What is specs?
AMOLED. AnTuTu. IP68. mAh. CPU nm. Every phone listing throws these at you. Here’s what each one actually means, why it matters, and how it shows up in Nigeria.
What the screen does, and what it doesn’t.
The screen is the part you stare at all day. Resolution matters less than people think. Panel type matters more.
AMOLED vs LCD
The two ways a phone screen makes a picture. LCD shines a backlight through colour filters. AMOLED lights up each pixel individually, so blacks are truly black and the screen draws less power on dark scenes.
For most people, AMOLED is noticeably better. Punchier colour, deeper blacks, and the always-on display works without lighting up the whole panel. The catch is burn-in over years of heavy use, and AMOLED costs more, which is why budget phones still ship LCD.
Same colour. Different mechanism.
Refresh rate · 60Hz, 90Hz, 120Hz
How many times per second the screen redraws. 60Hz is the old default. 120Hz makes scrolling and games look smoother — buttery, even. Past 120Hz, returns diminish.
Sweet spot: 120Hz. Premium without diminishing returns.
Resolution · HD+, FHD+, QHD+
How many pixels the screen has. HD+ is 720p (basic). FHD+ is 1080p (the sensible midpoint). QHD+ is 1440p (flagship territory). Above FHD+ is rarely worth the price or the battery hit at phone sizes.
Brightness · nits
Measured in nits. Indoor reading needs around 300. Lagos sun in May needs 800+. If a listing doesn’t quote the brightness, the phone probably struggles in daylight.
PWM dimming · eye comfort
OLED screens dim by switching the whole panel on and off many times a second — PWM (pulse-width modulation). You can’t consciously see it, but at low frequencies your eyes still do the work, and for some people that means tired eyes or headaches after a long night session at low brightness.
Higher is gentler. 1920Hz and up is considered comfortable; 480Hz or lower is where sensitive eyes notice it. A few phones avoid flicker entirely with “DC dimming”. If you read in bed for hours, this matters more than the headline refresh rate.
HDR · Dolby Vision, HDR10+
HDR (high dynamic range) lets compatible video show brighter highlights and a wider range of colour — sunlight that glints, shadows with detail instead of black mush. It only kicks in on HDR content: most Netflix and Disney+ titles and YouTube originals.
The formats rank roughly: Dolby Vision and HDR10+ tune the picture scene by scene and look best; HDR10 is the static baseline; HLG is for live broadcast. A phone listing Dolby Vision shows Netflix at its best; one with only HDR10 still does HDR, just less cleverly.
Colour depth · 8-bit vs 10-bit
Colour depth is how many distinct shades each pixel can display. 8-bit is about 16 million colours; 10-bit is over a billion. The difference shows up in gradients — a clear sky, a sunset — where 8-bit can show visible “banding” (steps between shades) and 10-bit stays smooth.
Most good OLEDs are 10-bit now; some flagships claim 12-bit. It’s a nice-to-have, not a deal-maker — you’ll notice it in photos and HDR video, rarely in everyday use.
Adaptive refresh · LTPO
A normal 120Hz screen runs at 120Hz whether you’re gaming or staring at a photo — smooth, but it drains battery. LTPO (“adaptive” or “variable” refresh) drops the rate when nothing moves — to 10Hz, or even 1Hz for an always-on clock — and jumps back to 120Hz the moment you scroll.
The result is flagship smoothness without the full battery cost. It’s a premium-tier feature; if a phone says “LTPO” or “1–120Hz”, that’s what it means.
How fast a phone actually feels.
Specs lie. Benchmarks help, but only if you read them right. Here’s what to look at and what to ignore.
AnTuTu · the benchmark score
AnTuTu is a benchmark app that runs a series of tests — CPU, GPU, memory, UX — and gives the phone a single score. Higher is faster. Different versions are not comparable to each other.
Useful as a rough comparison between phones tested on the same version. Useless for predicting whether you’ll like the phone. A 600k AnTuTu phone with bloatware will feel slower than a 400k phone running clean software.
Most older phones in our catalogue.
Stricter graphics test. Scores ~20% lower than v9.
Don’t fuss over a 50k-point gap. A 200k+ gap is real.
Phone tiers · flagship, mid-range, entry-level
Phone tiers are our shorthand for how strong a phone feels today. It is not a moral judgment. It just helps you compare phones quickly without reading every processor name and benchmark score.
Flagship means top-end performance and premium extras: the fastest processors, stronger cameras, better screens, and nicer build. High-end is close to that, usually with one or two compromises.
Upper mid-range and mid-range are where most good value lives: fast enough for most people, but not chasing every premium feature. Lower mid-range and entry-level handle calls, WhatsApp, banking apps, and browsing, but heavy gaming and long multitasking will show their limits.
Older flagship · launch class vs speed today
An older flagship is a phone that launched as a flagship — premium processor, better cameras, stronger build, maybe water resistance — but has aged into a lower performance tier by today’s standards.
That is why both labels can be true. A phone like the LG G6 can be an older flagship in build and camera features, while still having entry-level performance today for heavy apps, gaming, and multitasking.
Read the label as a warning and a promise: you may get old premium hardware for cheap, but you should not expect new flagship speed.
Process node · 4nm, 6nm, 7nm…
The size of the transistors on the chip. Smaller is generally better — more performance per watt, less heat. A 4nm chip in a 2024 phone will run cooler and longer than a 12nm chip in a 2019 phone, even if the GHz numbers look similar.
RAM · 4GB, 6GB, 8GB…
The phone’s short-term memory. More RAM = more apps you can switch between without them reloading. 4GB is the floor for new phones. 8GB is comfortable for most people for the next 3-4 years.
How long will this thing survive you?
IP rating · IP67, IP68, IPX2…
Two digits that say how well your phone resists dust and water. The first digit is dust. The second is water. Higher is better. X means "not rated", not zero.
IP68, the flagship-standard, means dust-tight and survives submersion up to 1.5m for 30 minutes. IP67 drops to 1m for 30 minutes. IP54 handles a splash but not a dunk. Anything less is "keep away from water."
Two digits. One promise.
Gorilla Glass · Victus, Victus 2, Glass 5, 6, 7
Corning’s branded reinforced glass. Newer numbers and named tiers (Victus, Victus 2) survive higher drops onto harder surfaces. But all of them still scratch. Sand on a screen is sand on a screen.
Frame · plastic, aluminium, titanium
What holds the phone together. Plastic flexes (cheap, durable, lighter). Aluminium feels premium and dents. Titanium is stiffer per gram than aluminium and pricier — you’ll see it on some flagships.
Compact size
Phone screens have grown steadily for a decade. Most high-end phones today sit between 74–80mm wide and 180–230g — large enough to need two hands for anything beyond a quick reply.
A compact phone bucks that trend: narrow enough to grip securely and reach across the screen with one thumb, light enough to carry in a pocket without sagging. We call a phone compact when it's roughly under 72mm wide and under 165g and still has high-end specs — not just a small budget phone.
Compact phones are rare because big screens are easier to sell. When you find one — a Galaxy S-series mini, a Zenfone, a Pixel "a" in the smaller size — it's usually a deliberate design choice, and the one-handed feel is part of what you're paying for.
More megapixels won’t save you.
OIS · optical image stabilisation
A small motor that compensates for your hand shaking. The difference between a blurry low-light shot and a sharp one. Rarely included under ₦300k. When you see it, take it seriously.
f/1.5, f/1.8, f/2.2 · aperture
How much light the lens lets in. Smaller number = wider opening = better low-light. f/1.5 is great. f/2.4 starts to struggle indoors.
Megapixels · 12 MP, 50 MP, 200 MP
How many pixels the sensor captures. Above 12, gains are mostly marketing. A good 12 MP sensor outshoots a bad 108 MP one every time.
Camera sensor classes · what the main camera sensor tells you
When a phone page says "Premium sensor", we mean the main camera sensor behind the lens. We check the sensor name and the maker's specs where we can, because 50 MP alone does not tell you enough.
The class is a shortcut, not a photo verdict. A stronger sensor gives the camera more room to work, especially at night, but processing still matters. That is why a Pixel can beat another phone using similar hardware.
Big low-light advantage. Mostly ultra-premium flagships.
Large main sensors in serious camera phones.
Good upper-mid hardware when processing is also handled well.
The everyday 50 MP class. Fine in daylight; weaker at night.
Small or dated sensors. Don’t buy mainly for camera quality.
Ultrawide · the secondary camera
A wider field of view than the main lens. Good for group photos and landscapes. Usually a step down in quality — don’t expect the same colour or detail.
Optical zoom
A telephoto (or periscope) lens gives true optical zoom — 2x, 3x, 5x and beyond — without the mushy detail you get when a phone just crops and upscales the main camera (“digital zoom”).
It is a real capability, not just a number: a dedicated zoom lens counts towards our camera score, and matters most for distant subjects, concerts, and wildlife.
mAh, watts, and the gap between them.
mAh
Battery capacity. 5,000 mAh is the modern standard. 3,000 mAh in a 2024 phone is a red flag unless the phone is tiny.
Wired charging · watts
How fast it tops up. 18W = slow. 33W = fine. 67W+ = full in under an hour. The catch: you need a matching charger and cable.
Wireless charging · the luxury
Drop on a pad, no plugs. Slower than wired. Rare under ₦400k new. Convenient if you own a stand.
Bands, jacks, and what your network actually supports.
4G & 5G bands
"5G" alone doesn’t mean a phone will get 5G on your network. Carriers broadcast on specific frequencies (bands) and the phone has to physically support those bands to connect. A phone marketed as 5G in China might miss the bands MTN or Airtel use in Nigeria.
Every phone page now checks the band list against MTN, Glo, Airtel and 9mobile for you. Full means the phone covers the carrier’s main and extra bands. Works means the main band is there but an extra one is missing — usually the low band that carries signal indoors and upcountry. No means the main band is absent: don’t buy that phone for that network.
Check the phone’s full band list, not the marketing line.
Wi-Fi 5, 6, 6E, 7
Newer numbers are faster on the right router. Wi-Fi 6 is the comfortable floor for any phone you’ll keep 3+ years.
Bluetooth 5.0, 5.2, 5.3
How the phone talks to earbuds, watches, speakers. 5.0 is the floor. 5.2 unlocks LE Audio for newer earbuds.
NFC
The chip that does tap-to-pay and tap-to-share. Many budget Android phones still skip NFC. Worth checking before you buy.
3.5 mm headphone jack
The old round audio port. Most flagships dropped it — though a few audio-focused phones (like the LG V60) keep an excellent one with a proper DAC. Most budget and midrange Android phones still ship one.
eSIM & dual SIM
eSIM is a virtual SIM card you activate via QR code. MTN, Airtel and Glo now support eSIM in Nigeria, though dual physical SIM is still common and convenient.
USB-C vs Lightning
USB-C is the universal Android (and iPhone 15+) charging port. Lightning is Apple’s older port. If you already own cables, factor that in.
USB version · transfer speed
The connector tells you which cable to use; the version tells you how fast it moves data. USB 2.0 tops out around 480Mbps — fine for charging, slow and painful for shifting a big video or backing up your phone. USB 3.0/3.1/3.2 run 5–20× faster and can output to a screen over the same cable. USB4 is faster still.
It hides in plain sight: the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro share the exact same USB-C port, but the regular 15 is USB 2.0 while the Pro is USB 3 — a 20× gap in transfer speed. Plenty of Android phones cut the same corner to save cost, so the number is worth checking if you move large files.
USB OTG · plug things in
Turns the charging port into a host: plug in a pendrive to move files without data or a laptop, attach a keyboard, mouse or game controller, or top up another phone in a pinch. Most Android phones support OTG, but some budget models quietly skip it — worth checking if you move files by flash drive.
Video out · phone to monitor
Most phones charge and move data over USB and stop there. A few can also push video out of the same port — over DisplayPort, MHL or SlimPort — so a single USB-C-to-HDMI cable puts the phone on a monitor or TV. Some go further with a desktop-style mode (Samsung DeX, Motorola Ready For) for light work on a big screen.
It is uncommon — roughly 1 in 25 phones — so if you want to plug into a screen for presentations, films or work, check for it specifically.
Thunderbolt · the fast lane
The top tier of USB-C. Up to 40Gbps — roughly 8× a typical USB 3.2 port — and enough bandwidth to run an external monitor (or two) and even a desktop GPU off one cable. It is extremely rare on phones; when you see it, you are looking at a premium device built to double as a light computer.
Charging-only port · the catch
On most phones the USB port both charges and moves data. A small number of very basic models wire it for power only — so you can’t copy files to a laptop, plug in a flash drive (OTG), or use it for anything but charging. If you move files by cable, avoid these.
Accessory & magnetic connectors
Some phones add a second, proprietary connector — exposed metal pins or a magnetic pad — next to the USB port. It powers docks, keyboard cases and desktop modes, or lets a rugged phone charge magnetically while staying sealed against dust and water. Useful only with that maker’s own accessories, so it is a bonus rather than a must-have.
The years the phone keeps working.
A phone is good hardware plus software updates. When the updates stop, the phone starts becoming a security risk.
Update policy
Two clocks. The OS clock tracks new Android or iOS versions. The security patch clock tracks monthly fixes for known vulnerabilities. Both stop one day. The day the security clock stops, your bank app starts warning you.
Counted from the phone’s launch date, not your purchase date.
Android 13, 14, 15
The numbered Android release. Each version adds polish, privacy controls, and the occasional new feature. Two-year-old Android is fine. Five-year-old starts to creak.
Skins · HiOS, XOS, One UI, MIUI
Each brand rebrands Android with its own look and pre-installed apps. Samsung’s One UI is the polished one. HiOS and XOS tend to bundle bloatware and notification spam.
Security patch level
The date of the last security update the phone received. Anything older than 6 months on a used phone usually means the brand stopped updating it.
Bloatware
Pre-installed apps you didn’t ask for. The cheaper the phone, the more there usually is. Budget for an hour of cleanup.
The part nobody puts in the spec sheet.
When "same phone" isn't the same phone
The same model name often hides two or three different phones. Samsung sells its flagships with one chip in Europe and Nigeria, a different chip in the US and China. Many midrange Androids ship a 4G version and a 5G version under one name. Some phones swap screens, cameras, or batteries by region.
The label is the same. The phone underneath isn’t. Performance, battery life, camera quality, and resale value can all shift between variants.
Samsung Galaxy S series: Exynos here, Snapdragon abroad.
Same name, two SKUs. Some Tecno and Galaxy A models.
Buying used? What wears out
A spec sheet describes the phone that left the factory. A used phone is that phone minus a year or three of wear — and the parts that wear most are the ones you can’t see in a listing.
You can see scratches and haggle the price down. Battery health and water resistance you can’t — they fade with every charge cycle and every hot afternoon, and no photo shows it. Those are the ones that decide whether you actually got a deal.
The two you can’t see — battery and seals — cost the most.
SIM lock · network lock
A SIM lock means the phone is tied to one carrier. It can look clean, charge well, pass an IMEI check, and still refuse your own SIM. This shows up more often with imported phones, especially iPhones and US carrier models.
Do the simple test before you pay: insert your own MTN, Airtel, Glo or 9mobile SIM, make a call, and turn on mobile data. If the seller says "we can unlock it later", price it like a problem, not a promise.
"UK Used", "Naija Used", "Refurbished"
Marketplace slang. UK Used means imported, often in good condition. Naija Used means local secondhand, often more wear. Refurbished can mean anything from factory-checked to "we replaced the screen with a knockoff." Always ask which.
IMEI checks
Every phone has a unique 15-digit IMEI. Dial *#06# to see it. Cross-check it against our database before you pay — stolen phones and clones both show up there.
Tell us what’s missing.
We add terms as readers ask. If a spec stopped you in your tracks, write it down. We’ll explain it next.