How To Choose a Great Camera Phone

Internet access, better color resolution, improved sound quality, multi media messaging (MMS), zoom in/out, video recording capabilities (short clips, no movies), speaker phones, FM radio, MP3 players … and all the other capabilities you associate with great cell phones.

Every major cell phone manufacturer has a camera phone on the market. While some manufacturers say their camera phones are the latest and greatest, all camera phones have limitations when compared to regular cameras. If you have dreams of taking pictures on the fly and sending them over to Grandma's house, compare, compare, and then compare features again before you purchase your camera phone.

Picture Quality
Pictures on camera phones can be fuzzy, garbled or weird. Camera phones don’t have the same capacity for clarity and space as your average Digital Camera. Check the specs on your phone to see resolution. On newer models, 640 X 480 pixels is the norm. In contrast, Digital Cameras are rated according to millions of pixels. Make sure you have enough space to store a few pictures. You should know how many pictures you can keep on your phone at any one time. Usually, around 30 small pictures are possible.

Charge
In the cell phone industry, every new feature seems to have a new charge. Be aware of the amount of time it takes to send a picture from your phone. Check your service agreement to see if the time it takes to send a picture via the web will be deducted from your minutes, or if a monthly fee is required to send pictures from your camera phone. Under the best plans, you pay a monthly fee to send unlimited amounts of pictures.

Lighting
Take pictures where there is lots of light. Some of the newer models have a built in flash and this makes a tremendous difference in the quality of the pictures.

Compatibility
Your camera phone must be compatible with your network. Check with your service provider if you are in the market for a new phone. If you are purchasing a camera phone with a cell phone plan, the web retailer should have some kind of comparison chart to show you which phones are recommended or supported by your network. Look for MMS capability. Multimedia Messaging is required to send photos out and to receive them from other cell phones.

Batteries
Flashes can suck the life out of your cell phone battery. The longer the talk time on your cell phone, the better it will be able to stand up to all of your camera phone extras.

To get the best value on a camera phone, purchase a brand that is known for having the best cell phones. If a company spent their time and research efforts on producing an excellent phone, they will do the same when it comes to making camera phones. As with other electronics, you get higher quality, better sound and better pictures as the price goes up.

However, great deals on camera phones can be found on the web. Know the facts about the capabilities of camera phones, decide how much you want spend and shop around. If you’re on a budget, you can get a camera phone in the $50 to $150 price range if the phone is purchased with a service plan.