Samsung is one of the global leaders in the smartphone
industry with various offering from budget to flagship models. No wonder
Samsung smartphone are very popular in the Nepali market. With IMS being the
official distributor of Samsung smartphone, it is very easy and reliable to get
one. But before you run out and buy a Samsung smartphone there are some things
you must consider.
First and foremost the deciding factor is the price obviously.
You must choose from the budget, mid-tier, and flagship offerings from Samsung.
The budget as the name suggest will cost you less money with some major
compromises, while the mid-tier will retain you some of those compromises for a
little higher price and the flagship will get you all the latest and greatest
the company has to offer. Once you have the price point all figured out (which
you could have done without my help) let’s get to the part why you all are
here.
Now I will walk you through the things that you should
consider before buying your Samsung smartphone.
1.
Display:
After you have decided the price
point, the first thing to decide is the display size as it is the component you
will be seeing the most while using your phone, so you must choose wisely.
What
do you mostly do or want to do with your phone? If you want to stream YouTube,
play a lot of games and stream a lot of content I highly suggest a 5 to 5.7
inch screen. And if you are the type of person who just makes calls, send some
text and uses Viber most of the time then a display size of 3.5-4.9 inch will
be just fine for you guys. But also remember, bigger the display the more
difficult it is to use with one hand.
Once you have considered size of the
display, you must also consider the resolution, and the viewing angle of the
display. The resolution determines the sharpness of the text and pictures on
your display. Before buying a Samsung smartphone know the resolution as well as
the PPI as it will affect the total usability of the smartphone. The various
resolution standards are VGA, 720p, 1080p, 2K (1440P). A high resolution
display has a lot of details while in a low resolution display, the details are
pixelated.
Don’t look for anything less than a 720p
screen in the budget area and in the mid-tier a 1080p is must and the high will
no doubt have a 2k display. Just to give you an example:
·
Samsung galaxy S6 has a 2k display (577 PPI)
·
Samsung galaxy A8 has 1080p screen (386 PPI)
·
Samsung
Galaxy A5 has a 720p screen
2.
SOC or Processor and GPU:
The next thing to
consider is the SOC or the processor. This is the part of the smartphone that
is very important but is neglected the most. Most people have no idea of what
processor they have on board on their smartphones.
So to break it down there is mainly two
SOC’S that you must consider in a Samsung smartphone.
1. Exynos Processor with Mali GPU (The in-house)
2.
QUALCOMM Snapdragon processor with Adreno GPU
In
paper the Exynos outperforms the Snapdragon SOC in most cases but the
Snapdragon SOC’s are better in real world performance and I prefer snapdragon
over Exynos. The Adreno GPU too is better than the Mali one. GPU helps in
gaming performance and graphics if you were wondering what the hell a GPU is.
But
you don’t get the above choice in budget Samsung smartphone as most are
equipped with an Exynos chip. Some mid-tier and most high end offer a
Snapdragon variant of their corresponding model.
Unfortunately
the official distributor of Samsung mobile in Nepal (IMS) doesn’t provide the
snapdragon variant of smartphone. So you have to choose the Exynos model or if
you like me, buy it though other retailers like CTV mobile.
For
example:
Note
3 SM-900 Exynos SOC with Mali (IMS outlets and
distributors)
Note
3 SM-9005 Snapdragon SOC with Adreno 330 GPU (CTV Mobile, New-road)
So
in short if you want high gaming performance, 4G connectivity, and high
multitasking choose the Snapdragon SOC and if you want warranty (in Nepal) , a
better battery management, and faster updates choose the Exynos Processor.
3.
Battery Life:
The next
thing to consider is the battery life. Your Samsung smartphone should be able
to last you throughout the day. You must check the size of the battery (which is
in mah) before buying it. Bigger the battery more the battery life, that’s in
theory at least for now. And also look for Samsung smartphone with Ultra Power
Saving features which is very handy when you are down to your last trickle.
Another thing to see is if it has a removable battery which is always
welcomed for a road warrior or a hardcore phone user like me. And in 2015 you
would want to check if your Samsung device supports wireless charging which is
super convenient to have.
4.
Camera:
While buying your Samsung smartphone you
should know what type of camera you are getting with your phone. Look for
Rear
camera Front facing
camera
Budget 8 MP 2 MP
Mid-tier 13 MP
5 MP
High-end 16 MP (With OIS) 5 MP
If
having the best camera is your top priority then I highly suggest ‘The Galaxy
Note 5’. It has the best camera you will find in the market right now. And if
giant phablets aren’t your thing than ‘The Galaxy S6 and S6 edge’ is for you
guys which has identical camera. And in the lower end I highly suggest ‘The
Galaxy A8’ which has an f/ 1.9 aperture 13 MP sensor and a 8 MP front facing
camera, for those looking to buy a good camera phone at a lower price.
5 5. Memory and Storage:
Your latest
Samsung smartphone must have at least 1 GB RAM and 8 GB ROM in the budget, 2 GB
RAM and 16 GB ROM in the mid-tier and 3 GB RAM and 32 GB ROM in the high end.
And also look for and SD-card expansion
capability which is a must have feature in all smartphone in my opinion.
6. Hardware:
Samsung
smartphones are no doubt built very well but there is one thing to consider in
the hardware department. Whether you want a premium feeling smartphone or a plastic
one depends all upon you. Obliviously the premium offering will cost you quite
a bit while the plastic made Samsung phones will provide high functionality at
a low price.
7. Software:
7. Software:
In software, most
Samsung phone run Android OS with Samsung’s own custom skin know as touch wiz
on top. The experience is same throughout all of Samsung’s smartphone except
some extra software tweaks in the higher end model.
You would want to choose a phone running at least android KitKat (4.5)
in the lower end and android lollipop (5.0) in the mid and higher level model
with further update plans.
8. Extra Features:
Lastly, you should look for
some extra features on you Samsung Smartphone. Come on what’s a Samsung
smartphone without some extra bells and whistles. Extra features include stuffs
like Fingerprint reader, Water and dust proof, S Pen (Probably my favorite),
and some crazy gestures and multi-tasking ability.
These features are something that won’t
necessarily be a deal breaker but is always convenient to have.
# Where to buy?
Well as I mentioned earlier, IMS
is the official distributor of Samsung smartphone in Nepal and you can pick any
one from there outlets which is open in various places. You can also pick a
Samsung smartphone from their official distributors which you can find many in
Tamrakar House, New road.
You can also pick up one from other retailers like CTV mobile who will
provide you with the Snapdragon variant and also the IMS distributed Exynos
variant.
If you buy your Samsung smartphone from IMS outlets and distributors then
you will be provided with warranty, customer support, and exchange offers.
Check the back of your Samsung smartphone to find the official IMS sticker to
see that the product is genuine.
And if you buy the snapdragon variant of Samsung smartphone from
retailers like CTV mobile, you will be provided with only in house warranty and
customer support. You will also be provided with exchange offers but it’s not
as official as the IMS one.
I highly suggest the latter as IMS tends to charge a bit higher than
other 3rd party retailers like CTV mobile. Of course you pay for the
customer service, warranty, and trust of IMS but CTV customer service and trust
is also good.
So
at last it all depends on you, if you don’t mind spending almost Rs. 10000-15000
(which I found out through personal experience) more on your Samsung hand set
then go with IMS but if you want to save some cash then I highly suggest CTV
mobile.
*Note: I suggest CTV mobiles as I buy most of my gadgets
from them and I trust their service.
# what to buy?
Budget Mid-Tier High End
Galaxy J5 Galaxy A8 Galaxy
Note 5
Galaxy J7 Galaxy S5 Galaxy
S6 Edge
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Writer’s thoughts:
So to
conclude it all, I highly suggest you guys not to buy a Samsung smartphone. But
wait! Before you think I am Samsung hater and am crazy about writing a guide on
buying a Samsung smartphone in Nepal and suggesting not buying one. Just hear me out-
Well the
thing is I myself use a Samsung smartphone (Samsung Galaxy Note 3 SM-9005 to be
precise) as my daily driver and I love the thing. I think it’s an awesome
smartphone with good battery life and performance. But the fact lies that many of my friends too
use a Samsung smartphone (budget and mid-tier models) and I can’t tell you the
amount of lag those phones have. And that’s the case with many Samsung budget
and some entry level model. They all lag!!
But the
higher end smartphones from Samsung are all good if not the best smartphones in the market right
now. They do not suffer
from the same lag and slow down as their budget friendly brothers. But the fact
lies that not all people in Nepal are willing to drop Rs. 30000 –Rs. 90000
which is a typical price of a Samsung entry level or high end model. So I don’t
suggest a Samsung smartphone for people in Nepal as various competitors offer
smartphone having same specification at a more attractive and mind boggling
price.
So in
verdict, the Samsung high end smartphones are very good if not the best in the
market and yes if you can afford then go ahead and buy it. But if you don’t
want to drop 30k or more for a phone than I highly suggest smartphones from
other brands like Hawawei, Motorola, Meizu. But this lag and slowdown is gradually
decreasing in Samsung entry level smartphone due to the toning down of touch
wiz in the latest budget oriented smartphones of Samsung, especially the one
released in 2015. So keep tabs on our blog, YouTube Channel and Facebook page
for future updates and news. And if you guys want any suggestions or have any questions you can hit me up on Facebook!!
Links:
Samsung mobile Nepal
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/SamsungMobileNP
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