Agnivo Roy

Smartphones are getting really common and mainstream these days with lots of functionality and bells and whistles integrated into them. Whether any or all of these features are of any use is debatable and is relative to the tastes and requirements of the user. But in this year 2007 we will see increased demand and use of the intelligent, sleek and stylish mobile phones or smart-phones with built-in multimedia capabilities.

Most people are not sure what a “smartphone” means. Many relate them to the having business features or business class phones, which is partially true. In general, a smartphone is a portable electronic device which is capable of offering near-computer application experience with reasonable speed and simplicity, integrated multimedia (and imaging), good storage, wide choice of data communication modes, expandable nature in terms of applications, features ( the intelligence factor; hence the word ’smart’ ) and yes, it should also make and receive calls and text messages! So, smart phones are basic mobile phones at heart and modern hi-end multimedia gizmos on the outside.

While choosing a smartphone, don’t decide to buy a specific phone just by the value of its brand. You should make a list of features you plan to have or need, budget and other considerations. Then you should compare the different modes which match your criteria, read user reviews and feedback, find their prices and know about its reliability. The one with best features within your budget offering great value for money should be the ideal choice. Phone design is also a factor, so count it in if you like to.

The following points should be considered before selecting a smartphone and making an informed buying decision.

OS : The version and nature of operating system for your cellphone is vital. Symbian series60v3 is more feature rich and efficient than the predecessors. Windows Mobile, PalmOS, Linux, UIQ etc. are also there…but I’d recommend Symbian platform as it’s more power-efficient, runs on low RAM and CPU and has extensive choice of 3rd. party applications too. Windows mobile smartphones are generally bulkier (brick ?) and suited mainly for business class purposes.

Multimedia : Smartphones as they are known, boast of their features like built in music player, video player, image viewers and support for different audio and video codecs. Look for the number of different codecs supported, quality of playback, camera sensor and image reproduction quality and resolution. The phone should be fast enough while working with audio and video applications. Decent gallery and media browser should be there to make filing and browsing media files easy.

Screen Resolution : People love the large screens the smartphones offers in comparison to the normal cellphones. Smartphone screens are bigger (VGA/QVGA/etc.) with very good picture quality. Always check the overall picture quality, crispness, number of colors supported (usually 262K) and resolution of the TFT-LCD. Good quality (VGA) screens make watching movies, surfing the net and playing high resolution games on your mobile an enjoyable experience.

Storage and Communication : The smartphones are enhanced versions of normal mobile phones in terms of storage. Check how much built-in or internal memory they have, types of expansion slots for external memory and their maximum limits. Some cool phones like my Nokia N91 even has a 4GB micro hard disk! Check if memory cards the cellphone model uses are cheap and widely available.

Find out which data communication standards they comply with. Bluetooth is common and infrared is slowly vanishing. WiFi support is hot and available on the newer and advanced models. Also, GPRS and EDGE support is quite common with 3G WCDMA near-broadband speeds over the air now becoming mainstream. Some phones like the Nokia N95 comes bundled with satellite navigation system for GPS navigation purposes.

Design, Performance and Value for Money : Overall design and ergonomics are also factors that count. Some smart phones like the Blackberrys come with full QWERTY keypad while others may come with wireless portable keyboards or a stylus.

The overall performance of the device also depends on the type and power of the CPU, firmware and OS. So, be careful to dig into the technical details of the device if you want a blazing fast smartphone; but that comes at the cost of battery life. Battery life is one of the black areas of smartphones. Most mobiles are unable to take high usage for longer periods and requires to be charged every single day.

Last but not the least, value for money (performance rating/cost rating) is one of the most important factors for a person looking for the best smartphone deal.

I hope the above tips would be helpful while selecting a smartphone which suits you best. Feel free to comment below and share or add your tips so that other end users like ourselves can make an informed buying decision.