1000 Phones To Choose From - Where Do You Start?

It is easy to become confused by all the jargon and techno-talk around mobile phones. There is so much technical information around the weight, pixel density, talk time, processing speeds, RAM, and much more, that it can be difficult to know what actually makes up a good phone.

In addition, specifications don’t always make a good phone; it is the usability and performance that generates a good user experience. And so it can become even more frustrating.

What is the Best Mobile Phone?

This brief guide will look at three very different categories of phones: smartphones, feature phones, and basic phones.

Smartphones

Those looking to surf the Internet and to be at the cutting edge of technology will opt for smart phones. 45% of the phones sold around the world nowadays are smart phones, according to figures released about 2012. Types of phones that fit into this category are iPhones, Samsung Galaxy series, Google Nexus, and so on.

These are phones that have feature-rich operating systems that facilitate multitasking and many activities outside just taking calls, making calls, and sending texts. For example, you can now synchronize your email with your phone so that it automatically downloads, browse the Web, watch YouTube, organise your life with personal organisers, and can even play quite sophisticated games.

Alongside this, it’s possible to download applications on the operating systems and turn your phone into a mini computer. Normally, smartphones come with either touchscreen, or a physical QWERTY keyboard and some have a combination of both.

This is quite distinct from old traditional phones. Touchscreen phones have become all the rave nowadays, although a significant minority still enjoy having a QWERTY keyboard.

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Feature Phones

Feature phones don’t provide as much functionality but they do have additional features above the possibility just to phone, text, and receive voice mail. Feature phones will include an MP3 player or a camera, and sometimes, both of these.

If you love your music, then you will want a 3.5mm headphone jack and perhaps, built-in speakers to enable you to play music out loud on your phone. Obviously, when you’re thinking of playing music, you have to consider the memory options on the phone, and so a microSD port, which provides the possibility to add additional storage to your phone, will enable you to get enough music on the phone to make it interesting.

When looking at feature phones, the camera quality varies markedly.It’s not enough to just pick any feature phone with a camera. If you are serious about photography, then look at the number of megapixels, and the quality of photos. Phones without a flash camera will really struggle in poor light conditions. And if you are in the UK, then this is most of the time.

It certainly is wise to consider a phone with a decent flash. Other features to look for are autofocus, shake reduction, and low light capability. With these features included you’ll be able to get better pictures on your feature phone.

Basic Phones

If all you really want to do is make calls, send text messages, receive calls, and pick up voice mail, there are many, many handsets available to suit your needs. Nokia and Samsung are superb at meeting this market. They are the two largest vendors of mobile phones in the world and build robust phones with excellent battery life.

For example, the Nokia 1100 sold over 250 million handsets. As a basic offering, it has been the most popular mobile phone in the world. It is simple, but does the job well. Two other phones that provide basic operation in a very nice finish phone are Samsung SGHD500 and Nokia’s 6210 Classic.

Those looking to travel abroad with their phones should consider tri or quad band phones so they can pick up local networks. Triband phones will be usable in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Quadband will work in the United States of America.

  Phil Turner

About the Guest Author:

Friends often ask Phil Turner, “What is the best mobile phone?” Unfortunately there is no simple answer to this simple question.