Choosing a Smartphone

So, you have decided it buy your self a new Smartphone.  Congratulations!  You may find that this is a daunting task so here are some tips on choosing a Smartphone. This will help you to understand the huge amount of information which is available and to help make your choice a lot simpler. Before starting, though, you might like to ask yourself just what is a Smartphone anyway? Well, you can expect such a device to include features such as a normal mobile phone, internet access, a personal organizer, e-mail access, text messaging, video, and much more.

Here are the top eight tips for choosing a Smartphone;

1. Firstly, ask yourself the question how am I going to use the phone?  You may want to use it purely for social purposes or for business.  You will want a good suite of social networking applications if it's the former and a suite of office software if it's the latter. 

2. Consider how much you are going to use the phone and how often that you are going to be able to charge it.  Finding out how long the battery will last is still a crucial point. It sounds like a very basic issue but it is still one to bear in mind early on in your decision.  It might be great to think of all those high-tech features which are attracting you but they will be of no use if your battery keeps going flat.

3. Do you prefer to use a pointing device or are you insistent on using a QWERTY keyboard? Make your choice accordingly.

4. Go and have a play with a few models.  Concentrate on looking at how the menus and navigation system works on each model.  Avoid looking at all of the wonderful applications because you want to be able to feel comfortable when you are using the device.  Then you can go on to consider technological matters.

5.  Are you able to carry out multitasking?  Again, this will depend on how you intend to use your new phone.  Make sure that your new device can handle several functions at once if you are likely to use it for different purposes at the same time.  It can be very annoying to have to keep closing programs down otherwise. 

6.  A really top tip is to check how the screen reacts when you are outdoors.  You want to make sure that you can always read it even if you are in bright sunshine.

7. There are many functions that you may wish to consider including on your new purchase.  These include the ability to make video, send text messages, surf the Internet via your laptop using a USB connection or similar and even if you wish to use the device as a GPS map.  It is a great idea to make a note of all the functions which you consider essential and the ones which are a luxury.  You will have to make choices unless your budget is pretty much unlimited.

8. Many people use of their device as a camera on a regular basis.  It may be tempting to look at the technological aspects of the camera function but the best test is to look at a photograph which you have taken and see how it looks on screen.  You could also ask for a printout to see if it is sufficient for your needs.  Also, you may want to consider a flash if you are going to use the camera frequently.

The majority of mobile phones include a good quality MP3 player as a standard.  It can be worthwhile to buy your self a quality headset to make the most of this function rather than including the earphones which come packed with the device.  You can also get external speakers so that you can use it around the home or office.  Bare these points in mind when choosing a Smartphone and they should help you to make the best choice possible.