Considering a smartphone – a dialogue with John

John asked me, “What smartphone would you recommend?”

A smartphone is a complex purchase. You will likely have to keep the instrument for 2+ years, so you really should like it. Some of the major questions are:

• How much does the phone and monthly plan cost?
• Which data plan is right for you?
• Are you the only one on the plan or are you part of a family plan?
• How will you use it?
  • Voice+text/email
  • Voice+text/email+Internet
  • Voice+text/email+Internet+apps
  • Voice+text/email+Internet+apps+video…
• How good is the camera?
• If you plan on video chatting, does it have a front facing camera?
• Where will you use it? USA only or overseas?
• How good is the carrier’s coverage where you use it?
• How fast is the phone?
• How often will you have to recharge it?
• Is the battery replaceable or sealed in the phone?
• Do you want apps? If so do you know which ones?
• Can you type on a virtual keyboard or do you need a physical keyboard?
• How good is the camera?
• How good is the screen?
• How much storage do you need?
• How much is the ETF?

Below is the email exchange wherein I tried to help John navigate this tangle of trying to match needs and wants with features and availability:

Marianne mentioned you wanted my thoughts on a new cellphone. I am still on the fence, waiting for real world experience and information on the iPhone 4, at a minimum. I am probably going with either an iPhone 4 or an Android-based phone. We currently use AT&T so switching to an iPhone is not too difficult. If I switch to an Android smartphone we are probably moving to T-Mobile.

Questions for you:
Who is your current cell carrier?
Do you want to stay with them?
What do you want to use your phone to do—Voice, voice+email, or voice+email+Internet+apps?

Richard

Questions for you:
Who is your current cell carrier? ATT
Do you want to stay with them? Depends on coverage and overseas coverage
What do you want to use your phone to do—Voice, voice+email, or voice+email+Internet+apps? Voice+ internet+ apps+ photos… no video

Thanks…. john

Overseas coverage implies that GSM-based phones are your best bet. That means AT&T or T-Mobile, since Verizon and Sprint are CDMA-based. Verizon and Sprint sell a couple of “worldphones” that work on CDMA and GSM but the choices are too limited in my opinion to recommend them.

CDMA is used in the US, S. Korea and some parts of China and almost nowhere else [some other areas in Asia but GSM dominates worldwide]. Furthermore, CDMA phones are locked at the factory to specific carriers, while GSM phones can be unlocked and then attached to local carriers while you are traveling, simply by changing the SIM chip.

Since you are already an AT&T customer, the new iPhone 4 may be a good choice. The biggest issue that I foresee, based upon what I know now, is it uses a micro-SIM, while every other GSM phone in the world uses a mini-SIM chip. I assume there will be a way to deal with this in the not too distant future. The camera is good, 5 mega-pixels. The screen gets great reviews from people who have actually seen it. It has the highest resolution of any smartphone today. Most iPhone users are satisfied, once they adjusted to the on-screen keyboard and dealing with battery life issues.

The new iPhone 4′s battery life is supposed to be better than earlier models but we don’t know how much better yet. Earlier models rarely made it through the entire day without need of recharging unless you only kept them on standby. Since the battery is sealed in an iPhone many people resorted to buying external batteries, often formed into cases for the iPhone, in order to extend use to make it through the day. If the iPhone 4′s battery life is like the iPad, then WOW! It is probably not that robust.

Earlier iPhone models have a reputation and history of less than stellar voice capability. The sound is okay but for some reason the iPhone 3GS and earlier models drop phone calls with some regularity. AT&T got blamed but it was the phone not the carrier. Too early to know if this issue has been fixed in the new model.

AT&T’s other full-screen smartphone choices are limited and I have a hard time recommending any of them.

BlackBerry (BB) makes nice smartphones if you primarily want to use your phone for texting, email and voice calls. Although you can surf the Internet on a BB, the screen is small by comparison to an iPhone and the experience is not very good. BB battery life goes from great (my older Curve 8310) to okay on newer models. I don’t know much about the cameras (mine is poor) but I imagine the newer ones have better cameras. AT&T sells the BB Bold 9700, which gets good reviews. It has a 3.2 megapixel camera. Battery life is not quite as good as the Curve 8310 but people say they can get through the whole day without needing to recharge.

Hope this helps.

Richard