casual use on the market.  

      Keenan Long is a Senior who recently bought an Iphone Xr in September. He said he  likes “the display and being able to do multiple things at a fast pace.” For users who have switched from any other brand to Samsung can notice that the infinity display is much better due to ppi (pixels per inch), 18.5:9 display ratio, sharpness, and color reproduction. Also, the Snapdragon 845 / Exynos 9810 CPU, 4GB of ram, and 3,000mAh battery are all factors that allow this phone to compute data very well. The S9 can do this and much more, but due to its higher price tag, it’s hard to justify this being the best consumer phone on the market. But it is definitely one of the best if not right behind the IPhone Xr.

      David Nguyen said, “I wish my phone was louder and I miss the headphone jack.” This is where the LG V30 excels and is only slightly behind the Samsung galaxy S9. The Hi-Fi Quad Dac audio system is what separates the audio quality of this phone from the rest. Though the LG V30 has its downsides, this is one for audio nerds, who specifically want their phone to provide high quality audio at any time. The price point is also what makes this phone a solid buy.

      Something we’ve never seen before that will be introduced to the market very soon from RED is the Hydrogen One their first ever phone. This phone is for anyone interested in videography or photography. Cameron Faulkner of techradar.com had this to say, “It promises to display “4V” holographic video content without the need for 3D glasses and also capture “H4V” (the company’s holographic file format) through a unique camera.” This is enough to show that Red is ready to come out strong with their first phone ever. Though they had a big name in cinematography for many many years, this is their chance to prove to consumers that they can provide a phone highly capable of capturing great images and videos.

      Phones have come a long way, especially since the release of the first iPhone in 2007. Over the past 11 years, there has been new companies in the market, phones increase in size, new technology added to them almost every year, higher quality displays, more durable materials, better cameras, and higher quality audio.

      We’re now in a day and age where phones aren’t just used for calling and texting, but instead to do a hundred different things with them. Some people can work from their phone, or use them for entertainment since there are a million forms of entertainment at our fingertips that can all be accessed through our phones, and others just use them for what’s necessary.

      Lastly companies are always competing with each other to see who can do what first and then they see who does it better. But slowly, certain phones will be able to do certain things so well, that the target market for them will be using them for that specific use, which in turn makes the market more diversified.