Detailed Hardware Specs
Here’s a detailed list of components that are usually found in most modern Smartphones. Within each listing, you’ll find a range of options that are based on differences in quality and performance. Options range from “minimally acceptable” to “high performance”.
Since budgetary restrictions are always a concern, and performance is usually tied directly to cost, we think that knowing the relative value of all your options will allow you to make knowledgeable trade-offs as you struggle to find the right balance between price and performance.
| Overall Dimensions (Height, Width & Depth) |
Smallest Device*:
3.9″ x 2″ x 0.37″ (99mm x 50mm x 9.4mm) Largest Device*:
6” x 3.1” x 0.79” (152mm x 78mm x 20mm) * Sizes do not include fold-out or slider keyboard dimensions.
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| Weight |
Lightest Device: 3.8 oz (107g)
Heaviest Device: 8.0 oz (227g)
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| Screen Technology |
Basic Screen: Transflective TFT LCD (Transflective Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Display)
Standard Screen: IPS LCD (In-Plane Switching Liquid Crystal Display)
Performance Screen: Super AMOLED (Super Active-Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode)
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| Screen Size |
Screens are measured diagonally from corner to corner
Basic Screen: less than 3″ (less than 76.2mm)
Standard Screen: 3″ to 3.5” (76.2mm to 88.9mm)
Performance Screen: bigger than 3.5″ (88.9mm or more)
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| Screen Resolution |
Basic Screen: 480 x 320 pixels
Standard Screen: 800 x 480 pixels; (a.k.a. WVGA or Wide Video Graphics Array); 16:9 screen proportions (i.e. wide-screen)
Performance Screen: 960 x 640 pixels or more
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| Pixel Density |
Basic Screen: less than 200 pixels per inch
Standard Screen: from 200 pixels per inch to 250 pixels per inch
Performance Screen: more than 250 pixels per inch
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| Battery Life |
Standard Device:
Up to 300 minutes talk time & up to 146 hours on standby. Performance Device:
Up to 575 minutes talk time & up to 500 hours on standby. |
| Battery Type |
Lithium-Ion (Li-ion)
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| Recharge Time |
Using a wall charger, standard capacity batteries can be fully charged in 2 – 4 hours. Extended capacity batteries take about 4 – 7 hours to fully charge. Actual times will vary based on the brand of the battery and the type of wall charger being used. Allow additional time when charging via USB cable.
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| Replaceable Battery |
Most Smartphones have replaceable batteries. A few (most notably the iPhone) do not. It’s always a good idea to have a spare charger and a second, fully charged battery on hand in case of emergencies.
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| Operating System |
Smartphone run on a variety of different operating systems. These include Apple’s iPhone OS, Google’s Android OS, Palm’s WebOS, RIM’s Blackberry OS, Nokia’a Symbian OS and Microsoft’s Phone OS. Linux is also used by a small number of Smartphone manufacturers. Each of these operating systems has been specifically designed for small mobile devices.
Smartphones that use Apple’s iPhone OS and Google’s Android OS can be controlled through voice commands. Palm’s WebOS does not yet support this feature.
With the notable exception of Microsoft’s new Phone 7 OS, all modern Smartphone operating systems allow more than one software program to run at the same time. This capability is known as multi-tasking.
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| Processor & Speed |
Smartphone processors that use the ARM design are produced by a large number of different chip manufacturers. Smartphones that use the x86 design are produced, almost exclusively, by Intel.
Standard Device: any single core processor with speeds between 500 – 719 MHz
Performance Device: any single or dual core processor with speeds above 720 MHz.
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| Graphics Processor:/ Video Accelerator |
Standard Device: None
Performance Device: either PowerVR SGX or Broadcom Adreno chips.
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| Memory Type & Size |
Basic Device:
RAM: 128 MB Built-in Flash Storage: below 8 GB Removable microSD Flash Memory Card: up to 32 GB Standard Device:
RAM: 256 MB Built-in Flash Storage: from 8 GB to 16 GB Removable microSD Flash Memory Card: 32 GB Performance Device:
RAM: 512 MB Built-in Flash Storage: from 16 GB to 32 GB Removable microSD Flash Memory Card: up to 64 GB |
| Street Price |
Subsidized hardware price with basic phone and data plan (2 year contract), between $1,250 – $2,700
Hardware portion: (approx) $50 – $300 Wireless service: (approx.) $50 – $100 / month or $1,200 – $2,400 after 2 years. Hardware only: (no service contract), between $480 – $600
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| Where to Buy It |
Most consumer electronics stores, on-line e-tailers and cell phone stores.
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| Installed Web Browser |
Web browsers come standard on most Smartphones. Web browsers can also be used as eBook readers.
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| Audio Formats Supported |
The following audio file types are supported by most Smartphones:
Rarely Used:
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| Music Player |
Virtually all Smartphones come with a built-in music player as standard equipment.
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| Image Formats Supported |
.BMP, .GIF, .JPEG and .PNG image files are viewable on most Smartphones.
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| Multi-Media Formats & Protocols |
The following multimedia file types & protocols are supported by most Smartphones:
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| Color Depth |
Standard Device: 16 bit color = 65,536 colors
Performance Device: 24-bit color = 16,777,216 (16.7 million) colors
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| Wireless Communications |
Most Smartphones come with built-in Bluetooth, WiFi and Wireless Broadband (3G and 3.5G) radios.
Performance devices have built-in WiMAX (4G) radios.
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| Audio System |
Standard Device:
One (1) built-in microphone. One (1) or more built-in speakers. Built-in speakerphone is standard. One (1) 3.5mm headphone & auxiliary microphone jack Performance Device:
Two (2) or three (3) noise canceling microphones used to improve voice quality of private phone conversations and speakerphone calls. Multiple microphones are also used to add high quality sound to video clips and enable video conferencing. |
| Ports & Slots |
Standard Device:
One (1) HDMI Type D receptacle (a.k.a. micro HDMI). One (1) Mini-USB or Micro-USB receptacle for power and data syncing. One (1) miniSD or microSDHC flash memory card slot One (1) 3.5mm headphone or auxiliary microphone jack Rarely Used: Infrared Port
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| Input Devices |
Most Smartphones come with touch screen displays as well as slide out, built-in or on-screen QWERTY style keyboards. Some Smartphones (most notably Blackberry units) come with a trackball and a 4 way navigation button. With only one notable exception (i.e. phones running Palm’s WebOS), all Smartphones can be controlled using voice commands.
Rarely Used Accessory:
Optical Mouse |
| Digital Camera(s) |
Minimum Acceptable Device:
One (1) digital still camera (no video) that can produce 1.5 megapixel photos. The camera comes with built-in auto-focus and an LED flash. Basic Device:
One (1) digital camera that can produce 3 megapixel still photos as well as digital videos with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels (VGA) or less. The camera comes with built-in auto-focus and an LED flash. Video frame rates are typically 30 frames per second. Standard Device:
One (1) digital camera that can produce 5 megapixel still photos in addition to digital videos with a resolution of at least 720 x 480 pixels (DVD quality) and a second video camera of equal or less quality. The primary camera is equipped with built-in auto-focus and an LED flash. Video frame rates vary from device to device. Performance Device:
One (1) digital camera that can produce 8 megapixel still photos as well as digital videos with a resolution of at least 1280 x 720 pixels (HDTV 720p quality) and a second video camera of equal or less quality. The primary camera usually comes with built-in auto-focus, digital zoom, image stabilization (especially useful for video), and dual LED flash units. Video frame rates vary from device to device. |
| Location Fixing |
Assisted GPS (A-GPS), 3-axis accelerometers and a digital compasses are all standard features on most current Smartphones.
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