This guide sheds light into the confusing world of smartphone specifications.
Lost in tech jargon when reading specs page? Fret no more because our simple guide explains what is what, helping you make an informed decision on your next buy.
CPU and GPU
This section shows you the key details about your smartphone’s chipset, which include the processor, graphics unit, and sometimes, neural cores. In our specs page, you’ll see the brand and model name, number of cores, clock speed (indicated by gigahertz), and graphics.
What’s important:
- The name is essential to check the CPU’s AnTuTu score online.
- More cores often mean better performance.
- Higher clock speed usually suggests better overall performance.
- Use the graphics name to learn more about its rendering capabilities.
Display
The display is the window to the soul of your smartphone. This section shows the display type, screen size, resolution, refresh rate, and pixel per inch (PPI).
You may find keywords like AMOLED, LTPO, IPS, and TFT, among others. OLED and LCD are the standard types, while the extras on the front highlights variations, with some having significant improvements than their standard counterparts.
What’s important:
- OLED is better in blacks and colors: best for photos and media. It saves more power if 60% or more of the screen’s content is dark.
- LCD is better in text: best for document processing and spreadsheets. Some claim that it’s power efficient if the screen’s brightness is at 40%.
- Higher resolutions lead to better visual quality. Compared to 1080p, 1.5K, 2K, and 4K screens will consume more power.
- Higher refresh rates lead to smoother scrolling. Compared to 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz, 144Hz, 165Hz, and higher will consume more power.
- Higher pixel per inch leads to better image quality. For instance, 500ppi has a crisper image quality than 300ppi when you zoom in a picture.
Additionally, certain models have multiple screens like foldable smartphones. The main screen refers to the device’s unfolded form while the secondary screen refers to additional screens, including any screen at the back and the screen when the device is folded.
Secondary screens can have different sizes, display types, resolutions, refresh rates, and PPI.
Memory and Storage
Here is where you’ll find the memory (RAM) and storage (ROM) of a phone. Sometimes, you may see these items in megabytes (MB) instead of gigabytes (GB) and that’s because the device is a basic or feature phone.
The microSD card slot is also indicated while the RAM expansion will be shown if confirmed from the brand. The RAM and ROM types will be indicated as well if we have confirmation.
What’s important:
- GB is definitely better than MB and an 8GB RAM is the recommended minimum today.
- A 256GB ROM is the recommended minimum capacity for storing apps, games, and lots of media.
- The microSD card slot may share a SIM slot, aka hybrid card tray setup.
- RAM expansion is a dynamic feature installed by brands that let the phone allocate a part of the storage to become a memory. But this is not a default Android feature, the reason why Pixel phones don’t have it.
Camera
If you love taking pictures, this section is a priority. The main camera refers to the lenses on the back, while the selfie camera is self-explanatory. But wait, there’s more!
Foldable smartphones, for example, may confuse some people about the camera specs. The main camera still refers to the rear lenses but selfie cameras may have two or more, depending on the placement.
The main selfie camera is the lens when the device is unfolded while the secondary selfie camera refers to the lens facing you when it’s folded.
What’s important:
- Higher megapixel (MP) means better resolution, preserving image quality when zoomed in.
- Wide is the primary lens that does all the main functions, including recording videos at the maximum setting.
- Ultrawide has a wider range to include more people, best for groufies and selfies.
- Macro has better close-up capabilities than other lenses, best for capturing tiny details at very close range.
- Telephoto has better optical zoom capabilities than other lenses, best for long range subjects.
- Optical image stabilization (OIS) refers to reduced adverse effects from shakes and movement.
- Electronic image stabilization is an electronic stabilizer but less capable than OIS. It may be improved using the gyro.
Some models have a periscope telephoto lens and it can do higher optical zooming than a regular telephoto lens. It also has better chances of getting the best capture, thanks to a prism or mirror installed inside.
OS
An operating system reflects your smartphone’s personality. Android, iOS, and HarmonyOS have unique personalities represented by their features and special perks.
What’s important:
- The OS version usually tells you the supposed software support period. For example, the smartphone came out with Android 14. It should get up to Android 16 based on Google’s policy.
- Custom UI like HyperOS and One UI. These are on top of vanilla Android offering brand exclusives, including bloatware.
- Android only. Motorola and Pixel smartphones, for instance, don’t have custom UIs and run solely on vanilla Android.
- AI like Apple Intelligence contains special functions that depend on artificial intelligence and neural cores of the processor.
Battery
For nonstop gaming and entertainment, you need a tanky battery and today’s average is 5,000mAh capacity. Majority of smartphones in the market have non-removable batteries made from lithium.
What’s important:
- Li-Ion and Li-Po are both lithium batteries. Li-Ion batteries have better longevity while Li-Po batteries have higher charging rates.
- The capacity is always mAh for smartphones. Typical (typ) capacity is always the given value as some brands don’t always provide actual capacity.
- Charging comes in wired and wireless modes. Watt (W) is the unit of measurement for charging rates. To get accurate wattage of your smartphone’s charging rate: the formula is volts (V) times ampere (A).
- Silicon-carbon or SiC is a new battery type that offers excellent power density while retaining a slim size.
Extras
Here some of the important indicators in our specs pages:
| Network | 4G or 5G connectivity |
| SIM | Dual-SIM, nano-SIM, eSIM |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi connectivity. Wi-Fi 5 (ac), Wi-Fi 6 (ax), Wi-Fi 7 (be) |
| USB OTG | Refers to the on-the-go support of the USB-C port for external devices. |
| Audio: USC-C audio port | The device has no 3.5mm headphone jack. |
| Material | Contains details about the smartphone’s durability, build material, and add-on hardware. |
| Fingerprint | The sensor may be placed at the back (rear-mounted), side (side-mounted), or in the display (under-display). Under-display sensors are either optical or ultrasonic. |
We hope this article helps you better understand the key factors in specs pages. The tips here are not limited to smartphones. You can also apply them to computers, monitors, and other gadgets for they share many hardware and software elements.
