Types of Cell Phones

Cell phones have certainly come a long way in the last few decades, and the rate of progressing technology has given us a device that is so much more than just a 'phone' in today's world. The proverbial smartphone has taken over our lives, and these are mini computers that we can carry around in our pocket. When you see the kind of tasks that you can carry out on your smartphone you will be amazed at the simplicity of them, and their effectiveness as well.

Today, you can use your phone for surfing the Internet and opening heavy flash based websites, you can access your social networking accounts and share information and pictures with friends from all around the world. You can download content from these devices, you can chat with your friends using the various IM apps, you can share content with others using Bluetooth technology, you can store and access large amounts of songs, videos and movies, you can play tons of great games, you can work with spreadsheets and word processors, you can click pictures and shoot videos and then edit them expertly, you can have a video chat with people from anywhere in the world and all these advantages of mobile phones are in addition to the basic tasks of telephony and messaging that a cell phone provides.

The cell phones that are manufactured today are as capable as your PC and this is in fact a device that substitutes your PC when you are on the move. The range of activities that you can perform is very large, but this also leads to a lot of confusion about the various types of cell phones. When one goes out to buy a phone today, one is flooded with innumerable choices and this makes the decision-making process quite difficult. Not only do you have to consider the features of the phone now, you also have to worry about the hardware specifications of the device and the software and the OS that it runs. Since there are so many choices available, it is fair to say that there is truly something for everyone in this market today.

Various Types of Mobile Phones

Smartphone
All the activities mentioned above can now be performed on one single device, and this device has replaced MP3 music players, digital cameras, PDAs and several other devices, and has merged them all together. The smartphone has been around for many years, but the Apple iPhone can be considered to be the true pioneer in this domain. Since then, various new models have arisen that have blatantly copied the hardware and the software of the iPhone, and even surpassed it in some cases. A smartphone is basically a cell phone that does everything well and you can have no complaints with it. You can also connect it to an HDTV through an HDMI port and view high quality content on the TV set and you can also use the GPS on the phone to get accurate navigational details. The best smartphones in the market today are as follows.

• Apple iPhone 4
• Samsung Galaxy S
• Motorola Atrix
• HTC Desire HD
• Sony Ericsson Play (coming soon)

The Camera Phone
A camera phone is similar to a smartphone in many aspects, but the difference is that the camera on the device is better than most point and shoot digital cameras around. The Nokia N8 is a shining example of the perfect camera phone, since it has a 12 MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics and a Xenon flash. The quality of the images that are shot with this phone are very impressive. Regular smartphones have an average camera that gives satisfactory images for regular people, but professionals can use the camera on a camera phone and get extremely clear and crisp pictures. Since the camera lens is better, the size of it will be bigger too. As a result, camera phones are generally bulkier than regular phones, especially at the back of the device.

MP3/ Music Phone
This is one that is designed specifically for listening to music and enjoying it immensely. Music phones are generally cheaper than regular phones, and they do not perform half the functions that a full-fledged smartphone can. Nevertheless they are great for music lovers because they have specific music control buttons on the face of the device, they have high quality audio output which is optimized even further with the help of high quality earphones, and they also have large storage space so that one can store a greater number of songs and audio files on them. The best music phones that are available today are as follows.

• Apple iPhone 4
• Sony Ericsson Aino
• Motorola Droid X
• Samsung Focus
• HTC EVO 4G

The Basic Phone
There are plenty of choices for people who believe that a phone is supposed to be used only for telephony purposes. These are basic phones that are strong, durable and give a far greater battery life than a smartphone user can ever imagine. Some believe that features of telephony, an alarm, a calendar and a flashlight are all a phone should have, and all the major manufacturers service this market segment as well. These phones are priced much lower than other phones too, and they are also good backup phones for people who own complex smartphones that do suffer from defects every now and then. Some popular basic phone models are as follows.

• Samsung Haven
• Nokia 6350
• Motorola Entice
• Sony Ericsson W518a

Apart from these types, you will also need to make a decision about the form factor of the mobile phone that you buy. You can pick one from amongst the following.

• A full touchscreen phone.
• A touchscreen phone with a side-sliding or front-sliding full QWERTY keyboard.
• A phone with a full QWERTY keyboard.
• A clamshell design phone.
• A flip phone.
• A phone with a basic T9 keyboard.

The hardware and the software of the phone is also something that you should take into consideration, as these also make a massive difference. When it comes to picking an OS for your phone you can choose one amongst iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7, Symbian and Palm OS. So, there you have it. Mobile phones are at the peak of their powers today, and the delightful thing is that further improvements are implemented on a regular basis. So, go ahead and pick a good phone for yourself today.