Or, The Best Affordable, High-Tech Smart-Phone to Buy in Spring 2016 .
How do you choose one among a thousand spices and wine ? and as such is when you are trying to get a cell phone . even in an amazing Global World, the best choice differs on where you are geographically . and this is about if you are in South Korea .
First-off there are a very few who still use folder, slide or full-screen phones, NOT smart-phones . fine, but missing on a wide array of specifications, mostly internet and the incredible common-apps that are totally different from horribly-limited built-in apps . co-workers or new-found friends may advise to get the cheapest phone for a year-or-so stay here perhaps teaching, but students and commuters will stare at you wondering the foreigner from Back-To-The-Future .
Second is the matter between iPhones vs.Android . no-contest : Apple devices are state-of-the-art and every young generation yearns for it . newest Apple, SamSung and LG phones are all around the same price when introduced – at around W1,000,000 but six Months later Androids used price will drop in half, while iPhones will still retain 75% value a year later !
more-over iTunes is a large obstacle to use in a country where every other person assembles their own computer or have a relative or friend do it for them, thus used-to manual transfer of files than automatic synchronization . and just like how Koreans living in the States, will still have Windows installed on their MacBook, Androids are far easier for life in South Korea . NOT to mention the support staff and awkward procedures Apple requires here, much like Sony, Panasonic and Fujitsu before them – meaning : the local staff here try to implement regulations not even they are familiar with, where a good example is Warranty which is not fully correct with the foreign manufacturer NOR exactly legal in Korean consumer terms . so in a word, it is flimsy, undependable and out-right frustrating .
so better not to use an iPhone in South Korea, or if you need the lime-light : get it two-Months before the latest model is introduced and sell it off for a Galaxy two Months later . The Oh’s and Ah’s of a new iPhone is obsessively limited, as you can tell from crowded what-ever reseller stores and shops around time of a new product, but virtually empty at other times of the year duh
Third, in choosing which Android model : forget all foreign brands like Microsoft, Google, Sony and Xiaomi due to lack of full-compatibility, obscure warranty and as it will be hard to resell later . then between SamSung and LG : it is easy . get LG is you want a sturdy device with beautiful state-of-the-art screen panel and high resolution camera . SamSung has always been design-conscious among the three electronics conglomerates, and has caught-up on camera resolution from S6 and (SamSung) S4/5/6 much thinner and lighter than (LG) G3/4/5 .
Then fourth, Which model to choose . a previous model, one generation old is perfect, with latest technology yet now : almost half its original price . LG and especially SamSung, saturates the market with negligable models that even its own dealers get confused and they are not worth it to resell, so stick to their main line which is G-series for LG and either S or (larger screen) Note for SamSung .
even once in smart-phones you don’t want to get more than three generations old, for security and what the more newer phones can do . plus in this range you can still get a used phone with ample warrantly left, while it will be hard to find one in a model two generations old . currently you cannot find such on S4 LTE-A (introduced June 2013), rarely on S5 LTE-A (introduced June 2014) and often on S6 (introduced April 2015).
in purchasing a used phone, you want one not subscribed to a Monthly plan, thus unlocked and SiM-FREE . considering mostly people purchase Androids with a carrier plan because it is quite expensive, and it is mandatory to have it for at least Three Months : a used phone FREE from contract would have been bought December 2015, often manufactured in November . this is the best deal you would be looking for now . Koreans phone warrantly last for a year from the date of the first call . while all such information was printed on a sticker in the battery compartment on reverse of the device earlier than S5 (first call viewable on hidden debug menu), it is engraved on the back-side of the phone on models with built-in battery later than S6 (with first call record on set-up menu).
a clean S6 seldom used, can be had at around W450,000 and those with warrantly don’t differ much on price, nor on color so it is a matter of how hard you look and sheer luck .
S6 even looks like iPhone 6/6S although slightly larger and thicker . latest SamSung models from S6 support Apple-Pay’s competitor SamSung Pay, on which you can also implelment ShinSeGae’s SSG-Pay ! and from S6 KT also support Two-Phone capability where you can have two separate phone numbers – an extension of Two-Number add-on option offered by both SKT and KT carriers which come in more limite choice of numbers .
– Korea Tech BLog –
