Cell Phones Price Range
Cell phones come in one of these three basic categories
To help narrow your choices and keep you focused on the most important features you're looking for in a cell phone, we'll divide them all into three basic categories.
- Cheap Cell phones $100 and under
- Mid Priced Cell phones $100 - $300
- Smartphones $350 and up
As with all convergent technologies they're becoming more difficult to categorize. But we humans live for patterns, they're inescapable. As the old adage goes, the more technologies converge and defy categories, the more things stay the same.
You've already seen cell phones divided into three separate styles: the Flip Phone, Candy Bar and Smartphone. Here we'll divide them into three separate price categories which don't necessarily follow style. We'll examine what features you can expect to see in a given price range and what you should not overlook.
Many stripped down phones will have information services; these are text info and news items you can access any time through your network. Get sports scores, weather and news headlines or go beyond the basics for full color downloadable maps and movie or restaurant reviews . not bad for a cheap cell phone.
Cheap Cell Phones
The most economic phone may have a few extras built in. Features like SMS text messaging [Cellular Service Plans] or email are handy, but you should focus on the most practical features first. Look for convenient dialing features like storing frequently used numbers and voice dialing. Some might have a basic camera that will probably take dark grainy pictures as a novelty. Be surprised if a camera can shoot over 1 megapixel in this price range.
These basic phones are in the sub $100 price range. Most phones get to this range because of your service plan. If you know you're signing up for a one or two year plan anyway, take advantage of a snooping out a good plan before picking your phone. Look for promos on a nice handset.
Cheap Cell Phones
Moving into advanced features the most important thing you should look for in an intermediate cell phone is Bluetooth compatibility. Bluetooth is so important because it allows your phone to communicate with peripheral equipment and the Bluetooth headset is of key importance to those who talk and drive. Some will have MP3 and video file playback with plenty of storage for media. Look for a slot for expanding its memory capability and find out which kind of memory you'll have to use. Then check the max capacity of that memory type, cost and its availability. If you plan on using media it's only a matter of time before you need expanded memory, so you'll want the right memory.
Expensive Cell Phones
The pricier side of the cell phone market will include a slew of full featured smart phones. You've left mere SMS and email messaging far behind. You're now able to do video messaging, send images and video clips through the network instantly. Smartphones will be driven by an operating system so it's important to pick a Smartphone with the OS you like best. The Smartphone will act as a personal digital assistant and can keep an advanced scheduler with task lists complete with alarms informing you of impending deadlines. Bluetooth and wi-fi are yours for the taking so chances are you can connect to a wi-fi hotspot to synchronize with your PC. High speed 3G mobile networking is a must at the higher price range, look for EV-DO or EDGE.