The moment you grab the news paper in the morning, you are welcomed with full paged adverts of exciting offers on the latest and the greatest smartphone. The deals are so enticing that you would just want to login to you favorite online store and order one immediately. I am no stranger to this situation.
I already own a Samsung Galaxy Note from the last 18 months. I have now started feeling the need for a phone refresh. Yes, that’s a suave way of saying i want to chuck my existing expensive, not-so-old phone, for some clumsy reason. I am not proud of that though.
Well, at last some good sense had to prevail. I started figuring out what I actually need. One lesson I have learnt from my past experiences is that you can never win the race of the gadgets. At any point of time, you are outdated, especially in India. Samsung Galaxy S4 – Google play edition, for example is not available in India, yet! And before you buy a gadget, you need to do your homework and figure out exactly what features you want, which of them are important and relevant to you.
I am sure, each of you have your own must have’s, but here is mine.
Most Important things for me in a phone:
- Internet Connectivity (at least 3G). I have seen my colleagues live happily without 24/7 Internet connectivity on their phone, but I feel limited without it
- Operating System – I am not proud about it, but my smart phone experience revolves around Google. Contacts, Emails, Drive, Apps, Books. It is scary to have so much reliant on Google. Same holds good for the other Eco-systems as well. But try switching between them, its a nightmare.
- Suddenly the SAR value seems to be of high importance to me. I was so impressed with the HTC One that I almost ordered it, but then the fact that it had a higher SAR value as compared to a S4 stopped me from doing it. I don’t have any tangible information to believe that this will make a difference.
- Form Factor: After using Note, I have started feeling the need for a simple, small phone. Life was simple. Look at my dad’s phone – Nokia 206. Its very handy.
- Wifi Hot spot: Imagine having a small Nokia phone with 3G and WiFi Hotspot supported.It gives you the edge of having connectivity on your WiFi only devices.
- Ease of Use- Note takes at least 20-25 seconds to unlock the phone, load contacts, search contacts and select the right number (among mobile, land, office) and then dial. Imagine the ease of dialling in a basic phone?
What I am not specific about is also important
- High definition video
- Touch screen
- Dual Sim
- High Res Camera
- Screen Size
Now, when I go with this list, I clearly know what I want and although it is not an easy task from here to zero down on the phone, at least I wont end up buying something that is overloaded with features that are not important to me.
Anyways, do share what is the most important aspects that you look forward in a phone. Would love to see your comments.