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The important things to consider before buying a smartphone

Smartphones are very expensive, even when purchased under a subsidized contract from your phone company. The choice you make is very important. You can’t easily change it later.

Most phone contracts are for 24 months, which means the phone must be paid for during that time, in addition to any charges you receive for using it. The phone company, and indeed phone manufacturers as well, expect a phone to be used for about two years before replacing it. Only two years? Some contracts allow phone replacement (exchange for a new phone) every 12 months! Why would anyone even consider this?

The technology used in smartphones (camera, processor, screen quality, construction, etc.) is changing rapidly. You could put off buying a phone, always waiting for the NEXT biggest device ever to arrive. But, you have to make a choice. So here are some tips.

First of all, your choice of phone may be limited by your mobile provider. In some countries, the phone company may use radio spectrum that is only compatible with a small range of phones. So you should check if this applies to you. In the US, for example, not all phones work with all carriers or in all cities. If you want to change carriers, you may also need to change your phone. In the UK all smartphones work with all carriers on 3G, but the newer 4G LTE networks are VERY selective. And phones on the US 4G network will not work on the UK 4G network.

Second, you need to decide which phone operating system you prefer. This is largely down to your personal choice, which can be helped by visiting a phone store and trying out multiple phones, or reading reviews of multiple phones. The main options are: Apple iOS, Android, Windows Phone 8 and Blackberry. Generally speaking, you can move your contacts and other data from one iOS phone to another, from one Android phone to another, and so on. Moving between operating systems is much more difficult. And you’ll do this every two years, so it’s not trivial. You want to know that your favorite manufacturer will still be around in two years! The functionality of iOS and Android is more or less the same.

There are two main market leaders in the world of smartphones: Apple and Samsung. Users love the way Apple’s iPhone works and how it integrates so well with the Apple way of doing things.

Samsung is the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. It uses the Android operating system on its phones, as do many other manufacturers, but it is the most successful of the Android phone manufacturers. Samsung makes a range of devices (currently under the Galaxy name) such as the Galaxy S4 and the Galaxy Mega 5.8.

My recommendation is to buy an iPhone or an Android phone, probably a Samsung. Windows Phone 8 and Blackberry are far behind in the market and may not have much of a future.

You should also consider what size phone is best for you. What do I mean by size? In a nutshell, it has to do with the dimensions of the screen. The Apple iPhone 5S measures approximately four inches from corner to corner. The Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 is about 6.3 inches in size (check the name!) The bigger the screen, the bigger the phone and the tougher it can get. If you plan to use the smartphone a lot, you should be comfortable with its size. Try the one that interests you. Does it fit in your hand? Can you easily make calls with it? Are you comfortable holding it for long periods? Does it fit in your pocket or bag?

So for a “regular” phone, you can choose an iPhone or a Galaxy S4. If you want a bigger screen, you might want to check out the bigger screen Samsung phones, as Apple doesn’t make the bigger ones.

Just one last point. All smartphones need continuous access to the Internet, either through phone service or via Wi-Fi. You need to make sure your phone contract provides bandwidth to allow this, or regularly use your smartphone near WiFi hotspots.

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