Tips on picking the best cell phone
1. Test reception before you buy As any iPhone owner will tell you, even the coolest cell phone on the planet won’t do you much good if you can’t get a signal. While you can check a coverage map to see if your home is located in a given carrier’s coverage area, there’s still a […]
1. Test reception before you buy
As any iPhone owner will tell you, even the coolest cell phone on the planet won’t do you much good if you can’t get a signal. While you can check a coverage map to see if your home is located in a given carrier’s coverage area, there’s still a chance that your phone’s signal display will flat-line the moment you step into your living room. The solution? Test some actual phones from different carriers in your house. No, your local carrier won’t give you a loaner to try, but you could always ask your friends — hey, you could even have a cell phone party, with the top prize going to the pal whose handset gets the best signal under your roof.
2. Smartphone, or feature phone?
Know the different between a smartphone — think the iPhone, or other advanced handsets like Android phones and BlackBerrys — and a more basic handset (also known as “feature phones”) before you buy.
Generally speaking, a smartphone is like a pocket-size computer, good for sending email, browsing the Web, running apps, and playing 3D games; they even make phone calls, too. Nice, but all those data-hungry features don’t come cheap.
Feature phones, on the other hand, are far more basic. Typically, they’re all about voice calling, as well as sending and receiving text messages. Some feature phones also have MP3 players, bare-bones Web browsers and email, while others even have some limited, “locked-down” apps from the carrier. Keep in mind, however, that the more email you send or Web pages you browse, the more you’ll have to pay in data charges — even on a basic cell phone.
3. Size matters
Used to be that the hottest new cell phones were also the smallest. (Remember the Motorola StarTac?) Nowadays, however, the coolest handsets are getting bigger and bigger. Witness the HTC Evo 4G and the Motorola Droid X, two red-hot Android devices from this past summer, both of which sport massive 4.3-inch displays.
There’s nothing like a big screen when it comes to surfing the Web or watching a mobile video, but those jumbo displays also mean extra bulk; don’t expect the Evo 4G or the Droid X to slip in your pocket without making a noticeable bulge.
4. To QWERTY or not to QWERTY?
Probably the biggest decision that smartphone shoppers will have to make (that is, besides iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, or Windows Phone) is whether to go all-touchscreen, all-the-time, or snag a handset with an actual QWERTY keypad.
Smartphones with “virtual,” on-screen QWERTYs tend to be thinner and lighter than their keypad-packing counterparts, and they’re great for firing off messages without having to futz with a slide-out QWERTY tray. But many users — particularly BlackBerry veterans — prefer real QWERTY keypads they can actually feel with their fingertips.
If you do decide to go with a handset that has an actual QWERTY keyboard, make sure to try before you buy. Slide-out QWERTY keypads tend to have larger keys than those on candy-bar style devices, but they’re also bulkier overall. Handsets with their QWERTYs in plain view, below the screen, tend to be smaller and thinner, but the keys can be maddeningly small. Be sure to test-drive both styles, and choose wisely.
TechGeek.com