Thread: Mobile Phone Buying Guide

Mobile Phone Buying Guide

Buying a mobile phone is easy but buying right mobile is not.Find out how to buy a mobile phone compatible with your need.

Choosing the right phone
Picking up the right mobile phone is not easy. You may need to answer some questions like, what kind of phone do you need? What is your budget? What is the purpose to buy a mobile? Keep these important aspects in mind before visiting the store.

Lifestyle
A mobile phone has to be in sync with your lifestyle. Teenagers mostly prefer phones with camera , MP3 players, radio and video recorders. Some girls tend to choose phones with feminine looks and prefer soft colours. On the other hand boys prefer sturdy handsets. Internet lovers are inclined to buy mobile phones with General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) connectivity. Those who enjoy games will opt for phones with igh quality games.

Budget
Budget is the core of every purchase. Is your budget tight or flexible? Answering this question may solve half of your problem. Try accommodating your purchase within your budget. Since mobile phone rates drop very fast.

Purpose
You should not opt for fancy mobiles with camera and videos, if you are going to make lot of business calls. The high-end mobiles consume lot of battery and it may become cumbersome to charge battery often while handling important business deals. A student's choice of mobile phone will be very different from that of a professional.

Choosing the right mobile dealer or store
Buying your mobile phone from the right place is important. Check out for discounts, schemes and offers that are available in the market. Choose a reputed dealer who provides a bill with guarantee. Check out whether the dealer or retailer has received positive feedbacks from previous buyers.

What makes a user-friendly mobile?
User-friendly mobiles make life simpler. Often a mobile with an outstanding design may not be a user-friendly model. A few significant aspects can be considered if you want to buy a user-friendly mobile phone.

Display screen
Look out for the size of the screen that will be visually comfortable. You must keep in mind the resolution and quality of colours that are displayed. Thin Film Transistors (TFT) screens can be preferred if you are into gaming or want to watch good quality videos on your mobile phone.

Keypad
We often ignore little details while purchasing any gadget and it is not an exception while buying a mobile phone. Double check if you are comfortable with the keypad of the handset which you are going to buy. People tend to buy a particular model as they may like sleek looks, but it may not be as user-friendly.

Connectivity
If you are a regular internet user then it is sensible to opt for a GPRS or Enhance Data rates for Global evolution (EDGE) enabled handsets. These features will allow you to be online anywhere, anytime and be in touch with anyone. Check mails, surf on social networking sites, chat with friends or simply browse through the net. Infrared will allow you to transfer files from one phone to another very easily. These wireless features make exchanging songs, pictures, videos and text very simple.

Sound
Look out for a phone with high quality sound. Polyphonic ringtones are the order of the day but buying a cell phone which plays MP3 songs as the ringtone would be a better option. If your cell phone comes with earphones and in-built speakers then one should ensure that they are working. Handsets with earphones are useful to make calls while driving or doing any work.

Memory
If you are using your cell phone as a business or a multimedia device then you should consider phones with adequate or expandable memory. You may consider handsets with 128 MB, 256 MB, 512 MB or 1 GB or as high as 8 GB memory cards, as per your convenience. Mobile phones tend to hang or perform a little slow when they are high on memory due to the stored data.

Battery life
Battery life is a very important aspect while purchasing a mobile phone. Handsets with poor battery life can disturb your communication and can make it difficult to use other features. Buy a mobile phone from a reputed brand that provides long lasting and durable batteries. Check if the dealer can provide replacement if something goes wrong with the battery. Do not forget to check the price.

Multimedia
Purchasing a cell phone with FM or a MP3 player or both is good idea if you are crazy about music. Mobile phones with cameras enable you to click pictures and store them as memories. You can show your creative side by editing short video clips on your phone. Consider the screen resolution; the number of mega pixels and the zoom depth are the main aspect related to a digital camera. There is not much difference between five and three mega pixels. So save on your budget by avoiding going for a higher resolution. A three mega pixel is the best a mobile phone camera can give you.

Other necessary applications
Life becomes simple if you check the small details. Look out whether you have other applications like alarm clock, calendar, reminder, calculator, stopwatch, pedometer etc. in your mobile phone.

Mobile Bills, Guarantee and Package
Always ask for and preserve your mobile phone bill. In case of any technical problems it will be important to show the bill and demand replacements and repair. Mobile repair under the guarantee period is usually free. Save box pack of your mobile, other accessories and brochure. If you ever decide to sell your phone, the complete pack will fetch you a better price than just the mobile.

How to get the best Mobile?
Here are some more tips to buy the best mobile phone

• Collect feedback from people who have already bought the same brand, which you too are considering to buy. You may get genuine feedbacks from the internet.
  
• List the features you want and find out which brands available in the market, fit your needs. Some of the popular brands are Nokia, Sony Ericsson, the Apple iPhone, LG and Samsung mobile phones. These are doing well in the market and have a loyal clientele following.

Once you have done a thorough research and made a plan, you can hit the store and buy the mobile you want. You will be glad that you made the right decision. Nothing can stop you now from being the proud owner of a mobile phone which is made just for you.

Few Mobile Jargons:

1. Display:This refers to the no. of colours that can be displayed on the screen of your coloured phone. It starts with 4096 and goes upto 2,62,000. As with most things in life, the more the merrier. Look for a phone with a TFT (thin film transistor) or Active Matrix screen which provides a wider viewing angle compared to the traditional passive LCD technology. Also TFT screens are a must if you plan to play games on your phone or use it to record/ view clips...

2. Sound / Ringtones:This is regarding the type of ringtones your phone can support. While these days polyphonic ringtones have become the standard, try to look for a phone that can support mp3(s) also, since which proud Indian does not like to play the latest Hindi song as his ringtone in the middle of a movie or in a restaurant??

3. Speakerphone:
Since you will want to eventually do the above thing so you should look for a phone with a good powerful speaker... Especially, if you are a music lover... These days phone companies have started designing phones which are targeted at a certain audience. so you shall have no problem finding what you want

4. Camera:
One of the most common features present in handsets these days, this is quite handy to take spontaneous pictures or video clips. Earlier, we used to have mid-range to high-end range phones having cameras that produced blurry images, but times have surely changed. Nowadays, 1 mp is becoming standard. But slowly, 2mp, 3mp and higher resolution cam phones are flowing in the Indian shores and are available quite freely.

5. Connectivity:
This refers to the various options available on your phone such as Bluetooth/Infrared/GPRS/EDGE. They are explained in brief below-

Bluetooth: Bluetooth wireless technology is a short-range communications technology introduced to replace the cables connecting portable and/or fixed devices while maintaining high levels of security. The key features of Bluetooth technology are robustness, low power, and low cost. In layman terms, it means that you don't have to connect wires for transferring data or to talk handsfree.

Infrared: Similar to Bluetooth, this is also used for transferring data but both devices (for e.g. two phones) need to have line of sight.

GPRS (General Packet Radio Service): This feature though is network dependent, but at the same time your phone needs to have support for it. It will enable your phone to connect to the internet and browse websites.

EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution): An evolved version of GPRS, this offers better connectivity and faster data transfer rates.

6. Expandable Memory Slot:Every phone, no matter how cheap or low on features has some inbuilt memory. Since all of us do need more memory to store that latest mp3 or pic, so most of the newer phones come with an option for extending memory by buying an external memory card.

7. Telephone book memory:
This comes in the most basic of features of any phone. As the name suggests, it refers to the number of phone numbers the phone can store in its internal memory

8. Java compatibility:Java enabled phones can run a number of applications and games.

9. Battery life:
This is divided into two types:
a) Stand-by time- This refers to the amount of time your phone stays alive if you are not using it. Newer phones boast of a standby time ranging into several days.
Talk time - This refers to the actual amount of time you can USE the phone... as in talking.

Hi,

Thanks for your guide man.
Rep added.

I am aliving this post cause i feel its very informative for those who really wanna buy a new phone.

yet another wonderful post by Ramesh, thanks for this Ramesh, this will definatly be considered when i next purchase a mobile phone.

Great,Informative Post!!!God Bless!!!Regards...Rama

Aey Ji ... O Ji, Aey Ji ... O Ji, Loji Sunno Ji .....

Informative listing .... :thumbup1:

I'm looking to get a mobile for my mum which has to have excellent picture and video capture (apart from standard features that is), rather than any of the other fancy (BT/Wifi, FM Radio, unneccessary) features which she says she won't use (so it has to have Carl Zeiss lens and Xenon Flash, megapixels can vary). My budget is Rs. 7-10,000 ... though I'm doubtful I'd get any mobile with those particular features for less than Rs. 17,000 (THINK : Nseries) .... but Nseries would be way to high-funda for her.

SO my question is this ..... :001_huh:

Does anyone know of any sites with search-type style, where I can select specifications/features that I'm looking for in a mobile and accordingly provide me with a listing of brands and models that match those specs/features or at least come close to those?

You know what I'm asking ....

... Sort of like a search-engine for mobiles. So if I'm looking for a mobile with, say ... Carl Ziess Lens, Xenon Flash, BT, regular features (FM Radio, SMS/MMS, , et al ...) ... all I have to do is checkmark those listed features/specs ... hit 'SEARCH' .... and it gives me all brands along with their models that match what I've selected. Specs/features can cover anything from the last 3-5 years to the latest. It would be up to me to select.

Something like that basically. So... does anyone have any info on such sites? I tried Google but couldn't find anything related .. I dunno, maybe my search terms were wrong or something.

Any info would be much appreciated.

In my case..I am concern first with my budget...and from there I will select what kind of phone that fit me and my style...what about you..How much is your budget in buying cell phones?

the average indian consumer is budget-concious... no doubt about it; which is why ... if there is a site that can allow consumers like me to select specs/features and give me brands/models that come close to those, my search would be that much closer to being fulfilled. As stated .. my budget is Rs. 7-10000, but considering that I'm lookin' for Carl Ziess Lens and Xenon Flash, I'd have to shell out way more that that! I feel these would only be available in the N-series .... which is beyond me. I mean I could get it ... but I'd have to rob a bank to get it ... LOL.

There's a good model that I think is a little more than my budget ... the 7xxx MusicXpress. But although it has Carl Ziess Lens, it has only LED Flash. I know the drawbacks of LED Flash ... so I'm not even gonna go there!

I will have to check Samsung, Motorola or SE.

Still looking for that site though ... so anyone ? Help me out if you can.

Hello!AS far as I know Nokia has its own website nokia.india.com where so many models are listed with specs and prices.If u want a fone with gud camera with carl Zeiss lens i would strongly recommend to u Nokia 6303 which has a 3mp camera,lot of storage space fr data/music.slot for mem.card .no FM radio.im found this particualr model very good.nokia phones are the most user friendly rugged built to last.u get value for money.the best thing about this phone is the big display screen.costs just aboutr rs10000.