Your choice of smartphone should be as good as preference of network

Mr Somasekhar VG is the managing director Airtel Uganda

What you need to know:

  • Access to smartphones is at the highest level it has ever been, their functionality ever advancing and the need to own one considered (by some) to be up there with the basic human needs.
  • The question in this day is “what smartphone do you have?”.
  • The type of operating system (Android Vs IOS), warranty terms and conditions, design and finishing, processor speeds, additional durability capabilities such as scratch, dust and water proof features, enhanced security like fingerprint unlock systems and the quality of the camera.
  • The key in all this is that in deciding what smartphone to buy, put your need and the value for money first.

The year was 1995, having a phone in your pocket was a new and exciting feeling, a preserve of the rich and successful, often referred to as the man or woman with the “mobile telephone”. Back then, when all people did was to make and receive calls, the only question people asked was, “do you own a phone?”

Fast forward to 2018 and the conversation is no longer just about phones, but smartphones - the little devices now firmly knitted within our everyday lives. Access to smartphones is at the highest level it has ever been, their functionality ever advancing and the need to own one considered (by some) to be up there with the basic human needs. The question in this day is “what smartphone do you have?”.

Only a few days ago, a young lady, Maggie, through our Facebook page, asked an innocent, but thought provoking question. “So you are the smartphone network, how does a young woman like me decide on what smartphone to buy”? Maggie’s question, in its apparent simplicity, highlights the internal debates that go on in young people’s minds when making a decision to buy a smartphone in the age where everyone seems to own one.

As I often put it, there are two types of smartphone buyers - the first time buyer and the upgrader. Like it is for cars as much anything else worth an investment, if you are a first time buyer, your choice of smartphone is guided by answering the basic question: “Why do I want one?” Or better still, “What is the need am I trying to solve?” Answering this question will guide your choice and eventual spend.

Whereas the price of the phone has to be affordable and within reach, it is important that a first time buyer asks themselves what they will actually be doing with the phone. Costly flagship handsets are often built with “nice-to-have” augmented features that many users seldom take advantage of or even know how to operate. It is, therefore, important to determine what is worth paying an extra amount for before you make the decision to purchase.

If you are a music fan, for example, and hope to use your phone considerably for listening to radio and sending WhatsApp messages to friends and family, your primary consideration will be phone’s battery life and a decent camera. However, if you want to receive and send emails or read documents and books on the go, the size of the screen will be a key feature for you.
Picking one or two primary functions that you require will dramatically cut your costs and offer value for money compared to wanting, say, an “all in one” smartphone.

On the other hand, if you are an upgrader, one that is looking for “The smartphone”, the choice of device that you will purchase is based more on technical and value added features. The type of operating system (Android Vs IOS), warranty terms and conditions, design and finishing, processor speeds, additional durability capabilities such as scratch, dust and water proof features, enhanced security like fingerprint unlock systems and the quality of the camera.

The key in all this is that in deciding what smartphone to buy, put your need and the value for money first. And while I might not have the power to stop you from using the close-your-eyes- and-point “strategy”, I hope that your choice of phone will be as good as your choice of network, The Smartphone Network.

Mr Somasekhar VG is the managing director Airtel Uganda