Buying a mobile phone is the last stop in your journey of endless days spent on choosing one. Sure, you can splurge on a mobile that’s just entered into the market. But it doesn’t hurt to be a little objective and buy a mobile with features you will definitely use rather than an expensive device that you wouldn’t know how to use even if you wanted to. The point is, it’s better to figure out why you want to buy a particular mobile. For those who don’t have any handset in mind, here’s how you can go about freezing on the right one.
What kind of a buyer are you?
The first criterion for choosing a mobile phone is assessing yourself and your needs. Or if the mobile is a gift, then assessing the type of person your friend/relative is. If you’re a tech enthusiast, waiting to get your hands on the latest in the tech world pronto, then you’ve already narrowed your choices to the phones that offer new and innovative technologies – the HTC Touch with touchscreen and Touch Flo technology. If you’re a slightly butter-fingered person, then the ideal option would be a phone that can stand being knocked around a few times such as the Nokia E61i. If you are the strictly no-frills, person, then you only need to look at basic entry-level phones. Options are aplenty among brands such as Nokia (the 6080 or the 2630 priced around 5K), or the Motorola W215 in the same range, the red hot Samsung SGH C170 under 3K or the under 5K Sony Ericsson T250i.
What do you want it for?
Second step – what use are you going to put your mobile to apart from making and receiving calls and SMS. There’s so much you can do with your mobile these days. You can listen to songs, watch videos, play game, surf the net, make presentations, locate places - the list is endless. You have to figure what you want, if it is instant Internet connectivity, Office applications, PDA functionalities then BlackBerry, HTC smartphones offer plenty of options. There are also various PDA mobile phones that do a marvelous job at browsing such as the Qwerty Palm Treo 750, available for Rs 26,990, or the HTC P3300 with Wi-Fi feature, priced Rs 23,000. Both of the above are Windows Mobile phones (5.0 Pocket PC edition). Smartphones such as E61i and the Sony Ericsson P990i is good for surfing. If you want oodles of music ready at hand, there’s Sony Ericsson’s Walkman series and Nokia’s XpressMusic. If you want a digicam double, then you have plenty of 5-megapixel options – Nokia N95, Sony Ericsson K850i, LG KU990, there is also Sony Ericsson’s CyberShot series.
How much are you willing to pay?
This is the most important aspect of them all. More often than not, your search for a mobile begins with the money you’re willing to spend for it. It’s always easier to narrow your choices more efficiently if you have, at least, a rough budget in mind. Of course, it is also necessary to be clued in on the average cost of mobile phones in various categories. For instance, you can get yourself a good multimedia handset comfortably within Rs 12,000 – Rs 15,000. You may have to shell somewhere in the vicinity of Rs 20,000 and above for a good smartphone with QWERTY keypad, Wi-Fi connectivity, some multimedia frills, PDA functionality and so on.
Where to look for it?
If you’ve decided on a model, the next step is finding out where you can get it. Today, of course, electronic outlets have sprung up in every nook and corner of the country. But before you go to the dealer in your locality, it is important to check up on market prices of the mobile phone you intend to buy. Most dealers sell mobiles at prices less than MRP and the MRP is anyway on the mobile box. But in case your dealer is giving you a discount, you need to be clued in on whether it’s a worthy buy from that store or not. A good guide here is product websites, where you get information on best prices available in the market and which store offers these best prices.
What’s the best price and where can you get it?
Another thing to keep in mind is the time of buy. If you’re buying around the festive season, keep your ear and eyes out for festive discounts because there will be plenty. It’s not difficult to spot, for one thing the big stores will most definitely have is a special price or exchange offer lined up. So you should stay informed about big stores like The Mobile Store, Vijay Sales, Croma, or any other big retail store in your city or town you live in. Another place you can check for regular coverage of hot deals on all lifestyle products is here.
Non-festive season, a good option is online shopping sites such as ebay or futurebazzar, which always provide some offers or discounts on products, especially for mobiles, as it is the hottest selling product of them all!
