This is very important and is something that you should check right
away. You might want to check it before even leaving the store if you buy your
phone in person.
Most phones come with a Liquid Damage Indicator sticker, also known as
an LDI for short, which actually changes colors when it comes in contact with
moisture or liquid. Therefore if you’re ever pushed into the pool and your
phone is in your pocket at the time. this sticker indicates that the phone has
or has not been
exposed to enough liquid or moisture to cause damage to the device
exposed to enough liquid or moisture to cause damage to the device
IMPORTANCE OF LDI.
If you’re buying your phone used then it might look fine on the outside
but might not be so great on the inside. Water damage can cause all kinds of
issues on a smartphone, especially power related problems. It can cause a phone
to not power on, or prevent it from charging properly, or even power off
sporadically; it can cause issues with the phones display screen or lead to an
unresponsive touch screen or can cause the phone to begin overheating the list
can go on and on.
If you’re buying a used phone checking your LDI can be even more
important than looking for missing pieces or physical damage.
Note that most phones have some kind of a liquid damage indicator, and
they are sometimes hard to find. If your phone is supposed to have an LDI and
doesn’t this also voids your warranty as it’s considered tampering. Look for
anything pink or red or any signs that a really small sticker was scratched
off. If you’re buying your phone from the store ask the representative if they
can show you the Liquid Damage Indicator or when researching your phone do an
online search for it. I recommend you always check the LDI whenever getting
another phone, whether you’re buying it new used or simply having it replaced.
Pretty self explanatory but when buying a smartphone from a store you
might want to check the box that the phone came in just to make sure that you
get everything that you paid for when you open that box for the first time.
Other things you need to check when buying a smartphone.
Phone
You’re obviously going to notice that something is wrong if you open the
box and there is no phone in it, but do a quick check of the phone to make sure
that there is no sign of physical damage; especially if the phone was shipped
to you.
Charger
The phone and a charger are the two of most important things that come
in the box when buying a smartphone and chances are slim that either of these
two items is going to be missing when you get it. If your phones charger is
also a data cable (which is common) you might want to connect your cell phone
to a PC just to confirm that the cable doesn’t just charge your phone but can
be used to sync your phone to a computer as well.
Headset
Many phones come with a cheap, but functional, headset which allows you
to have a private conversation with someone though the phones headset jack.
This headset consists of a built in microphone but the headset can come in
handy if you intend to use your phone as a portable media device such as an mp3
player.
Box
You might want to consider keeping the box that you’re your smartphone
comes in. It often contains information about your phone which might be useful
if your phone is ever lost or stolen including the device identifier number.
Speaking of which if your phones device identifier does not match the
device identifier printed on the box that it came in then for whatever reason
that phone most likely did not get put in that box by the manufacture and for
whatever reason was swapped out with another phone. If this is the case it
might not mean anything but you might want to take a good look at the phone you
received just to make sure nothings off.
When you get a phone if it has a removable battery than I recommend that
you take the battery out and check the leads (those metal prongs that plug into
each other) on both the battery and the phone to make sure that the leads are
not bent, broken, or melted and that there are no signs of rust, corrosion or
damage.
If anything is messed up with those leads not only do you run the risk
of having power related issues but your warranty might also be void. So as an
extra precaution check those leads to make sure they are still nice and gold in
color and in good shape.
Battery
While you’re checking your leads, and possibly you’re LDI (Liquid Damage
Indicator) just do a quick check to make sure that your battery is nice and
snug in the device. If its lose and or wiggles around then the battery leads
might briefly disconnect from each other and cause your phone to power cycle
off and on.
This is a pretty rare issue, especially on new smartphones, but the last
thing you’re going to want is your phone to be powering itself off and on while
trying to use it.
To check the quality and contrast on the screen/display tilt the phone
and look at it from multiple angles. If the screen is black at certain angles
take that into consideration before buying the phone. While titling it you can
also check the accuracy of the accelerometer.
The accelerometer is the part of the phone that recognizes when it is
being tilted, for example if you rotate the phone onto its side and the
accelerometer is working properly then the display will change from a vertical
view to a horizontal view.
Many new games and applications actually use the accelerometer as part
of the program. For example a driving game might have you hold your phone like
a steering wheel and if you want to turn right you will rotate the phone
clockwise or left counter clockwise, just like the steering wheel on a car.
You’ll probably mostly just use it for texting, and having a larger keyboard;
or watching videos tilting the phone for a full screen presentation. In any
case tilt the phone and check the contrast of the phone at different angles and
check to make sure the display rotates accordingly.
What kind of QWERTY
QWERTY is just a keyboard layout. Most computer keyboards have the
QWERTY layout meaning that the top letters on the far left of the keyboard are
the q w e r t and y keys. Just take a look under the numbers and special
characters across the top of your keyboard and you’ll see it. Fun trivia about
the QWERTY is that it was actually designed to cause the user to type slower!
This is the layout of old typewriters that would actually have the letter you were
pressing cause the key to rise up and stamp the letter onto the paper. Well if
you were typing too fast then the typewriter would jam. When typewriters went
the way of the Dodo QWERTY was already the standard and still remains so today.
People didn’t want to learn a different type of keyboard even if it was more
efficient like the Dvoraklayout which has the keys you use the most under where
your fingers rest. But I digress.
You’re going to want to consider whether you want a virtual or physical
keyboard on your phone. Some Smartphones even have both.
A virtual will appear on the display in which you’ll have to touch the
screen in order to select the letters. The physical will have actual keys built
into the phone to press in order to select the numbers. Don’t be afraid of a
pure touch screen device or virtual keyboard. It might take a few days to get
used to it but once you do you’ll love it. Especially of you have a feature
like Swipe where you just drag your finger over the letter of the word you want
to type and the phone puts it into the text field for you. Sounds weird but
you’ll love it.
Make sure whatever option you end up choosing that you test it out to
make sure it’s working 100% right out of the box. You don’t realize how much
you use the “H” key until you can’t use it any more. If it’s a touch screen you
might also have a dead spot on the device which can effect navigation and
making proper selections. So just remember to send some texts or to test your
keyboard when you get your phone.
These can definitely affect the functionality of your smartphone. The
external speakers, sometimes called loud speakers, are what produce the sound
for the phones ringer, its alarm clock, its hand free mode (speakerphone),
music, videos, movies, etc.
Use these speakers when first testing your phone to make sure the
speakers are loud enough. What’s the purpose of a phone that you can’t hear
ringing? Look up a video online and make sure that the phone plays that videos
audio loud enough for you to hear without having to strain your ears to hear
it.
It can be frustrating trying to show a video that you took of a young
family member singing and the people you’re trying to share it with have to all
huddle together as close to the phone as they can in order to hear it, or not
be able to hear it at all.
I love to watch videos, shows and movies and if I can’t hear what the
characters are saying it’s definitely not as fulfilling for me. So check your
phones external speaker.
Even more important than the external speakers are the internal ones.
This is the speaker that you hold up to your ear when having a conversation
with someone. If you can’t hear too well than you most certainly want to make
sure you turn up the phones volume to its maximum setting and make lots of
calls. If you can’t hear others speaking then you’ll want to invest in a loud
headset or return your phone ASAP.
When speaking with another person and you can’t even hear what they are
saying then it’s kind of a one way conversation, and that doesn’t work to well.
If the internal speaker isn’t loud enough I recommend you look at your other
options which included returning the unit if you have already purchased it or
choosing a different model when first making your selection. This is one of the
most important pieces of hardware found on any phone.
Don’t neglect testing your headset jack! Many people have their phones
for months before even thinking of using a headset, they go to use it, and low
and behold it doesn’t work. If it doesn’t work the first time you attempt to
use it then try to remove and re-insert the headset a few times and make sure
the port itself is clean and that nothing is preventing a good connection.
Otherwise don’t forget to check your headset on your new Smartphone to make
sure it’s working correctly, it’s something easily overlooked.
Check the screws! If you get a phone that is missing one of the screws
holding the phone together then not only can the phone start coming apart but
your device is considered tampered with and your phone is officially out of
warranty. If you buy a new phone and its missing screws or the screw fell out
and is somewhere in the box that the phone came in then I would recommend you
take the phone back and swap the phone for another unit. Don’t run the risk of
being accused of tampering with the device, it’s not worth it.
You don’t need to try and unscrew or test the tightness of the screws
when you get the phone; you’ll knowingly and in full awareness actually void
the warranty. Many phones even have little void stickers over the screws that
you have to take off before accessing the screws. Just make sure that none have
fallen out. This situation is extremely rare but something to remember, you
might just win that unlucky lottery some day.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
leave a comment