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Mobile Phone Guide

Physical format

Today’s phones come in a variety of different shapes and sizes, and there’s no “best”
format. There are, however, certain advantages and disadvantages to each; the standard (or
“candy bar”) shaped phones tend to be relatively rugged and durable, but the exposed
screens can mean that they are susceptible to scratches when placed in a pocket with loose
change and car keys, making a case of some sort essential. Flip, or clam shell phones get
around this problem to some extent. They can also fit a larger screen in relation to the
dimensions of the phone (although not all manufacturers choose to take advantage of this).
The downsides are that the hinges can sometimes be a weak point if you treat your phone
roughly, and most have a smaller secondary screen for use when the phone is closed. This
can lead to higher cost and lower battery life relative to an equivalent candy bar phone.

The size is also and important factor -you may not want a phone that you can’t
comfortably slip into a pocket, but equally you need to be sure that the keys are large enough
for you to press cleanly. As with all factors, the best thing a potential purchaser can do is try a
variety of phones and find one that they are comfortable with.

Features

The feature list on today’s phones is nothing short of staggering; it’s difficult to believe
that only ten years ago a very basic mobile phone with limited range, battery life, and
portability was the preserve of the very rich. It now seems that everyone has a slim, powerful
phone with built in cameras, mp3 players, and internet access. “Smart phones” are even more
feature filled, and blurring the line between telephone and PDA – some of these can even be
fitted with gps modules and run satellite navigation programs!

With all of these features, the interface becomes very important – if it’s difficult to use
a feature, chances are that you won’t. Most manufacturers put a lot of effort getting their
interfaces to be as intuitive as possible – try a few and find out what feels right to you. One of
the biggest obstacles to changing phones is that after a few years of using a particular brand
you become accustomed to the way they operate. Suddenly changing to a different
manufacturer can then make the menu system feel clumsy and unwieldy, but give it time;
you’ll soon get used to a new way of doing things, and may find you prefer it – always judge
the phone on its own merits.

This rate of change means that you have to be careful when choosing a mobile
phone. Some people are happy to pay a premium for the latest technology and the kudos
attached to owning what are in some cases very fashionable commodities. As long as these
people go into things with their eyes open that’s fine – but you should always be aware that
the latest portable technology costs, and will be out of date incredibly quickly. By choosing to
stay a little behind the bleeding edge (and we don’t mean carrying round something the size
of a halfbrick that runs on AA batteries!), you can have a smart, functional phone AND CALLS
FREE! (See “Getting the best deals”)

Think about what you really need. We, as consumers tend to be blinded by features
for the first week, but after the honeymoon period is over many people use their phone
regularly for little more than telephone calls, texts, and appointments!

Cameras

In our opinion, it’s only the latest generation of mobile phones that have cameras with
anything more than novelty value. It’s now not uncommon to find a 2 megapixel camera with
autofocus, light, macro mode (for shooting close-up), and low light mode. Obviously these do
not match the output of a dedicated digital camera, but surprisingly good results can be
obtained from phones such as the Sony Ericssoon K750i and K800 and Nokia N80.

Mp3 player

Many phones are now including mp3 (and fm radio in some cases) in their phones.
Sony, for example, has a range of Walkman branded phones – but most manufacturers are
including this facility these days. The sound quality varies from model to model, but in some
cases is equivalent to a dedicated mp3 player. The quality that your mp3’s are encoded at will
have a greater impact upon the quality of sound – better quality (or higher bitrate) files sound
better, but take up more space – the amount of tracks you want to listen to and the storage of
the phone/memory card will determine the best bitrate to use. Some people find 128kps
acceptable, but to our ears a good mp3 encoded by something like the Lame encoder
(available online) at a variable bitrate of around 192kps is noticeably better and well worth the
increased file size. One thing to look out for is the connector – is there a standard 3.5”
headphone jack, to allow you to use your own headphones? Most bundled headsets are not
great quality -although the in-ear models supplied with the Sony W800 is fantastic – and
being unable to switch due to a proprietary input socket can be a major sticking point. (Note
that not many phones currently transmit stereo to Bluetooth headsets, although this
technology is now slowly starting to appear)

Storage & connectivity

With phones being used for storing music and photographs, storage and connectivity
have become important considerations. Most phones will have some onboard memory for
users to store their photographs, music, and downloaded content – but chances are that you’ll
want more. Many phones offer expandable storage via flash memory cards -there are a
variety of formats (memory stick, MMC, miniSD etc). Access speed will probably not be a
major consideration (an extra few seconds when filling or erasing a card is really neither her e
nor there as most of the time you’ll be moving files a few at a time). Prices change all the time

– have a look at the capacity and price of expansion cards at the time you choose your
phone, and factor this into the overall cost – perhaps if you have another digital device (like a
camera or games console) that uses similar media you may choose to pay extra for a card
you can use in both
Manufacturers are starting to include USB cables with their phones these days, a
move we wholeheartedly welcome. The internet is a great resource for ringtones,
screensavers, and the like, and being able to transmit these to the phone without paying extra
for a cable is a huge bonus. Most phones these days support infra-red transmission – this has
a limited range, reliability, and speed; in our experience this is best avoided if you have an
alternative. Bluetooth (available with many newer phones) is a huge improvement. The range
is much improved, and files can be transmitted between phones relatively swiftly. Modern,
(expensive!) models such as the Nokia N91 actually have full wireless 802.11b Wi-Fi
capability for ease of connection to computer networks, other phones, and broadband internet
hotspots.

Battery

Amazing advances in battery technology have been made over the last few years,
and the cells powering today’s phones are cheap, compact and powerful. However, always
take the manufacturers quoted life with a pinch of salt – these are under optimum conditions
and do not take into account any use of extra features. They also assume a new battery –
cells degrade over their life, and eventually will hold very little charge. If you follow the
manufacturer’s instructions for charging however, you should have good battery life for at
least 12 months – at which point you will probably be considering a new phone!!

Finding the best deal

Mobile phones vary tremendously in price, and it’s vitally important to shop around! A
phone costing hundreds on launch can often be obtained free just six months later. There are
a huge variety of retailers; all with offers changing daily, and it can be next to impossible to
keep track of the best deals. Fortunately, you don’t have to – comparison websites such as
www.fone-shaq.co.uk list all the best offers from leading UK retailers, and are updated daily.

You simply choose the phone, deal, or combination you are interested in, and they do all the
hard work for you! The best think about fone-shaq is that all of the deals are listed in the
order of the REAL PRICE you pay, including any cashback offers.

Be cunning – maybe the phone you want is not available on the contract you want. You can
either wait until it becomes available, or think outside the box. Desirable phones are often
paired with less desirable contracts so that the manufacturer can still offer them free and
make money. It can sometimes make good financial sense to buy the phone you want on a
tariff you don’t (perhaps an off-peak only one for example). Over the course of twelve months
this will work out very cheaply, or indeed free. Now, you choose the tariff you want, and a less
desirable free phone. When this arrives, put this sim into the phone you want to keep, bin the
other (or keep it for weekend calls), and sell the other phone on eBay!

These days, many networks don’t lock their phones so you can simply slot the new
SIM card straight in. If you are unlucky and the phone does have to be unlocked (assuming
you’ve chosen a deal with a different network of course!), this can generally be done cheaply

– although you should check this prior to making a purchasing decision!

Cashback

This is pretty much how it all works. Although the adverts will say free line rental it will nearly
always entail you paying out the normal line rental amounts first and then redeeming those
amounts at regular intervals. Don’t panic, it’s easy.
For example;
12 months free line rental (normally 30 pounds a month) saving you 360 pounds!
Really means;
Pay out the normal 30 pounds a month and then getting it all back at regular 3 or 4 monthly
intervals.
Month 1-3 pay out 90 pounds in total
Month 4 pay out 30 pounds but also get back the previous 90 pounds.
This is worth knowing, it’s not a scam that these companies are pulling but it is slightly
different from what you might expect. Just make sure that you are on the ball and follow their
rules for reclaiming your cash.
It does work out right in the end and is also an absolute bargain. In fact these 12 month free
line rental deals usually come with a free phone and free minutes and texts. If you look
around you should never really have to pay for your phone or your calls ever again. Truly a
HUGE saving!
They are relying on the fact that you will either go over you monthly allowance or will stay with
them at the end of the 12 month period out of some kind of misguided loyalty or because you
can’t be bothered to change contracts.

Insurance

Most deals include 3 months free insurance. It is debatable how useful this is – it
normally costs £5 a month after the free period (so £45 for the first year), and generally
doesn’t cover you if you lose the phone. Any defects in manufacture should be covered by the
warranty, so you are only getting extra protection in terms of theft and accidental damage –
only you can decide if this is worth it to you.

Itemized billing

Most tariffs these days include this, but do double check – it can add another pound
or so to your monthly bill otherwise

The Key Rule!

If there is one rule that you must really try and follow it is this;
Don’t buy your phone in the high street.
Why? Well for a start you have to pay for the shop rental, then there are the wages of the
pretty blonde girl who is selling you the phone and smiling nicely as well as the young man
standing handsomely in the corner trying to look busy, there is also the heat & light &
insurance but most of all it is invariably cheaper on-line!

Many places and websites will tell you to go into those shops and haggle. Well yes
you can haggle and you can also knock them down a fair bit. But think about it – do you really
think you can get them down to the same level as the online deals? Why should they?
Check for yourself…

Summary

As a summary you need to take the following steps;

. Choose the functionality you need or want. Be realistic.
. Read some reviews – these are available all over the place for free so don’t feel you
have to fork out for a magazine.

. Start looking. DON’T go straight to the high street and buy it there – you will pay over
the odds and feel like a dunce later on. Look online; try using a trusted comparison
website such as fone-shaq to save looking at all of the sites in turn, the more
trouble you can save the better!

. Look at the details of the deal. Make sure you know what is included and that it is
really what you want. Try to shy away from 18 month contracts, in our opinion 18
months is too long for a phone.

. Buy and enjoy and gloat at your friends who bought their phone on the high-street.
Try making a point of how much you have saved and see the look on their face.
. Make sure you follow the rules – if you have to reclaim your money in a certain way
then DO IT!
. Start looking again after 11 months to give you time to sort yourself out for your next
bargain!

Tips and things to remember

. You probably won’t use half of the functions of your fancy phone…are you sure you
want them?

. Don’t forget the holy grail of mobile phones – the 12 MONTH FREE LINE RENTAL. It
may not be exactly the phone you want but damn it, it’s FREE! fone-shaq has an
entire page of these deals.

. Avoid 18 month contracts
. Try to buy through a known retailer (see below)
. Stick to the rules of reclaiming your money
. Don’t feel any loyalty to the retailers. As soon as your contract is up, move on.

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