This section is mostly a short intro & a very nutshelled summary for the review.
How a device feels in the hand (before a case), and some obligatory stuff about the ports, buttons, & their positioning (in addition to their feel). Also, if available, a JerryRigEverything durability test video will be provided to give a better idea of the device's physical features.
Generally, I use my devices with random cases (mostly cheap bumper cases) & tempered glass screen protectors (whenever possible). When I have a tempered glass applied, I will also add in some observational notes of whether it's able to flawlessly cover the display or not (if it does, recommended; else skip).
For haptics, I'm putting in my anecdotes (where I use Simple Keyboard (rkkr) with vibrations enabled). I used to disable them & ignore them altogether, but I got too used to keyboard vibrations (except for ≥A13, that one's a shitshow), so there's that.
Occassionally, I'd also add in some tidbits about drop resistance, if I could. Though, it won't happen that often, & drop resistance has too much factor to be reliably noted.
Personally, I consider this the most important section (despite me half-assing it IMO), and will be the section where my bias really shows up. Covers the speakers & headphone performance.
Headphone performance tested with a quality pair of earbuds / headphones (citations needed), my ears, & some weeb music. That's how subjective it is. If you really need some objective phone audio review, you should check GSMArena - they have the tools to do so.
The first part of the user interface, & the 2nd most important section, since it's the 1st thing you'll be seeing every time you unlock the device.
In the Poco F1 review, I made an exception for it to also add in some comments regarding its glass cover. This is intentional.
It's the 3rd most important. However, it's also the one that matters the most, since you can't install custom ROMs, recoveries, kernels, & other mods on devices without unlockable bootloaders.
Objectively the most important section, though, due to my bias, it slid to 4th most important (doesn't sound that important for service center regulars, but it is important nonetheless). If available, a teardown video link will be provided (preferably JerryRigEverything's, but others such as PBKreviews & Wit Rigs are also viable), to give you an idea of its repairability.
This section might be irrelevant for custom ROM / kernel developers / maintainers. It covers custom ROM & kernel availability.
This section is reserved for other crippling / positive issues that affects a device & couldn't be placed elsewhere in the review.
The closing part, which decides if a device is worth getting.
Oh yeah - I must also mention that my reviews are anecdotal by nature, so take the review as you will.
The sections that gets skipped because either I have no idea how to write them, or I just feel like it's unnecessary. Probably both.
The section that doesn't quite matter because of region variety & such. What appears to be a fair deal in a region (and/or a marketplace) could be a rip-off in another. Secondhand devices are also cheaper, not including whatever repair costs required when there are issues.
Personally, I don't consider cameras a factor when buying and/or reviewing phones. Here's why :
This is the section I can't reliably write, since there's too many factors that have to be included for this section. For example, my habits of 20-80% charging, the battery's age when I got the phone, the custom ROM & kernels, my personal use case, & so on.
I'd also like to say something about wireless (specifically the common Qi) charging here :
IP (ingress protection) ratings matter only when they're fresh out of the box as a brand new device. This rating gets voided after it's opened up.
As a reminder, keep your devices away from water (especially sea water).
Generally, I tend to "review" all of my phones without attaching a SIM card. However, in a case where I put my SIM card, I exclude any reports regarding the experience of using it as a phone, to keep it consistent. This means I won't put stuff about mobile data quality, call quality, & so on.
A SIM card is another way to getting tracked & bombed with ads.
Previously, I made this section to put my claims about how well stuff runs (PUBG & Fate/GO). However, now that I no longer play any of those games, I see no reason to keep posting performance results.
Even if I could post them by benchmarks such as Antutu / Geekbench, the results aren't going to be consistent, thanks to these issues :
If you really want to see how well a device performs, the best way to do so is to either try it out, benchmark them yourself, or look at other review sites for the performance reports. So far, aside from Mi A1 (and Poco X3N sometimes), all devices I own run smoothly enough that I have no complaints.
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