by Michael Liu
December 1, 2011
One of the common questions we hear is “which smartphone should I get?”
With the different types of phones, and the burgeoning number of devices in the market that debut each month, we can probably write a book detailing the different factors that go into purchasing a phone. We’ll guide you through the most important things to help make this decision easier for you.
Carrier
The most important thing to consider is to find out which carrier works best for you. After all, what good is the newest smartphone with the latest technology if you can’t even make a phone call from your home? With your current phone, are you able to get reception in your home and office? If not, see if your coworkers or friends on different networks do. The carrier that you use will significantly affect the type of phone that is available to you.
Cost
The initial cost of your phone is just a small portion of the total cost of ownership of a typical 2-year contract. Wireless companies heavily subsidize the cost of the phone itself as they know they will make more money off of the voice/data plan and add-ons like text messaging plans (which cost them very little). If you take into account the full terms of your contract, the TCO of a high-end phone compared to a lower-end phone is relatively negligible, so if you’re trying to save money by going with a lower-end phone, consider removing some of those add-ons, changing your data or voice plan, or switching to a carrier like Sprint or T-Mobile, which offer much more competitive plans.
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