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In early 2024, it was revealed that people across India average 4 hours and 5 minutes on their smartphones each day. This is above the global average by a good 50 minutes. Some of this time will be spent on social and business activities like messaging and emailing. Much of it, however, is dedicated to exploring the vast world of mobile entertainment.
With everything just a tap away, it’s not a surprise that smartphones have become entertainment hubs. So, it’s important to consider the entertainment experience when picking a new smartphone. The best smartphone for entertainment is likely to be different from the best smartphone for taking photos or value for money, for example. To help home in on what to look out for, this guide will delve into a few key areas of consideration.
The Screen Supreme
Everything you do on your smartphone is through the screen. Not only do you want a screen that offers a great, clear picture, but you also need one that’s incredibly responsive. After all, for a lot of the most popular entertainment apps, the screen will be the controls and your visuals. For anyone looking at the best of what the modern mobile market has to offer, this will be a debate of OLED vs AMOLED.
If this is the option, it’s AMOLED that’s widely considered to be the better display type of the two. It’s an evolution of the technology. AMOLED can quickly and more precisely switch individual pixels for darker and more colorful visuals. OLED works by switching rows of pixels. As an added bonus, AMOLED is more energy efficient. So, long spells of enjoying an entertainment app will be of a higher visual quality and not be as taxing on your battery.
Where AMOLED isn’t an option, there are plenty of high-quality, accessible OLED devices. OLED uses self-emissive pixels, which is far better than the backlight method of LCD screens. This is why Realme was so eager to tell the world that it had integrated a specialized new screen into its GT 7 Pro – the Samsung Eco² OLED Plus. As for screen size, the bigger, the better. Anything between a 6.2’ and 6.8’ screen should be ample for entertainment.
Check the Spec
The specs of your smartphone will determine the limits of the quality of your entertainment experiences. A very popular form of entertainment across India, specs are most important when considering the games that you can play. At the time of writing, the top grossing mobile games being played in India on Android devices were Free Fire MAX and Battlegrounds Mobile India.
Storage space, RAM, and operating system version are the key components to working out if the mobile is up to scratch. Naturally, the better the specs, the better the experience will be, but hitting the minimums is a must. For Battlegrounds Mobile India, you need at least 3GB RAM, Android 4.3.1 or newer, and around 1.5 GB in storage for the file size and HD upgrade. It’s the same for Free Fire MAX, only with the minimum OS being Android 4.4.
Other forms of mobile gaming are less taxing and can be test-run for free. This is the state of play in online casinos, where new casino bonuses can be used online to test drive sites for free. Some of these bonuses allow for free play without a deposit. Importantly here, though, these online casino platforms are refined for mobile browser play. So, you don’t need to worry about storage specs. Plus, the 2GB RAM will, more often than not, be plenty to run them.
Sound is Often Overlooked
An element of smartphones that often can’t be reviewed in a list of specs is the speaker quality. Strangely, the quality of the sound emitted from the phone is more of a subjective element. This partially comes down to many people who want to hear the goings-on of their media will use wired or wireless headphones. To avoid buying extra accessories to carry around, and if you know you’ll be using the phone on your own, get a good speaker.
You can get some guidance in reviews. Most will have a section dedicated to how well the speaker of the device works in their opinion. It could be described as quiet and flat or, alternatively, loud and full of bass. This is an aspect of a smartphone that’s worth testing in a store where possible. Sound’s a big part of the entertainment experience across all corners of media, so make sure your new device appeases your inner audiophile.
When looking to get your new smartphone with an eye on entertainment, always consider the screen size and quality, the specs you need for your favorite apps, and the speaker quality.