Getting a new mobile phone is a big decision. Most of us only shop for a new phone about once every two years, and that means that you’re going to be living with your purchase for quite a while. Of course you want to be satisfied with what you buy, and you don’t want any regrets, but there are a lot of factors that you need to consider when shopping.
The obvious thing that you need to think about is performance. The majority of people these days are dependent on a mobile phone, at least to some extent. That means that you need to know that the phone you’re getting is reliable and will do what you need it to do without crashing or freezing, or even worse dropping calls or missing messages.
Then there’s the money issue. A top of the line mobile is going to cost you over five hundred pounds, and that’s a huge investment. It can be tempting to go for lower cost phones, but then how do you know that you’re going to get the performance you need on a low priced model? We’re all trying to save money, and you need to balance cost and performance.
This is why you should always compare different phones before you buy, so that you can see which offers you the best value for money. Mobiles come with spec sheets listing their features and performance stats, and you can use these to compare different models. Spec sheets do tend to have a lot of technical data on them though, making them confusing for some people, which is why we’re here to help you.
We’ve looked at some of the most popular phones on the market and placed them in head to head comparisons, which will let you easily see which model is the best buy. If you’re looking for a great phone and you’re not sure which one is for you, then read on to find out more about the two models we’re looking at today.
Introducing the Two Phones…
Blackberry used to be the best maker of business phones around, but they’ve recently lost so much market share that they’ve announced that they’re leaving the consumer phone market altogether. Blackberry’s newest, and last, flagship phone is the Z30 model. The Z30 is a touch screen phone, which is unusual for a Blackberry, and it’s actually got some pretty high specs, making it one of the best Blackberrys ever made.
Samsung are one of the biggest manufacturers on the mobile market, and they do tend to concentrate on high end feature phones. Today we’re looking at the Galaxy S4 Mini, which is a scaled down version of the flagship S4 model. It does sacrifice a few features, but the S4 Mini is very affordable. Should you try to save some cash, or should you go for the more expensive Blackberry?
What You’ll be Paying…
If you want to buy your model SIM free then the Blackberry Z30 is the slightly more expensive model at around five hundred pounds. The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini is cheaper and will cost you around three hundred and eighty pounds.
You can also sign an incentive contract with a mobile operator to get your phone, which will mean that you won’t need to pay the full price up front. The best deals on both of these models are with O2. You can get either phone for no money down, the Blackberry on a £32 a month calling plan contract, and the Galaxy on a £17 a month contract.
The Similarities…
Both of these phones are touch screen devices, and they both run 1700 MHz processors, so they’re equally fast, responsive and powerful. They’re also both 4G phones. 4G phones get faster mobile internet speeds, though you will need a dedicated 4G data plan from your operator. Both models also have the same 8 MP camera on board, which is what we’d expect at this price range.
The Blackberry Z30…
As the more expensive phone the Blackberry Z30 is obviously going to have some advantages over the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini. Let’s begin with the screen. The Blackberry does have the larger screen, measuring in at five inches versus the 4.3 inch screen on the Samsung. This means that you get a better viewing experience, but it does also mean that on screen typing is a lot easier and more comfortable.
The screen on the Blackberry is also better quality. It has around eighty per cent higher screen resolution, and around ten per cent more PPI (pixels per inch), meaning that the Blackberry’s display is brighter, sharper and better defined than the Samsung’s. The Z30 also gets more internal storage, with a 16 GB memory as opposed to the 8 GB memory on the Galaxy. This means that you can store double the amount of music, photos and data on your device.
Finally, the Blackberry also has a better battery life. It gets around thirty per cent more talk time per battery charge cycle, as well as about fifty per cent more active talk time. This means that you’ll need to charge your phone a lot less often.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini…
Having the smaller screen makes the Samsung smaller in general. It’s around thirty per cent smaller than the Blackberry, and lighter too, weighing in at 107 grams versus the 170 gram Blackberry. This makes the Galaxy more portable and easier to carry around with you.
The Galaxy also has the Android App Store, which makes downloading and installing new apps easy and convenient, whilst the Blackberry has no app store connection at all.
Which is Better?
This is a little difficult. The Blackberry Z30 is obviously the better phone, it has a larger and better screen and more internal storage. However, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini is a lot cheaper, and it doesn’t actually lose much performance to get that lower price. The Blackberry Z30 is the best of today’s two phones, but if you need a more budget option, then the Galaxy S4 Mini is a great choice too.
Phil Turner was looking for 4g phones and trying to work out whether a 4g contract was worth it. He checked out all the comparison sites, including uSwitch before deciding to wait a while.
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