10. Customizability and flexibility
Different smartphones offer different levels of flexibility and customizability. This is important if you want to be able to turn off features you don’t like, choose your own default web browser, customize the way your home screens look like, and so on.
Some smartphones come with gimmicky features that might sometimes be more of a hindrance than help, but if you can’t turn them off you’ll have to get used to them. Furthermore, the ability to customize the functionality and feel of your phone allows you to keep it fresh by changing things up from time to time according to your moods and changing preferences.
On the other hand, you might actually prefer a phone that offers a singular carefully thought out experience without too many options tempting you to mess around.
Whichever way you prefer it is a good idea to check on this. If you like the ability to customize then Android is the way to go because it offers the greatest level of flexibility while still being easy to use out of the box.
However, even Android phones differ from each other in the level of flexibility they allow. Manufacturers that offer their own customized Android user interface may sometimes limit the extent to which you can change things up while others go so far as to allow you to put your own version of Android on it which you can customize to your heart’s content. The latter include some of the new crop of competitors like various Oppo phones (Find 5, Find 7, N1, etc.), and OnePlus One.
If you’re in the other group, and don’t care for customizations, but want a carefully streamlined experience out of the box then Apple’s iPhone is probably your best bet. Windows Phone is similar, but offers a somewhat greater level of personalization through its tiled interface, basically representing a middle ground between Android and iPhone so long as you actually like its general aesthetic.
Besides software customizability smartphones also vary in terms of their hardware customizability. Some are sealed boxes, like iPhone, where you can’t even change the battery, and the only way to change how it looks like is to put a case on it. Others allow you to change both the front and back of the default case.
Photo by Kristina D.C. Hoeppner.
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