Guide to Buying a Smartphone Part II

By HASNAIN ZAHEER

In the previous issue of this update series of personal gadget buying guides, we checked out what features to look for in a smartphone. We especially checked out the new but quickly growing operating systems - iPhone OS and the open source Android. In this issue, let’s explore the smartphones available in the market. However, as these phones need to have a data usage plan in addition to a mobile connection plan, I have also listed out the combination of phones and mobile data plans.

iPhone for beginners

If you are fascinated by iPhone, its good looks, simplicity and the great range of applications, you are not alone. And the good news is it’s not too expensive. If you remain indoors and within range of a wireless Internet connection most of the time, perhaps in a deskbound job, and need your iPhone to perform its miracles rarely, you need just enough data transfer to send a few e-mails or browse the Web when you are out of home or office perhaps on a weekend. iPhone is available with 8, 16 and 32 GB of internal memory. You can sign up for a 24-month contract for $39 to $49 per month. At this range of monthly cost, an iPhone 8GB will come at no upfront cost to $5 per month. iPhones with higher internal memory will cost $5 to $10 extra per month. Note that data usage will be limited to 100 to 150 MB per month and higher usage will be charged. So, buy this type of plan if you fit the description of a beginner, non-regular user.

iPhone for outdoor professionals

Depending on your outdoor usage, plans from $79 to $110 will not only get you your iPhone of 32GB, which is top of the range, for no upfront cost to $5 extra for phone but also let you use your phone for a whopping amount of mobile phone calls and data usage of at least 1GB. Sales people who work outside their office may be ideal customers for this range of usage.

Blackberry Bold for business professionals

Blackberry Bold 9000 represents the ultimate for a busy executive who does substantial work in transit, waiting at airport lounges and requires a quick and productive device. With its full keypad, wireless e-mail, organiser and other business applications, it can add instant productivity. At a little extra budget though, about $69 per month, you can purchase a 24-month contract that will get you Blackberry Bold 9000 at no extra cost. It includes sufficient data usage, a couple of hours of usage per day, for a fairly busy businessman. You may not like to know that you are paying almost $17 to $20 for the phone, as this plan with a cheaper phone may cost that much less. Blackberry 9700, the slim younger cousin of the 9000, has also arrived but is a bit too expensive at this stage. On the other hand, the slightly poorer cousin Blackberry Curve can be had for $29 per month plan for 24 months but you need to spend extra for data usage. With a full keyboard, good battery life for talk time, wifi and Bluetooth, Blackberry Curve 8200 can be a good introduction to a rich mobile phone with all the basic mobile productivity enhancing features at a low price.

A smartphone for the entertainment enthusiast

Samsung HD Icon lets you watch great video and listen to music with support to a variety of multimedia file types, plus 8GB of internal storage, good pixel resolution, video calls, GPS and all the regular features. However, be ready to pay at least $30 for the phone per month.

In general, ignoring your phone calls usage and assuming a contract length of 24 months, a beginner may have to spend around $49 per month at low data usage and anywhere from $79 to $100 for advanced usage with a well-endowed phone and data usage of more than 2-3 GB.

Remember that it is easy to upgrade but hard to transfer to a lower value plan once you have signed a contract.

There are several online resources that can help you compare smartphones and plans. A few of these are SMH Digital Life at http://mobile-phones. smh.com.au, CNET Mobile phones at http://www.cnet.com. au/mobilephones/ smartphones/ and Whirlpool forums at http://forums. whirlpool.net.au where you can ask any questions to a huge pool of enthusiasts.

With the holidays approaching, are you considering giving a smartphone as a gift? I would not recommend it, because as we discussed, each user’s requirements are different and they should choose their own phone that has the right features for them and the right plan for calls and data usage. You might end up with a mismatch between the phone and the person, if you are not careful.