Mobile phones - chooing the one that suits you

This section helps you decide what features you want in a mobile phone. It does not tell you which handsets offer these features: see the www.MobileShop.com web site for information about the wide range of phones offered by MobileShop.

For other makes and models, you can probably get more information from the manufacturers web sites. See the Manufacturers page for more information.

Choosing a mobile phone

Some users are far more interested in gadgets than others. If you enjoy programming your video recorder and your address book is a computer, don't choose a phone that uses the older analogue technology or one of the basic GSM models.

Some phones are very small and light, and others are more robust and weighty. Don't assume that a smaller phone is a better phone, particularly if you have aged eyes or large fingers.

You should also be careful before opting for some of the pay-as-you go deals. Some use phones that skimp on features for the sake of cost cutting. See the Features page for a list of what to look for.

Batteries

No matter how many attached gadgets a phone has, it's no good to you when it runs out of steam. So look for a decent battery life. At the very least the phone should get you reliably through a full day, with the sort of use you expect to make of it.

Remember to judge by talktime as well as standby time; some phones can sit on standby for a week or two but still give up the ghost after an hour or two of calls.

Cheap phones once used NiCad batteries, middle ranking ones NiMh and good ones lithium ion. The last is by far the best because it can be topped up. NiCad and NiMh batteries can be damaged if you charge them before they've gone completely flat, or if you fail to charge them fully. For more information, see the Batteries page of the User Tech section.

See also [ Manufacturers ] : [ Phone Features ]

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