Buying a new smartphone is not always easy, especially if you are not a tech enthusiast. Manufacturers are only too happy to take advantage of this. With the help of dubious marketing tricks, they try to entice you to make a purchase.
Fortunately, manufacturers usually exhibit the same behavior, so it’s easy to spot if you’re aware of it. Your friends at WANT will update you on the five most common tricks. So you won’t fall for them next time!
Pay close attention to these marketing trends when buying a new smartphone
Here you read five marketing tricks that you should mostly ignore, but what should you pay attention to when buying a smartphone? In this article, we explain it all for you.
1. Using professional equipment
Most smartphone campaigns are full of photos supposedly taken with the camera. In many cases, this is anything but true. In fact, manufacturers often take photo samples with studio-level equipment. As a result, the photos are definitely too good to be true.
Don’t fall for it! (Image: Xiaomi)
Using additional equipment is not a disaster in itself. Some images just require more lighting or a tripod. The problem is only that manufacturers do not place a disclaimer (or a very small one), which makes viewers think that they can easily make the images themselves. So you have to temper your expectations when seeing such a beautiful advertisement.
2. Omit camera data
Manufacturers like to shout the coolest features of their latest smartphone over the rooftops, but don’t leave much out about less impressive specifications. You often see this with smartphone cameras.
Realme leaves information. (Image: Realme)
Of course, the most notable and awesome features of the camera are mentioned. It is precisely in the important details that many enthusiastic smartphone photographers would like to know. For example, on the specification page of the Realme 8 5G the information about resolution of the lenses is missing. In addition, manufacturers do not reveal much about the sensor size of the camera. If you want to know this kind of information, you will have to check with third parties.
3. The use of misleading smartphone terms.
Some brands use a clever trick in word usage when selling new smartphones. They use typical marketing terms, but put them in a technical wrapper. The purpose of this is to win over the consumer.
For example, Samsung has the term “hybrid-optical zoom” sucked out of its thumb for the Galaxy S20 and S21. In reality, both devices simply have hybrid zoom technology. They added the term “optical” to get people more excited about the new camera. Therefore, before you buy a smartphone, always check how other users experience the product. That way you will never have any surprises.
4. Marking the number of megapixels
Counting megapixels (MP) is one of the oldest marketing tricks for smartphone cameras. Manufacturers count the number of megapixels of the camera and mark it with a lot of fuss in their campaigns. It is based on the misconception that more is always better. This is especially not the case with megapixels.
How many megapixels would this camera have? (Image: Unsplash)
In fact, there are many other factors that have a greater impact on the quality of the camera. Features such as OIS, lens aperture and software processing are much more important. Megapixels can contribute to more detail in the photo, but in practice this benefit is often not as great as outlined.
5. Lying about features of the smartphone
Manufacturers also lean on software in campaigns that the hardware cannot always provide. This is not always misleading but some smartphone brands claim that their devices support features that in practice do not work at all.
Some third-rate Chinese brands, such as Oukitel and Dooge did this a few years ago. They claimed that their smartphones had a 13 MP camera on the back, when they actually had an 8 MP sensor. The brands then often admitted their lies in small print, but this is not always done. Fortunately, this type of scam is quite rare these days.
