how to choose the right smartphone – 5 tips
Smartphones are supposed to make our lives easier. With the right phone, you can manage email and notifications, get directions, track your exercise and diet, shop, share messages with friends, listen to music and watch movies. So why is finding the right phone so complicated? Today we will seek to make it easier for you by telling you how to choose the right smartphone.
Many people feel stupid when choosing a smartphone.
- Which platform is better, Android or iPhone?
- How can you find the best deal on the phone you want when not all phone carriers sell or service all models?
- How can you avoid paying for minutes or data plans you don’t use?
- How to avoid excessive debt?
- Which phones have features worth skipping and which features are must-haves?
- Are you always looking for a smartphone or mobile phone?
some tips on how to choose the right smartphone
Smartphones are not cheap (and not the features they sometimes demand), so take the time to do a little research first and find out exactly what you want, need, and can do without, is worth it.
We’ll show you how to narrow down your options, find the phone, carrier and plan that’s right for you, so you’ll end up with the right phone — and maybe even more money in your pocket. With these five tips for choosing the right phone, you’ll leave the phone store with the right phone feeling pretty…well, smart.
1: Make sure you really need the phone
It sounds like a pretty silly statement, but the first step in choosing the right phone is to make sure you really want it. Smartphones are expensive, so they need insurance plans.
It’s easy to use more data than your plan allows and wind up with expensive overage charges. Even if you don’t go over, you can end up paying for the data plan you’re already managing.
So how do you know if you want fame?
Check how your phone is currently being used. You probably only use your phone for talking and texting occasionally. If you already have a GPS system and an MP3 player, you can get by with a phone that doesn’t provide music or directions.
You may not want to have email on your phone.
Having a phone often means instant access to work email, social media, and the web. Not everyone wants to be well put together.
On the other hand, think about how you would like to use your phone. If you hate missing out on new tweets, updates from your friends, and news, then this phone is perfect for you.
If your job requires you to be connected all the time, to provide instant responses to emails and questions, a smartphone makes sense.
You may already have an MP3 player and a GPS, but having all these features in one convenient device can make life easier and less confusing.
Finally, if your lifestyle includes long journeys and public transport or you often have downtime when you are not in public, a smartphone can help pass the time.
2: Find the right make
Phone companies are almost as complicated as the phones they offer. They each have different features, work with different phone manufacturers, and have different levels of service and coverage.
You need to decide if you are willing to pay as you go with your smartphone or if you want to be tied to a contract. Having a contract can save you money, but it means sticking with the phone company for years.
If you choose the wrong company or plan and sign a contract, you’re stuck.
To find the right phone company, check the company with the best coverage where you live. Having a good phone is pointless if you can’t connect to the web or drop calls all the time.
Check the coverage map on each mobile operator’s website. In addition to making sure that your area has good coverage, make sure that the network you want is available in your area.
Smart phones work well with fast 3G and 4G networks. If you only have a slow network in your area, you’ll need to find another carrier to get the most out of your phone.
You should make sure that you have good coverage in areas where you travel frequently. Also check customer reviews of coverage offered by different networks in your area.
The phone company may have a network where you live, but good operators are the ones who will let you know how strong the signal is if a call drops. If a carrier seems to have great coverage in your area but good customers say otherwise, take your business elsewhere.
You’ll also want to compare the different prices and packages offered by carriers in your area. Finding the best combination of price and features is important to our next recommendation. Keep reading to find out what it is.
3: Plan your budget
When deciding how much to spend on a smartphone, there are two costs to consider: the price of the phone and the price of the plan. The cost of a phone is a one-time expense.
Phone companies also have a lot of promotions and discounts, so the phone you want may be cheaper than you think. In some cases, if you subscribe to a certain package, the phone is free.
Before committing to a certain phone, make sure that its price fits your budget.
In most cases, your phone plan will cost more than your phone.
Let’s say you must have a phone and you’re fine paying $600 without a discount. Plans for this phone can last for two years, at more than $100 per month.
You can end up paying four times more for this plan than for the phone.
Before you spend all that money every month, think about how you want to use your phone. If you plan to use it mostly for talking and texting, with little email or web browsing, see if you can find a plan with less data.
If you’re always online and want to download apps, games and movies, you’ll need more data.
Other aspects of the plan to consider include whether unused data, texts, and minutes roll over from month to month, or what the penalty is for breaking the contract.
If, for example, you leave your carrier’s coverage area, you don’t want to pay hundreds of dollars just to cancel your contract.
4: Find the right operating system
For most people, choosing the right phone comes down to choosing the right operating system. A smartphone’s operating system is the platform it uses to run various programs. While they can all connect you to the web, email, phone calls, and texts, each has its own strengths and weaknesses.
Four of the most popular operating systems for smartphones today are:
- Apple’s iOS, which runs iPhones,
- Google’s Android system,
- Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, and
- Research in Motion’s Blackberry operating system.
Unless you are a techie, you may not notice any difference in how these systems work. What you will notice, however, is that there are different programs and applications on different platforms.
If you plan to use a lot of apps on your phone, you might want to avoid having a Blackberry.
The Blackberry operating system is great for email and web browsing, but it doesn’t have as many apps as other browsers.
If you need a lot of apps, the iPhone is your best bet. Apple’s app store is the largest in the world. The downside of Apple OS is that it is only available on Apple iPhones.
Android phones are quickly catching up to Apple when it comes to apps, and the Android operating system is available in a variety of phones, making it easy to find the right one for your lifestyle.
Windows Phone is good to have if you plan to do a lot of work on your phone.
Since it runs the mobile version of Windows, which you may already be using on your computer, it can let you view and work on documents and documents right on your phone.
5: Take your time
Once you’ve decided on your phone budget, operating system, carrier and plan, there’s one more thing to do: choose a phone. Take your time with this.
You can stop owning a phone for two years, take it with you everywhere and use it more than any other device. You need to make sure that the right phone is suitable for your lifestyle.
Find out all the user-friendly phones you’ll use in your price range and the operating system you need. Think about the activities you plan to use your phone for and try them on the demo phone in the store.
Check if it looks good on the keyboard and is easy to switch between apps. If the phone has a trackball or touch screen, see if it’s easy to use or if you’re constantly hitting something wrong.
Make sure the phone fits comfortably in your hand, and in your pocket or purse. Also, make sure you like the look of the phone – always, it will always be your favorite. Put the phone to your ear and make sure it’s comfortable.
If you know someone who has a phone you’re interested in, ask them. Also read user reviews online to see if the phone has any issues such as overheating when used for a long time or breaking easily.
Follow these tips and your next phone won’t just be smart, it’ll be smart.