Choosing the right smartphone Video

Choosing the right smartphone Video Transcript

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>> Brian: Hey guys, Brian Tong here with CNET.com and today we're gonna be talking about phones. Now there are tons of phones out there and people want to do different things with them and today we're gonna talk specifically about Smartphones and how to choose the best one for you. So joining me in the studio Miss Bonnie Cha.

>> Bonnie: Hi

>> Brian: How you doing today?

>> Bonnie: Good thanks how are you?

>> Brian: And we're gonna talk about how to help people choose a Smartphone that's the best for them. So first right off the bat we have 4 phones in front of us, what really defines a Smartphone as a Smartphone?

>> Bonnie: Right, so for us a Smartphone is any handset that's running a third party operating system, so that includes Palm, Windows Mobile, Symbian, BlackBerry and iPhones, so that's what we call a Smartphone.

>> Brian: Is the fact that they have other features other than phone features and messaging help kind of give it that edge, or --

>> Bonnie: Well, that kind of brings it in with the mobile operating systems 'cause; I mean if you consider all the phones out there now they have tons of features and you can technically call them Smartphones. So having that kind of clarification where it has a mobile operating system gives us the kind of clear cut decision there.

>> Brian: Now, part of choosing a phone that's best for someone is figuring out what they want to do so what are kind of some recommendations that you have when people are kind of trying to figure out which one they want to get?

>> Bonnie: I think the first thing and the most important thing is just knowing what you want to do with the device. Do you want to use it for email, do you want it mostly for multimedia or voice, so kind of have that in mind going in. You know, if you want email get something with a full QWERTY keyboard like the BlackBerry Curve. If you want something more voice centric something small and compact that actually looks like a cell phone like the Touch Diamond might help. And if it's multimedia look for something with a big screen like the iPhone and nice integration with, you know, music and video services, so.

>> Brian: And also with these phones they obviously have a lot of different ways to navigate them some have keyboards, some are just touch-screens. Do you have any advice on what a person should look at depending on which phone they want to get?

>> Bonnie: Right, I think at that point you just need to go in the store and play around with the phones and see what works for you, you know? Some of the keyboards are smaller than the others and if you've got larger thumbs you want to --

>> Brian: Sausage fingers.

>> Bonnie: Right

>> Brian: Not good.

>> Bonnie: Not good, you want a bigger keyboard. And look at the screen is it sharp enough for you and, you know, there's different navigations like you said like the joystick, the track ball, kind of figure out what you like and go from there.

>> Brian: So what are some of the things that people have to be aware of when it comes to carriers?

>> Bonnie: Just realize that not all phones are available on all carriers some models are available like across the board but some are exclusive to some carriers so, you know, if you're tied into a contract and want another phone and another carrier you're kind of screwed.

>> Brian: Yeah

>> Bonnie: Unless -- you have to wait until the end of your contract or, you know.

>> Brian: If I'm on Verizon and I want to get the iPhone --

>> Bonnie: Right

>> Brian: I'm gonna have to cancel my --

>> Bonnie: You're gonna have to cancel your contract.

>> Brian: pay money to do that.

>> Bonnie: Right, another option is getting an unlocked phone, so, you know, that's something to consider if you don't want to be tied down to a carrier.

>> Brian: Which are typically more expensive but give you more flexibility.

>> Bonnie: Right, exactly.

>> Brian: And then another thing is that some of the data services just the reception of 3G for certain services or the speed of it is better on carriers like Verizon or TMobile compared to AT&T's in general.

>> Bonnie: Right, yeah and that's where I would recommend just talking to people and kind of getting what their experience has been like with that network.

>> Brian: Okay, excellent now, with these phones here which one does our Senior Editor for mobile phones, Bonnie Cha use?

>> Bonnie: This one right here it's my personal phone, the BlackBerry Curve 8310. I text and email that's all I do I don't like talking on the phone. The keyboard's really good for me and it's been serving me well, so --

>> Brian: Okay

>> Bonnie: that's my choice.

>> Brian: Alright excellent well thanks for coming in Bonnie.

>> Bonnie: Sure

>> Brian: Thanks for all your help. And I'm Brian Tong for CNET.com and hopefully some of these tips will help you guys figure out which Smartphone is the right one for you. ^M00:03:41 [ Music ]