Size
Size of the phone actually makes a big difference. Depending on how you use the phone, the size of the phone can greatly determine whether you will like it or not. For example, if you often text one-handed, a phone with a larger screen will not go well for you. In this case, it’s good to get a device with size that you can hold on to comfortably.
Processor
What tasks do you want to do on the phone will greatly determine what speed processor you need. There are phones with single core processors, dual core and now many newer models are coming with a quad core processor. Something many people don’t realize when choosing a phone is the processor speed handles more of the on phone tasks vs. the download speed. What I mean is if you are listening to music, send text messages and take pictures all at the same time, the phone is much less likely to bog down with a better processor.
How much storage do you need?
Some of the newer devices, come with as much as 64 GB of onboard storage with the option to add an additional 64 GB via a microSD card. If you’re the type of person who likes to store a lot of movies on their device, or like to take your music library with you, Having a lot of storage space would benefit you. However, if you prefer to stream media or use a lot of cloud storage applications such as Google drive or Dropbox to store documents and have your images instantly uploaded, you wouldn’t need as much internal memory. One of the devices which doesn’t allow an external microSD card, may be a good choice.
What features are most important to you?
Choosing a device with the features that are most important to you, is also a great way to shop for phone. For example if you use the camera a lot, you definitely want to go with an Android phone with a higher megapixel camera and possibly a device with a little bit faster processor for shooting and potentially editing video. A certain group of people prefer a slide out keyboard and this might affect your decision when selecting phone.
Can it be rooted?
Knowing right off the bat that the phone can be rooted on the first day, or there are plenty of third-party support for ROMs is very important. Some companies such as HTC and some Motorola devices make the process a little bit easier to root. A good resource for the most up-to-date rooting information is the XDA forum.
OS updates
For those of you who do not like to route your phone, choosing a manufacturer that has faster upgrades to the operating system might be a good place to start. The Google Nexus devices are always the first to get an OS update.
Final thoughts
In the end, knowing what features are important to you in your new phone will make it much much easier to help you settle on the right device for you. Going into a store is a more educated consumer will make the purchase process a lot less intimidating. What features do you look for in new Android device?
