How To Choose The Right Smartphone For Your Travels

I had a chance to experience first-hand the importance of having a smartphone like the Oppo Find X5 Pro is for a trip abroad.

Credit: TRP

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Despite what the ‘unplug’ community might say, being tethered to a smartphone isn’t that bad — especially when you’re off travelling the world.

A global study conducted in 2016 found that most people consider smartphones as a crucial travel partner to have on their journeys and can’t leave home without one.

Recently, I had a chance to experience first-hand the importance of having a smartphone like the Oppo Find X5 Pro for a trip abroad and noted down some things that I’ve learned and think everyone should consider when picking out a travel phone to bring along on any adventure.

How to stay connected

Travelling somewhere far from home is always exciting, but it can also get a little intimidating to be in an unfamiliar place without a guide. Having a good smartphone can help alleviate some anxieties you may have during your getaways by being a close companion that provides instant access to information.

For example, a smartphone loaded with applications like a language translator, a currency exchanger, a GPS map system, and search engines like Google can help keep you from being lost and confused on your travels.

This is why travellers should always consider how their smartphones stay connected to the internet.

As mobile data charges while roaming can get expensive during overseas travels, a simple solution would be to use a temporary international SIM card that’s compatible with the country you’re visiting. You can usually purchase these at the airport.

Having a phone like the Oppo Find X5 Pro which has a dual 5G sim tray comes in really handy by letting you use both your local and international SIMs at the same time. The phone also comes with what Oppo calls the ‘ 360-degree smart antenna 3.0’ system, that upon testing, does provide better signal strength when indoors.

The Find X5 Pro’s ‘Wi-Fi Calling’ feature which helps improve the quality of calls over WiFi is also a very nifty feature to have when the cell signal is less than ideal.

How to stay active

All the connectivity and functionality in the world are useless if your phone is dead.

This is why travellers must always consider how long their phone batteries can stay alive and how long it takes it to fully recharge because waiting around for your phone to get juiced up can take time away from your trip and stall your plans.

The Find X5 Pro’s scratch-resistant ceramic body feels sleek, durable and comfortable, and is rated IP68
splashproof, waterproof and dustproof.
(Credit: TRP)

Phones like the Find X5 Pro present a decent option with a large 5000mAh dual-cell battery. On a single charge, the phone can last for about six hours when constantly being used for taking travel selfies and videos.

But the Find X5 Pro also has an impressive ‘ultra’ battery-saving mode which can more than double the time the phone stays alive by limiting the phone’s functions to only the necessary apps you choose.

Meanwhile, the phone’s 80W ‘SuperVOOC’ flash charging adapter can have the phone fully charged and ready in about 20 minutes which is a great feature to have for travellers who are on the go.

Remember to bring along an international power adapter and a power bank just in case you need to quickly charge your phone on the go.

How to make memories

Of course, travelling wouldn’t be the same if we weren’t able to take pictures and videos to preserve those wanderlust moments and memories.

Smartphones should offer travellers a variety of shooting options to play around with in any setting, no matter if they are amateurs or pros.

Having a 50MP ultra-wide angle camera on the Find X5 Pro was great for taking scenic landscape shots. The 50MP wide-angle camera it had captures colours naturally. And its 13MP telephoto camera was decent at getting in close to the action.

The phone’s 32MP selfie camera was also good at taking quick ‘wefies’ on the go.

And having the choice to shoot in 1080p or 8K UHD is definitely a plus for anyone looking to share travel videos online.

Phones like the Find X5 Pro also take impressive night mode shots, but one does need some steady hands to avoid images and pictures looking noisy or shaky, even when the stabilization function is on.

How to kill time

There’s always some downtime to kill when travelling, and having a phone that can keep you entertained and occupied can be useful on those long flights or before you tuck yourselves in for the night.

A phone should serve as an all-in-one gadget for the traveller without the need for other devices. So one should always keep in mind what they plan to do on the journey and pick a device that fits the bill.

Phones with large AMOLED displays like the Find X5 Pro makes great use of its 6.7inch ‘Billion Colour Bionic’ screen to show bright and sharp visuals for watching HD videos and for playing a few rounds of mobile gaming.

The top and bottom stereo speakers on the Find X5 Pro can fill a room.
(Credit: TRP)

Plus a refresh rate that goes up to 120Hz does make the device feel more fluid on use.

A travel phone would also need to handle a variety of tasks and applications without slowing down.

Sporting a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor with 12GB of memory and 256GB of storage, the Find X5 Pro makes for a useful multitasking tool and also a capable video editor.