Choosing a New Phone
I belong to a networking organization called Harvard Startups. A guy recently wrote to the group asking for suggestions on which phone to get and which wireless operator was best. Since I work for a mobile software startup and get to play with a bunch of cool and exotic phones all the time, I wrote back offering these suggestions. This is what I tell my friends when they ask me for advice, as well.
Requirements: The fellow who wrote the request for information is a businessman who needs integration with email, calendar and contacts, needs a qwerty keypad (with keys arranged like a computer keyboard), and wants to be able to listen to music and watch videos.
Here is my take on the winning devices…
Best Integration with PIM Data (email, calendar, contacts): BlackBerry.
Runners up:
- Nokia S60 smartphones (like E62, E90, E65, etc.)
- Sony-Ericsson UIQ3 smartphones (like P1i)
- Windows Mobile devices (like Motorola Q9h or T-Mobile Dash)
The BlackBerry is a pain to set up, but once it’s done, you’ll never worry about keeping things sync’ed up again. The Nokia and Sony-Ericsson smartphones also support Exchange sync. I find usually Windows Mobile devices a bit unpleasant and usually too slow, but they do have good integration.
(By the way - we recently got the Motorola Q9h at the office and it’s really nice. It’s my favorite Windows Mobile device to date. I’d actually even recommend it to people! I’ll post a blog note on it later…)
International Roaming: GSM-based phones (like AT&T or T-Mobile)
Runners up: None
If you travel abroad, get a GSM-based phone which allows you to easily switch out the SIM Card (an ID chip). Thus, if you’re going to be abroad for an extended period, you could easily swap in a local pre-paid SIM card rather than mortgaging your first born child for those calls home.
International Roaming, Part II - Radio Bands: Quad Band Phones
Another very important consideration if you travel abroad (or purchase a cool phone overseas), make sure you get a quad band phone. Most Europe-oriented phones are tri-band only, and need the 4th band to work more broadly in the US.
Must-Have - WiFi: Nokia S60 smartphones (like E65 or E90).
Runners up:
- Sony-Ericsson UIQ3 smartphones (like P1i)
- BlackBerry Curve or 8800 series with WiFi (which are new)
I find that Nokia’s smartphones are the easiest to use and easiest to set up for Internet access, and for switching between cellular data and WiFi connection points. Note that T-Mobile now sells a WiFi-enabled BlackBerry Curve which has integrated WiFi voice calling. That’s pretty cool.
Must-Have - Office Document Editing: DataViz Documents To Go and QuickOffice
If you need to be able to view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel spreadsheets, and PowerPoint slides, then give these applications a try. DataViz software is available for all major smartphone platforms, with BlackBerry support coming soon. QuickOffice is available for S60, UIQ, and Palm. Both of these products are surprisingly affordable at just $30 - 40.
Love to Have - Video, Music: Nokia S60 smartphones or Sony-Ericsson
W960i
Runners up: Most any other smartphone
Almost any device in the smartphone category supports video and audio playback. Get yourself a 2 GB memory card (typically mini-SD), pop it into the phone, and save to it your favorite MP3s and videos. (Rip that South Park Season 1 DVD!). I love these features of my smartphones and always make sure I have lots of fun content when traveling.
Most Pleasant Overall Usability: Purely subjective
I love my Nokia S60 smartphones, but also have a big weakness for the Sony-Ericsson UIQ line (esp. the P1i and upcoming W960i) and the Motorola MOTORIZR Z8 (another UIQ3 phone). However, one of my colleagues who is on the road constantly swears by his BlackBerry Curve. So it’s totally up to you. Try to borrow a friend’s phone for a few minutes to see what you like and might dislike about the device. (Unfortunately, phone stores rarely have live, working devices that people can look at.)
Dinagar said,
January 1, 2008 @ 10:12 pm
Hi Antony,
Nice writeup on what features/specification one should look forward in picking up a phone! Narrowly missed ur blog. Two days back, i was hunting for ma new gadget. This detailed post would definitely helped me then. AT&T was my only option as most of the students in my univ are usin dat … der is some student offer on dat.
Finally after full one day on youtube reviews and phone community reviews, I opt for AT&T tilt [HTC-TyTN-II] model among the AT&T’s collection. Among their collection, this was the only phone which has all the features in it.
Of course, the thickest is one point. It cant match the sexy Motorola Q global. But, drawback of Motorola Q was that, it doesn’t have Wifi and our famous Blackberry 8820 doesn’t have in built cam!
What is your opinion on AT&T tilt model???
I am Dinagar. Dont know whether you remember me! I was in the Savaje’s offshore team (virtusa) and even worked in Theme Studio development.
Regards,
Dinagar
anthony.hand said,
January 1, 2008 @ 10:44 pm
Hi, Dinagar –
Hey, another ex-SavaJe! (even if just by association) There is definitely a SavaJe mafia sprouting up… especially in Massachusetts.
The Virtusa team did a great job on the Theme Studio. I mostly worked directly with Shiva (cool guy!), so I’m sorry that the names of the rest of the team have faded from memory after a few years…
We have an AT&T Tilt in the office. It seems like a solid little device. Definitely thick. Personally, I’m just not very fond of the Windows Mobile OS, especially the touchscreen PocketPC variation found in the Tilt. So as a result, if you were to ask me which device I would spend personal money on, there are many devices I would choose in front of it.
Now, that being said, one of my best friends has a sister device to the Tilt called the Cingular 8125. He LOVES that device! Plus, I’ve met others here & there who are also big fans of the 8125 and the newer 8325. The 8125, 8325, and Tilt are all very similar devices as far as form factor (touchscreens with slide-out keyboards) goes plus they all run the PocketPC OS. So HTC must be doing something right with these devices!
As for me, we just got a UIQ-based Sony-Ericsson w960i in the office over the holidays. It’s the media-oriented Walkman phone, just released in early December. It has 8 GB on it for your music and videos! So all night tonight I’ve been copying over most of my music collection and a good chunk of my favorite videos. I also copied all of my contacts over via this fantastic free service called Zyb (www.zyb.com). Now it’s ready to rock & roll!
Needless to say, I’ll be spending the next few weeks intensely “researching” this phone!
Regards,
Anthony
Dinagar said,
January 2, 2008 @ 9:51 am
Hi Anthony,
lol … ya … i know u will remember Siva … after his trip to Savaje, he was telling a lot abt u and other folks to us. I am currently at Chicago doing my Masters with plan of doin some work on mobile computing [donna how far its gonna work!!] after 3 years @ virtusa. Many of the team members are here @ US. Actually found your websites through your linked in profile.
I have been going your websites … definitely lot of info for me to read n learn
iSkoot .. nice concept … once i get my tilt delivered, i will test its demo version! also I read in the company website that the company is planning to integrate it with gtalk n yahoo! .. once it’s done, it would be really an awesome n powerful tool. I didn’t complete reading your personal company website and its releases. I just had a skim. Probably, when I find some free time, I will go through it. 
Is there any specific reason for you to avoid Mobile OS and touch screen? I found that Nokia’s OS [Symbian] are bit slow and where as Sony response very well. You wont find any lag in it. Is lag the reason for Mobile OS?
I have been thinking touch screen is better way of user interaction. It’s easy to move your fingers than moving the pointer through the Track Wheel. But again, advantage of track wheel systems is that we dont have to worry of about durability of touch screen.
Thanks for telling me about your friend. I believe that I got company now. HTC is not famous brand. That’s the first time I heard though.
Ah! bit jealous on you… You get to play with all the latest gizmos in the market
Oh zyb … thanks for pointing out that. Lemme add it to my bookmark. Might start using that sooner!
I guess sooner you can start a phone portal like http://www.phonearena.com. For sure, you would have lot of visitors flooding the website!
Regards,
Dinagar