Best Smartphone For Your Business

A common topic of debate for my circle is which phone is superior.  I, myself, am an Android fanatic.  I have the t-shirts, the PC wallpaper, and four devices (2 phones and 2 tablets).  Sometimes, I will crack open a beer and play with custom ROMs to give my phone that extra tweak and make it a phone tailored to me.  However, not everybody is a geek and not everybody has such strange hobbies.  Some people just want a phone to do what it's supposed to and that's it.  So, there's your debate.  Androids verses iPhone.  The epic battle.

However, there are other phones to consider and obviously carriers as well.  So I want to cover all the bases.  The phones: Research In Motion's (RIM) Blackberry, Apple's iPhone, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7, and Google's Android phones from various manufacturers.  There are a lot of carriers but the big four I will cover will be Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint.  First, Verizon.

Verizon

Verizon is the country's largest carrier, for now.  That may change if AT&T's attempted acquisition of T-Mobile goes through.  Being with the largest carrier comes with some perks.  Probably the most important of those being coverage.

I, personally, am on Verizon and can attest to the fact that coverage is pretty darned good.  I don't drop calls, can read my emails in Podunk Hollow, and on top of that, there is a very good selection of phones.  Unfortunately, that means you may have to pay a bit more.

At the time of writing this, a business plan with unlimited talk, text, and 2GB of data costs $119.99.  That ain't cheap.  But if you're running a business, connectivity is very important so you may decide it's worth it.


AT&T

AT&T is the nation's second largest and covers most markets pretty well.  However, if you have any friends with AT&T, you've probably seen them step out to take phone calls.  My business partner has it and I hear a fair amount of complaints.  That said, you should still have pretty good reception in most places an average man goes.  Not to mention, they're on a GSM network (unlike Sprint and Verizon) which means that most of those phones are internationally compatible.  If you travel out of the States a lot, that may be crucial (of course the other carriers offer up "global" phones to counter this).

You can get nationwide unlimited with 2GB of data for $94.99.  Cheaper than Verizon but you have to determine whether or not the coverage is worth the extra 25 bucks.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile and Sprint both fill a niche market.  Both offer up tremendous value for the markets they serve well.  T-Mobile's unlimited plan runs at $49.99.  To further entice you, that includes not only text and talk but also data.  Sounds too good to be true, right?  It sort of is.  Though the text and talk are truly unlimited, the data is a bit in the gray area.  If you use too much, they start throttling down on your speeds.

So for example, you get a sweet new 4G phone that downloads at the speed of light.  If you're downloading too much or watching too much Youtube, they slow it down.  If you're a video professional who depends on sites like Youtube or Vimeo to show your clients, you may be a little frustrated when that load screen hits at a bad time.  However, if you're smart, you'll start tapping into WiFi for these uses.


Sprint

In that value market, you have the fourth largest carrier and the smallest of our group, Sprint.  What you lose in going with a company like Sprint is the large selection of devices and great coverage.  I know two people on Sprint and one loves it and the other hates it.  The hate comes from the inability to call her mother from inside her house.  The real kicker?  She lives near downtown Charlotte.

Sprint's unlimited data, talk, and text will run you $109.99.  Why not pay the extra $10 and get Verizon you ask?  Well, Sprint advertises that they don't limit or throttle data.  So 4G is really 4G and stays that way.  Honestly, I wouldn't bank on this remaining true.  The iPhone is notoriously horrible with hogging data use and pushed AT&T and Verizon both to start limiting or charging for the extra data use.  Sprint is anticipated to get the iPhone in a few weeks.

Phones: The Epic Battle

There is a myriad of different phones available so even after you've picked a carrier and plan, you're really just getting started.  The next questions will be about the platform you like and what will really work best for your business.  In an effort to not be biased, I will go over the four main contenders: Blackberry, iPhone, Android, and Windows Phone 7.


iPhone with iOS

The iPhone is available on AT&T and Verizon at the moment with rumors to hit up Sprint in October, 2011.  It's a good phone, honestly.  You can pick up an iPhone 3GS for about 50 bucks, too, without a contract.  So if you don't mind a little older phone, it's a great value.  A new iPhone 4 will run you $199.99 to $299.99.  Those prices should come down with the release of the iPhone 5.

This phone is geared towards simplicity and it does it very well.  They have the most diverse app market of all the smartphones and probably the most loyal consumer base.  One of the larger drawbacks, though, is its lack of Adobe Flash support.  This may be crucial if you find yourself looking at a lot of Flash based websites.

I would recommend this phone to the average phone user who is not interested in the technical aspects of a phone.  If you need a lot of unique apps, don't really care if it's state-of-the-art, and want the support of the local Apple Store, get the iPhone.  One word of advice: buy a good case.  Those phones seem to break often.

Android

If you like the concept of hours of research, breaking in new technologies, and a huge developers community, go Android.  Of course, if you also want a huge selection of phones, this platform is definitely for you.  Please don't assume if you're not a techno-guru, you won't like Android.  You'll just love it that much more if you are.

I personally rock the Motorola Droid X2.  It's a dual-core phone offered up by Verizon.  It's a fast phone with some impressive hardware.  On the flip side, Android wasn't quite ready for hardware that good so I struggled with the phone for a while until an update came out and the development community kicked in.

All the major carriers have a good selection of Droid phones.  And if you like custom ROMs, buy one and visit xda-developers.com.  Some phones allow you to overclock, change boot animations, and customize every single element to make you feel like the phone is really designed for you.  Just be smart when buying one and know that not all Androids are created equal.  As I mentioned, research and research up to the last minute.  New phones seem to be coming out weekly.

Blackberry & Windows Phone 7

I lumped these together because there isn't much to say about Blackberry that you don't already know.  But there's one important thing about Blackberry's parent company Research In Motion.  RIM is on its deathbed and if it doesn't release something to revive its product line, it will go away and go away quickly.  The Blackberry introduced us to the smartphone but it seems to not be getting smarter.  If I were you, I wouldn't buy one now.  Developers are leaving the platform, the phones aren't nearly as good as its competitors, and you may lose support all together in the near future.

Now WP7.  It's probably the most unique of all the smartphones I have seen.  It's clean, simple, and really stands out from the crowd.  Unfortunately, it hasn't grown at the rate seen by the iPhone and more so, Android.  The iPhone has about 20% market share, Android 45%, and WP7 only 2%.  This means there will be less apps and less support.

A huge plus, however, is that many business owners will reap the rewards of having another Microsoft product.  MS Office support is a huge piece of the puzzle that will help elevate this phone into the empty shoes where Blackberry used to stand.  Also, native MS Exchange support will help increase its share (though Exchange works on virtually all smartphones).

WP7 is simple.  I mean, very simple.  Your start screen shows you how many emails you have, social media updates, texts, etc.  It may be a good phone for those who are not tech savvy at all and don't want to be.  You can get in and get out quickly.

A Few Things To Consider

Obviously, if your business uses Google Apps for its infrastructure, a phone OS designed by Google will give you the best experience.  However, most any smartphone can sync with Google Apps as well as MS Exchange.  So don't be dependent on that for your decision.

Go into the store and play with them, too.  Once you decide which platform you want, have fun.  Visit the Apple Store, pick up a Droid Charge, or check out the HTC Surround.  There are a lot of great choices and it may just come down to how well it fits into your hand.  Or maybe just the color.  White iPhone anybody?

Probably the best advice out there is that you shouldn't listen to the long-haired guy with coke-bottle glasses from the mobile store.  Keep in mind, they're getting paid to sell you something.  Ask around, look online, visit cnet.com.  As with anything else, it pays to be an informed consumer...  Especially if you run a business.

- Pedigo (CTO/Partner)