The 11 best smartphones you can buy in 2015

By: FAIZAN HASSAN

Manufacturers are continuously evolving to develop new smartphones. It is difficult to determine which smartphone is most comfortable for you. If you’re looking for the best smartphone on the planet then you’ve come to the right place, Read in this article about the best smartphones of the moment:

LG G3:

LG G3

The LG G3 is an Android smartphone with excellent specifications, which can compete with the other top smartphones from Sony, Apple, HTC and Samsung. The device has a Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor that clocks a speed of 2.5 GHz and 2 GB of RAM. That’s about the same as the Galaxy S5, HTC One and Xperia Z2.

The device is made of plastic, but at first glance the frame of polished metal by the finish. The plastic casing allows the unit seem slightly cheaper than its competitors with metal housing. The build quality is fine and further advantage is that the back can be removed to replace the battery and insert the memory and SIM card.

LG G3

The camera application is very minimal, with a tap on the screen to create a picture.

HUAWEI ASCEND P8:

The Ascend P8 is more than just the successor to the stylish P7 from 2014. The new flagship of Huawei should namely to compete with top models like the Samsung Galaxy S6 and Apple’s iPhone 6.

Huawei Ascend P8

The Ascend P8 is without doubt the most attractive smartphone from Huawei to date. The phone combines very decent performance with a stunning 5.2-inch Full HD display, 13-megapixel camera, with 3GB RAM/32GB ROM.

HTC ONE M9:

The HTC One (M9) is a strikingly beautiful handset. The polished metal casing is made from a single piece of aluminum and the screen display looks sharp.

HTC One M9

SAMSUNG GALAXY S5:

At first glance, the Galaxy S5 looks quite like its predecessor from 2013. But with the Samsung Galaxy S5 put plenty on biometrics. But is this enough to cope with the fierce competition from HTC, Apple and Sony?

Samsung Galaxy S5

If you have the Galaxy S5 and puts Galaxy S4 side by side, you will see little difference initially. The format is pretty much the same, although the Galaxy S5 slightly bigger, thicker and heavier.

If you owned the unit have, you notice that the stiff plastic back makes the smartphone perfectly in the hand. Crazy difference from the Galaxy S4 is that the built-in thermometer just missing again on the Galaxy S5. Yet you do not feel you have a unit of about 700 euro in hands. This is mainly because the plastic finish that particularly in the silver edge kitschy happens. Quite a difference with the HTC One M8, which is made ​​entirely of metal and therefore comes across much more durable.

NOKIA LUMIA 1520:

Smartphones are getting bigger and bigger. The market for so-called ‘phablets’ picking up, and more and more manufacturers move to a screen larger than 5 inches. Similarly, Nokia. Namely they bring one of the largest smartphones currently on the market: the Lumia 1520.

The device has a screen of up to 6 inches. Fortunately, the Nokia Lumia 1520 modest, given thin edges. The rounded side edges are approximately six millimeters wide, the device still has a very slim appearance. The screen seems a little to lie on the device, making it protrudes slightly. Fortunately, the display features Gorilla Glass and you do not have to worry too much about scratches.

The new Lumia is nice slim: only 8.7 millimeters thick. This makes it easier to carry the device in your pocket. The weight can be somewhat limiting Nokia. It weighs 200 grams and a spacious leaving behind other phablets as the HTC One Max and Sony Xperia Z Ultra behind.

Nokia Lumia 1520

SONY XPERIA Z3:

If you have the Sony Xperia Z3 first gets into your hands, do you look twice the difference between this and the previous Z2 to discover. Sony has chosen to adapt little to the design. There is nothing wrong with that, the device is namely beautifully designed.

Sony Xperia Z3

Sony Xperia Z3 features like its predecessor, has a 5.2-inch full HD IPS display. The display is as good as identical to that of the Z2, Sony but nevertheless has a small difference to bring in to know. This is in the brightness. The Z3 contains according to Sony their brightest screen so far.

As you would expect from a device at the top end , he really runs like a charm. Each application opens quickly and run smoothly. Multi-tasking is obviously not a problem. The processor is the same as that in the Z2, but the clock rate is slightly stepped up from 2.3 to 2.5 GHz. Here you will otherwise continue not notice, because it is both very fast.

LG NEXUS 5:

LG Nexus 5

With the introduction of the new Android version Lollipop, was also released a new Nexus smartphone, the Nexus 5 comes with 5-inch display with a latest version of Android (5.1) and a price tag of 350 euros.. An affordable showcase from both Google and manufacturer LG, and a better deal than the new Nexus 6.

Of course the Nexus 5 comes with the latest version of Android (5.1). Big advantage of Nexus devices is that they get the updates directly from Google and therefore always run the latest version of Android.

The price tag of 400 euros makes the device a middle class, but the specifications can compete with the high-end devices of today. LG has used many components that are also in their G2 flagship smartphone which is more expensive 150 euros. The quad-core processor (2.2 Ghz), GPU (graphics chip) and memory are the same instance.

SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 4:

Samsung Galaxy Note 4

The Galaxy Note 4 has all the ingredients that we know from the series. A huge screen of 5.7 inch diameter (14.48 cm), bestial specifications remarkably good battery life, excellent camera (literally and figuratively) and unfortunately also a hefty price.

The Galaxy Note 4 is one of the most powerful smartphones we’ve seen so far. In terms of hardware, there is no weak spot in Galaxy Note 4, with a fast processor, sufficient RAM, nice camera, 32GB of storage that also is expandable and an acceptable battery life.

APPLE IPHONE 6:

iPhone 6

During my first hours of testing with the Apple iPhone 6, it soon became clear that Touch ID is more than nifty a gimmick. The scanner takes the entire iPhone user experience to a higher level. By placing your finger on the home button, the device will be unlocked (in approximately one second). Also set Touch ID you are able to purchase in the App Store to confirm, so you do not always enter your password. Delicious!

Apple introduces the iPhone 6, as expected, its best smartphone to date. The iphone 6 is also 50x faster then the previous iphone 5s, The design is also stunningly beautiful, and new features like Touch ID, full 4G coverage and rapid A8 chip mean a big step forward. In addition, there are nice features added to the camera.

In addition, the Retina HD display belongs to the most beautiful displays of the time, the battery life is more than fine.

ONEPLUS ONE:

Ever since the first rumors about the OnePlus One I’m skeptical. This new brand is not known, and it looks like a phone that is meant for lovers of Android . OnePlus promises that it is a true “flagship killer”, but the unit can make this promise true?

OnePlus One

It is a phone without limitations of telephone companies, and it contains the latest hardware; it offers a lot of customization and is also extremely affordable, starting at 269 euros for the 16GB model, while most phones with similar hardware cost double!

If you’re looking for a powerful phone without restrictions of providers, and with a beautiful screen, much customization and software supported by a dedicated team of developers, it is certainly worth considering in relation to any other Android device , It is simply a wonderful device.

HTC DESIRE EYE:

HTC Desire Eye

Maybe it’s the name, but I expected that HTC’s Desire Eye would be less expensive. “Desire” is finally the name HTC normally used for its mid-range phones, and adjust the Desire Eye seems there with its plastic body.

Credit: http://newstactics.com/mobile/the-11-best-smartphones-you-can-buy-in-2015/2719/2015/04/07/

Xiaomi, Not Apple, Is Changing the Smartphone Industry

By Juan Pablo Vazquez Sampere 

Determining which customer to target first is one of the most critical decisions in the entrepreneurial process.  Customers that are relatively less risky and more predictable can make it easier for new to firms gain a market foothold. One such set of customers is the nascent middle class in emerging economies.

Why? First, as their financial situation improves they are anxious to buy new things. Not quite able to afford the top brands, they’re nevertheless willing to pay a little more for something they perceive might be close. Second, because they can’t yet afford the high-margin top brands, they’re not all that attractive to incumbents worried about generating enough cash to cover their high fixed and variable costs. So they exist in a sweet spot from an entrepreneur’s point of view: rich and numerous enough to fuel a start-up’s growth and also poor enough not to spur incumbents to respond.

Xiaomi, the four-year-old Chinese smartphone manufacturer, has found just such a sweet spot, and as a result is taking the smartphone industry by a storm. Pundits claim that Xiaomi is just a Chinese copycat of Apple, and not without some reason. Some point to Xiaomi’s product introductions, which are eerily just like Apple’s.  Others point out the strong similarities between Xiaomi’s operating system (named MIUI) and Apple’s iOS. What’s more, Xiaomi’s products rank among the best in the industry in terms of performance. All these cues might lead us to believe that it is competing head to head with the leading smartphone manufacturers.

However, looking at the full extent of Xiaomi’s business model reveals just how different – and how disruptive — it is. For starters, unlike Apple, Xiaomi is not targeting premium customers; it’s mostly teens buying those high-quality phones, and hardly at a premium, since Xiaomi’s prices are at least 60% lower. A neat trick. How does Xiaomi pull that off?

To sell high-quality cell phones at so low a price, Xiaomi keeps each model on the market far longer than Apple does. On average, a new version of a phone is launched every 265 days in the industry – down from 345 days in 2009. But Xiaomi doesn’t renew its product for two years. Then, rather than charge high prices to cover the high cost of state-of-the-art components, Xiaomi prices the phone just a little higher than the total cost of all its components. As component costs drop over the two-year period by more than 90%, Xiaomi maintains its original price, and pockets the difference. So essentially its profit formula is the opposite of Apple’s, which collects its highest profits with the introduction of each model and needs to come up with new model after new model to keep those margins up.

When you consider how much easier it might be to profit from plummeting component prices than from continual new feature development (which sooner or later will likely overshoot the needs of most cell phone customers in any event), the disruptive potential of the model becomes clear.

One might worry that other low-end competitors could easily copy this clever model, and to forestall that, Xiaomi has devised a creative way to create some of the mystique Apple is so justly noted for. Essentially it markets its phones to its price-constrained but status-conscious teen base in much the same way that rock band promoters sell concert tickets. Through an online retailer called Flipkart, potential buyers preregister for a short sales window. They’re required to stay online for at least two hours before the sale starts, and then only the first 20,000 lucky buyers get the opportunity to purchase. Human nature being what it is, after this awful experience, buyers end up wanting the phone even more.

Xiaomi is close to meeting its target of selling 60 million phones in 2014 with a business model well suited to expansion into other developing economies. In a classical reaction to disruptive innovation, the largest smartphone manufacturers were at first not motivated to seriously challenge Xiaomi, since they could not be profitable at the price these customers are able to pay. Now that Xiaomi is becoming a significant competitor, the incumbents are still barely reacting, launching simplified versions of their mature flagship products, as Apple did with the iPhone 5c. But these are perceived as outdated, as newer models, like the iPhone 6, are introduced amid great fanfare in wealthier markets, and often end up being discontinued.

So far from being a copycat, Xiaomi presents a knotty disruptive challenge to the largest smartphone manufacturers. As it continues to expand in developing economies by marketing to the emerging middle class, it remains sheltered from the competition by its margins and the way it makes products profitable. Sooner rather than later, as it continues to propagate its new business model, this disruptive competitor is going to change how this industry works.

Credit: http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/10/xiaomi-not-apple-is-changing-the-smartphone-industry/