Smartphones Now: First-Time Buyer’s Guide
- November 3rd, 2006
- Read 7863 times
- 42 Comments
Smartphones Now is a special group of features by CrunchGear writers on the latest smartphones available - or soon to be available - in the US. In this installment, we help first-time buyers to decide which smartphone path is right for them.
So you’ve decided to buy your first smartphone. That’s fantastic, but before you go crazy and drop your car payment in favor of PDA-meets-cellphone goodness, you need to stop and figure out which smartphone is right for you, but that, dear reader, is why CrunchGear is here.
Because there are so many different devices on the market, we should start by establishing exactly what a smartphone is, which is harder than it sounds, as there’s no official definition. Generally speaking, a smartphone is a combination of a cellphone and a PDA, but many traditional cellphones are encroaching on smartphone territory by adding features like email syncing, Web browsing and instant messaging.
A true smartphone, however, will also usually include Office document reading (and often writing), alternative text entry (QWERTY, touchscreen, both, or something different), and the ability to load and launch third party apps.
In this guide, we’re not considering devices like BlackBerries and SideKicks to be true smartphones, though they’re often lumped in with them. These are communicators, a weird half-brother to the smartphone that only shows up when he needs bail money.
Smartphones are analogous to the personal computer around 1997 or so. At the time, computers were still considered the domain of businessmen or geeks, not something every soccer mom in America would own. Less than ten years later it’s hard to imagine life without having at least one in your home. The same threshold is currently being crossed by smartphones as vendors target non-business customers for the first time, a market segment we’re calling “casual smartphone users.”
That doesn’t mean they’re right for everyone, not yet, but they’ve come far enough that if you have any inclination to make the jump, now is a great time to do so. But first we should look at why you’re getting one. Let’s face it, it’s not to look cool. The only way to look like more of a tool than sticking a cellphone on your belt is sticking a smartphone on your belt, or worse, your waistband. You want a smartphone because you’re the type that doesn’t just want to be organized, you want to be connected as well. If keeping your schedule straight is all you need, a PDA does the job nicely. However, if your appointments change faster than allegiances on “24,” then you’re the ideal smartphone candidate.
OK, so we’ve established what it is and why you want it, that’s the easy part. Now which smartphone is your smartphone? This might be the hardest question Man has ever been asked since the beginning of time, which for our purposes we figure to be around 2002.
Hardware-wise, there are two roads to go down: touchscreen and non-touchscreen. While the touchscreen seems like a no-brainer, it’s worth considering that these devices are considerably more expensive than their touchless cousins. They also tend to be larger, as the added gear to calibrate and record the touch movements takes its own room. For example, the T-Mobile MDA or Sprint Treo 700p are larger than their standard screen brethren.
That’s not to say non-touchscreen smartphones aren’t any good. Indeed, the T-Mobile Dash and Verizon’s Motorola Q both offer full QWERTY text entry and one-handed navigation, very intuitive and easy to use. The Cingular 3125 eschews the text-entry keyboard for a standard telephone T9 keypad, but at the benefit of a slim form factor.
You should ask yourself what you’re going to be doing with your smartphone. If you’re looking at extending your existing phone to the next level, a non-touchscreen device might be right, as it combines basic smartphone features with a familiar form factor and interface. If you’re more of an email reader than a writer, then a QWERTY keypad might even be too much. However if you’re a poweruser coming from the other direction, a PDA user wanting to combine your devices, then you’d be happier with a touchscreen and QWERTY enabled device, as it would mimic the device you use now far more closely.
After considering form factor, you should think about your operating system. Symbian, the most popular smartphone OS globally, is just now making headway in the States, but has an impressive showing in the Nokia E62 from Cingular. The Palm OS is an always popular place to start, as its ease of use and bundled apps, as well as running on the award-winning Treo hardware, make it want for nothing. If communication with your existing enterprise is a deal killer, the Windows Mobile 5 devices offer built-in integration with Exchange and Active Directory. In addition, this OS has the most “flavors,” one of which you’ll most likely find appealing.
Another real concern is data transfer. These devices don’t function on magic pixie dust (with the exception of the Nod 3354i Nvrlnd). It’s no use having two way email sync, centralized contact managers, and mobile porn if your device can’t get to the Internet. This is where the various secondary radios that smartphones carry come into play. In America, we have two types of service. EV-DO/RTT, favored by CDMA cellphone networks like Sprint and Verizon, and GPRS/EDGE/UMTS/HSDPA, the standard GSM providers like T-Mobile and Cingular use. When examining the available smartphones, look at their “packet data” format to make sure it matches your provider.
Some versions are faster than others. So-called 3G technologies, like EV-DO and UMTS/HSDPA are far faster than 2 or 2.5G technologies like GPRS/EDGE and RTT. Either way, though, you’ll have to sign-up with a secondary data plan along side your voice plan, something many people don’t realize, and something that can be a deal killer. These plans go for between $20 and $40 a month, depending on the provider and speeds, but get an unlimited plan over a metered one, you’ll thank us later.
We’ve covered a lot here, but don’t be intimidated. If you take this guide step-by-step, and examine exactly what you want a smartphone to do for you, you’ll be able to use this information to find your phone. Don’t be dissuaded by any other user’s opinion off hand; what’s right for them might be wrong for you, or vice versa. For example, we couldn’t live without our touchscreen Treo, though one of our very accomplished colleagues swears by his Cingular 3125 flip-phone. But he’s also a heroin addict tranny with six teeth.
All things considered what’s important is your needs, and with number of smartphones on the market today, there must be one that meets them well.
| Phone | Manu- facturer |
Carrier |
MSRP |
Wi-Fi |
GPS |
QWERTY Keyboard |
Touch- screen |
OS |
Weight |
Size |
Features |
Verdict |
| Cingular 3125 |
HTC (as Cingular)
|
Cingular |
$199 |
N |
N |
N |
N |
Windows Mobile 5: Smart- phone Edition |
3.6 ounces |
3.88" x 2.02" x 0.62" inches |
1.3 megapixel camera, 240×320 non- touch- screen, Bluetooth, MicroSD, T9, Flip phone. GPRS/ EDGE, MP3 player | A slender flip phone for those who read messages more than they write. |
| Cingular 8125/ T-Mobile MDA |
HTC (as Cingular and T-Mobile)
|
Cingular or T-Mobile |
About $200, depending on carrier subsidies | Y |
N |
Y |
Y |
Windows Mobile 5: Phone Edition |
5.6 ounces |
4.25" x 2.28" x 0.93" inches |
1.3 megapixel camera with flash, 320×240 touch- screen, WiFi, Bluetooth, MiniSD, backlit QWERTY keyboard, GPRS/ EDGE | The full-featured everything phone, with integrated WiFi |
| Treo 650 | Palm | Sprint, Verizon Wireless, Cingular, Earthlink | About $200 | N | N | Y | Y | Palm Os 5.4 | 5.4 ounces | 2.3x 4.4x 0.9 inches |
VGA camera, 320×320 touch- screen, Bluetooth, SDIO, backlit QWERTY keyboard, GPRS/ EDGE | Palm’s uber-popular smart- phone that everyone loves. |
| Nokia e62 | Nokia | Cingular | About $200 | N | N | Y | N | Symbian Series 60 | 5.08 ounces | 4.61" x 2.74" x 0.55" inches | 320×240 non-touch- screen, QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth | A BlackBerry- like smartphone running Nokia S60, but no camera. |
| Sprint Device IP-830W by Samsung | Samsung (for Sprint) | Sprint | $599 | N | N | Y | Y | Windows Mobile 5: Phone Edition | 6.44 ounces | 4.49" x 2.28" x 0.97" inches | 240×320 touch- screen, sliding QWERTY keyboard, EVDO | One of the only phones in North America with both EVDO and GSM |
| Motorla Q | Motorola | Verizon Wireless | $199 | N | N | Y | N | Windows Mobile 5: Smart-phone Edition | 4.06 ounces | 4.49" x 2.28" x 0.97" inches | 320×240 non-touch- screen, QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth | Motorola’s aim at the BlackBerry. Slender, slick, popular. |
| T-Mobile Dash |
HTC (as T-Mobile)
|
T-Mobile |
$199 | Y |
N |
Y |
N |
Windows Mobile 5: Smart- phone Edition |
4.02 ounces |
2.3x 4.4x 0.9 inches |
320×240 non-touch- screen, QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth, WiFi | Cheap and very lightweight, the Lohan of smartphones. |
idawgik (Who am I?)
1 year ago
The Cingular 3125 (and the rest of the HTC STRTRK variants) does not have Wifi like the table above indicates.
Matt Hickey (Who am I?)
1 year ago
Thanks idawgik, you’re of course right.
Jen (Who am I?)
1 year ago
the Lohan of smart phones…love it.
Joe Walker
1 year ago
Nokia e62? - Do you mean e61? (http://nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,8764,82900,00.html) according to the Nokia website, the e62 doesn’t exist.
I have an e70, which is an e61 with a 2mp camera and a fold out querty keyboard (so it’s got the same form factor as a normal phone).
Joe.
Reply
MonkeyMagic698 (Who am I?)
1 year ago
The E62 does exist, I typed this comment using the E61, probably the best smartphone this year.
Find out more about the E60 series from http://e-series.com
MonkeyMagic698 (Who am I?)
1 year ago
Oops that should have been http://www.e-series.org
Judi Sohn (Who am I?)
1 year ago
My husband has the Nokia E62…he likes it. Here’s the info on Nokia’s site.
One thing you didn’t talk about in this review is processor speed. I have the Cingular 8125 and yeah, it has everything. But with only 200Mhz of power it does it all slowly. I’ve had it since February so I’m used to it, but coming from a much faster PDA (Axim x30) it was a bit of an adjustment.
You should also mention whether the MSRP is with or without contract. You can get a Cingular 8125 for 200 bucks…if you want to commit around $80 month (for data and voice) to Cingular for the next 2 years. Otherwise, the cost is much higher. I know you don’t have to get the unlimited data plan, but those bytes add up fast.
Finally, for the Cingular phones you need to keep this in mind…Cingular is selling you a phone with PDA features. The phones are made by HTC and if you have a problem that doesn’t have to do with how it dials out and receives calls, Cingular will tell you, “Call HTC.” Yes, in fact these are PDAs with phone features. Cingular doesn’t care. If you have a problem with the phone you have to know that the person you will talk to at Cingular won’t have a clue about the Windows Mobile 5 operating system, unless you get lucky and find a rep who has the same phone as you do for his/her personal use. To say that the Cingular 8125 is “quirky” is very kind. The phone is great, but you need to be very comfortable with WM 5.0 and how to work around bugs and problems to get it working smoothly. This isn’t your grandmother’s cell phone.
alpha (Who am I?)
1 year ago
I believe that the 3125’s weight is 3.6 oz, not 6.3. lol
alpha (Who am I?)
1 year ago
I also don’t thing that Q has GPS functionality built in. Com’on…
Lucca (Who am I?)
1 year ago
What about the HP IPAQ hw6945? Its the only one with EVERYTHING WiFi-Bluetooth-GPRS and also GPS…
I’m thinking to buy one, but its really hard to find comments about this device on internet, anyone has one of this?
khris (Who am I?)
1 year ago
TREO 650: *not* everyone loves this phone. the software has quite a few serious bugs that cause the phone to lock up or preform in other unacceptable ways. i have had it replaced 3x with no success and have talked with other TREO 650 owners that have had similar experiences. i would seriously consider pulling your endorsement of this phone.
a serach for “TREO 650 problems” will help fill you in.
Craig Cockburn (Who am I?)
1 year ago
It’s a pity the Nokia E61 wasn’t reviewed. It’s the E62 but with Wifi and the Wifi is for me probably the best thing about the phone. Mind you the amount of memory is poor, the performance and boot time sluggish but for all that I like the phone.
Craig
Ted (Who am I?)
1 year ago
About the 650, I think you meant to say, Palm’s uber-popular smartphone that everyone loves– except those who own it.
Ian (Who am I?)
1 year ago
What category is Blackberry??? Although not as glamorous as other “smartphones”, the Blackberry does come packed with features and data capabilites.
In addition, EVDO for the Blackberry is included with the Sprint email data plan. With this plan you can use the Blackberry with EVDO Rev 0 as a modem (PAM). Verizon does charge extra for this service.
Richard (Who am I?)
1 year ago
What about the Nokia e-series smartphone….by far better than any of these listed and possibly the best smartphone of the year. I have the e61 (different than the US ver. e62 which does not have wifi) unlocked from the UK and it rocks!!!
Josh (Who am I?)
1 year ago
I’m enjoying the WiFi-enabled Nokia e61 as well. It’s not perfect — configuring connections is difficult, and in general discovering how to change settings is unnecessarily complex. But the form factor is wonderful and I sense that I’ll be finding more things to like as I go along.
jasummer (Who am I?)
1 year ago
Why is it that US-based companies do not offer wifi phones? Hmm, it certainly doesn’t have to do with technological hurdles…possibly their assiduous choke hold on the monthly minute plans where wifi phones may use VoIP vs. minutes.
Robert E Spivack (Who am I?)
1 year ago
Hmmm..I don’t know why every review of SmartPhones always leaves out the Spring PPC-6700. It’s made by HTC/UTStarcom, and certainly fits in this category.
It has the most communciation features with WiFi, Bluetooth, and 3G data, but the biggest and almost “secret” feature, is that the tethered mode for using the phone as a data modem for your laptop (over USB or bluetooth) is only $15/month UNLIMITED DATA on the Sprint Plan.
Tethered mode is great for when you aren’t near a WiFi hotspot and want to get on the net with your laptop. Since one typically always carries their phone, it obviates the need for the standalone PCMCIA data cards.
The data cards cost $60 to $70/month for unlimited data plans, so this phone is a steal at $15/month. (I would only recommend slide-in data cards if you really only want that and use it extensively. Going online with tether mode takes a few more clicks and setup and if you get an incoming phone call or want to make a phone call while staying online with your laptop — well, that can be a problem.)
One-handed dialing is do-able but not easy with the PPC-6700. I looked at all these smartphones and dialing is not that great with any of them.
If someone is buying a smartphone, they better REALLY need the smartphone capabilities because as just a phone, all of these products are harder to use, klunky, and just not the same as a phone-only device such as a Moto Razr.
john (Who am I?)
1 year ago
I am looking for a smart phone. primary use will be for downloading e-mail from company server and web browsing , and I want it to sync with Act sotware on my PC which I will probably use companion link software to facilitate. I am trying to choose between Palm Treo p or wx , and the PPS 6700 . will palm os on the 700 p work equally well in windows environment ? will windows 5.0 operating system work better for downloads and syncs within the windown environment? What about the choice between the Palm 700wx and the PPS 6700 , any main functional differences , or doe it boil down to personal preffrences ??
Ben Toth (Who am I?)
1 year ago
I’m very pleased with my T Mobile MDA. Just one niggle. The processor is not fast enough to run Skype.
enoch benjamin (Who am I?)
1 year ago
what about the sony ericsson p990i - I have this and the nokia e61 and I think the p990 is by far the superior smart phone.
Everton (Who am I?)
1 year ago
I’ve recently gone the other way and ditched my Nokia n80 smartphone and got a PDA. I was tired of carrying a brick in my pocket that had poor battery life, a tiny screen, slow OS and poor phone reception. Now I’ve got a nice small phone to carry around with a bluetooth modem and my PDA which is much more capable to do my online stuff.
I like the idea of one device doing all, but it’s still a few years away for me.
Anonymous (Who am I?)
1 year ago
Wow a comparison of SmartPhones without including BlackBerry?!
If BlackBerry is not a smartphone what is it? I honestly don’t see where else you would place BlackBerry.
hillary (Who am I?)
1 year ago
not to be redundant, but what about the 6700 phones? Sprint’s PPC-6700 and Verizon’s XV6700 are the pre-curson to Cingular’s 8125, and in many respect are an all-around better choice. EVDO, WiFi, GPS potential, and as Robert mentioned, tethering the phone to a latop is a steal.
Kirby (Who am I?)
1 year ago
enoch: I think it’s a “first time smartphone buyer’s guide”, the p990 is a VERY high-end and advanced phone for a first-timer, no?
Matt Hickey (Who am I?)
1 year ago
Alpha, you’re right. Our table-making intern has been punished. Thanks for pointing it out.
Thor Muller (Who am I?)
1 year ago
Another vote for the wi-fi enabled Nokia e61! I’m travelling in Argentina now and with so many wifi hotspots around this phone keeps me as connected as I could ever hope. You can use voip services and avoid the crazy international rates. Regular Internet access over-the-air is speedy too.
The e62 is the Cingular approved version, with the wifi disabled. Don’t buy it on principle. Fight back against the tyranny of the carriers.
Judi Sohn (Who am I?)
1 year ago
Given the fact that the Cingular 8125 has wifi, the lack of it in the e62 makes absolutely no sense.
Matt Hickey (Who am I?)
1 year ago
Khris: True, not everyone literally loves it. Many, many users I know personally, including yours truly, love it. Sure, it is a little bit buggy, but most smartphones are (trust me, I have five in my bag right now, they all have their problems). That being said, the comment about everyone loving it has more to do with the ease of use, handy qwerty, and nifty features (I heart my ringer-mute switch). Sorry you’re having bad luck with yours. I have a feeling things will be smoother with the 680.
Shaun (Who am I?)
1 year ago
I had a Sony Ericsson p990i for about 3 weeks. It’s just not ready with staggeringly bad bugs and there’s some questionable software changes over the older p910i. It’s got more RAM but the applications in ROM don’t execute in place so it actually ends up eating RAM very quickly. Worse than that though, it’ll randomly reboot itself to allegedly improve performance when it does run out.
I really tried to like it as the camera is great, wifi is great but the software just isn’t ready for primetime and there’s zero Apple Mac support too since it doesn’t support SyncML unlike the Nokias and there’s no iSync plugin for it.
I was actually very glad to get back to my p910i. I was missing calls on the p990 and it would crash mid call if you got an email. Maybe I’ll look again in 6 months time when they’ve fixed the software and added more RAM and Apple have a sync driver for it. Or possibly Apple will just release a phone!
The p910i is the most stable phone I’ve ever had. The p990i the exact opposite. I think I’ll give Symbian OS 9 phones a miss for a while. Pity really as there’s no phone OS I like - they all suck.
stuart (Who am I?)
1 year ago
given that this review is supposed to cover current and upcoming devices, why no coverage of the Cingular 8525 (replacement for the 8125 / MDA), or the HP hw6900 series?
Paul (Who am I?)
1 year ago
I don’t think any smartphone review would be complete without taking the new Nokia N95 into account. It basically does everything and washes the dishes too. If anyone is interested, there is a post on the N95 on my blog.
Brian G (Who am I?)
1 year ago
I’ve got an HP HW6945 which as mentioned above is quad-band, GPRS, wi-fi, bluetooth and GPS all in basically the same size factor. I bought it to stay in touch with my business while I travel for 7 months. I’m happy with it so far although it is like all WM5 phones and not the greatest phone interface. However, it even runs Skype so I can make cheap international calls or check email while on the go from any hotspot. If you take photos with the camera, it auto-embeds latitude and longitude into them which has all kinds of potential along with the driving navigation capability. I waited a long time to buy this phone and it’s been worth it!
I’ve got more info about the (tiny) gear I’m carrying on my 7-month RTW trip if you click my name above.
Tim
1 year ago
Interesting discussion, especially around the BlackBerry aspect of things. Between colleagues we had all of the phones mentioned (or their equivalents that are available in EMEA…) and there were several “winners” depending on what you were looking for in your “phone”…
From a professional use perspective and for me personally there is only one device though: The RIM BlackBerry 8700 / 8707, nothing beats that machine with respects to speed, reliability and usability because at the end a phone, email, calendar and tasks is what I am looking for in MY smartphone, for pics I have my D-SLR, for music my iPod, navigation is handeled by the system in my car (know my way around while walking or can take a cab) and for movies/TV a smart person invented TV a couple of years back ;)
So you can see, it’s really a question of perspective and how geek you need to be without taking it to the absurd…
My two cents worth,
Tim
P.S.: If you are desperate you can still install mp3 as ringtones on the BB, you can use google maps to get directions just your pictures you still have to paint yourself ;)
Reply
Michael (Who am I?)
1 year ago
I love my cingular 8125, I highly recommend checking it out.
Things I love:
* Getting/sending work/home e-mails while i’m on the golf course or out and about.
* Texting or composing e-mails with a real qwerty keyboard
* 1.3mp camera is nice for snapping a quick pic
* touch screen interface is handy (although i’m still getting used to dialing phone #s this way)
* Browsing the internet for movie times, sports scores is extreemly handy on almost a daily basis when i’m out and about.
* using MP3s as ringtone is great (don’t ever buy a ringtone)
* storing my favorite pictures and quick video clips to show off to my friends is fun. (buy a 1gb mini-sd card)
Mitch Olson (Who am I?)
1 year ago
I’v been using a HP Ipaq hw6965 (AsiaPacific verison of the 6945 I understand) for the last 6 weeks & I love it. Previously a Pocket PC user, I was looking for a cross between the power & familiarity of the Windows Mobile OS, & a one-handed cellphone experience. A square screen device with thumbboard seems like the best configuration for my needs.
The geewhizzboy inside of me liked the HTC-based slide-out keyboard models, but the combination of greater fragility, HTC so-so reliability & crappy warranty repair support (at least here in NZ), & difficulty in using with one hand ruled them out. I also liked the size & controls on the Treo, but the pussy processor primarily ruled that out.
In the end what swayed me was the availability of a 3 year next-business-day-replacement warranty option, 400Mhz processor power enough to run Skype over WIFI, & the bonus of GPS. No regrets at all & has exceeded my expectations, & I love driving to work listening to a Audible book with my headphones&integratedmic on, getting a phone call - the book automatically pausing, & then resuming after the call - awesome convergence!
Beth
1 year ago
Ok, i have a question. I am not technical so forgive me if it is a stupid question.
The E61 is wi-fi enabled, and the e62 is not. Did they take the hardware out or just disable it via the software? If software disabled, cant someone figure out how to enable it again?
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Matt Hickey (Who am I?