Buying a mobile handset just got so easy
AS AN increasing number of handset makers are setting their eyes on the Indian mobile consumer, today one is flooded with options to choose from — brands as well as features. Here is a comprehensive, not exhaustive, list of things one must look for while buying a mobile phone. Price: Mobile phones in India range from Rs 1,500 to Rs 40,000. Ideally, one can buy a good phone for around Rs 9,000. Generally, Nokia and Sony Ericsson brands are considered to be the premium brands. Value for Money: Remember, mobile companies use skimming strategy. This means when a new product is launched, it is priced very high, but in a couple of months the price falls drastically. This is especially true for Nokia and a few other brands. On the other hand, Sony Ericsson is slow at reducing prices. Second, ET tests mobiles and publishes reviews on the latest mobile phones in a fortnightly column – Gizmo-logy. Refer to these columns and gauge accordingly. Specific absorption rate (SAR) level: SAR is the unit of measurement for the amount of radio frequency energy absorbed by the body when using a mobile phone. While India does not have any guidelines on SAR levels, phones with SAR value under 0.4 W/kg averaged over 10 grams of tissue are easy to use. Check the SAR level in the manual before buying the phone. It’s technical but it’s important. Where to buy: If you are buying a recentlylaunched phone, authorised dealers are the best places to buy. But if you want to buy a phone that was launched a few months back, authorised dealers may not offer you much bargain. With prices falling drastically, one can get better discounts in the grey market. However, enter at your own risk, as grey market dealers often don’t provide any warranties. Also, there is no way to find out whether the mobile is used or brand new. Battery life: A mobile should offer 120-150 minutes of talk time. The battery performance will ideally be 65-80% of what is printed on the manual. Also, battery life will diminish over time. One way to extend battery life is to charge your phone only when the battery indicator is on the last dot. Keeping the phone on charge throughout the day may damage the battery. Memory: Many phones have an integrated memory, which is expandable by external memory sticks. Usually an internal memory of 10MB upwards is fine. Check whether your phone supports external memory cards. You may buy a 1GB memory card, but your phone may support memory cards only up to 512MB. Next, is the memory a hard disk one? This could be dangerous. If the phone does have one, then you may need to change the phone if the hard disk is corrupted. Go for an expandable memory than a hard disk. Business v/s entertainment phones: Do you need a business phone or an entertainment phone? At this point in time, no phone offers both. Apple’s iPhone is supposed to incorporate the two. But the launch is still a while away. If the primary purpose of the phone is for business, opt for a business phone such as Sony Ericsson’s P990i, Nokia’s 9300i. They offer you entertainment too, but the features are limited. Style, camera & music: These are add-on features. If you are buying a phone for these features, you better buy a decent phone. This means it will cost you a bit extra. Most cameras attached to mobile phones are just for the heck of it. They have poor resolution. It’s only lately that mobile companies have started offering decent camera phones and there are only a few phones with good resolution. Music too is a must for the Gen-X. Sony Ericsson phones beat Nokia on this front. Functions: Many people are lured towards extra functions that a phone offers. But many people do not even use some of the basic functions. There is no point wasting money on additional features. So, if your phone has the capability of text messaging, FM or/and MP3 for music lovers, internet surfing capability and games to pass time, it should be fine. Also, do look out for a handsfree with it.
AS AN increasing number of handset makers are setting their eyes on the Indian mobile consumer, today one is flooded with options to choose from — brands as well as features. Here is a comprehensive, not exhaustive, list of things one must look for while buying a mobile phone. Price: Mobile phones in India range from Rs 1,500 to Rs 40,000. Ideally, one can buy a good phone for around Rs 9,000. Generally, Nokia and Sony Ericsson brands are considered to be the premium brands. Value for Money: Remember, mobile companies use skimming strategy. This means when a new product is launched, it is priced very high, but in a couple of months the price falls drastically. This is especially true for Nokia and a few other brands. On the other hand, Sony Ericsson is slow at reducing prices. Second, ET tests mobiles and publishes reviews on the latest mobile phones in a fortnightly column – Gizmo-logy. Refer to these columns and gauge accordingly. Specific absorption rate (SAR) level: SAR is the unit of measurement for the amount of radio frequency energy absorbed by the body when using a mobile phone. While India does not have any guidelines on SAR levels, phones with SAR value under 0.4 W/kg averaged over 10 grams of tissue are easy to use. Check the SAR level in the manual before buying the phone. It’s technical but it’s important. Where to buy: If you are buying a recentlylaunched phone, authorised dealers are the best places to buy. But if you want to buy a phone that was launched a few months back, authorised dealers may not offer you much bargain. With prices falling drastically, one can get better discounts in the grey market. However, enter at your own risk, as grey market dealers often don’t provide any warranties. Also, there is no way to find out whether the mobile is used or brand new. Battery life: A mobile should offer 120-150 minutes of talk time. The battery performance will ideally be 65-80% of what is printed on the manual. Also, battery life will diminish over time. One way to extend battery life is to charge your phone only when the battery indicator is on the last dot. Keeping the phone on charge throughout the day may damage the battery. Memory: Many phones have an integrated memory, which is expandable by external memory sticks. Usually an internal memory of 10MB upwards is fine. Check whether your phone supports external memory cards. You may buy a 1GB memory card, but your phone may support memory cards only up to 512MB. Next, is the memory a hard disk one? This could be dangerous. If the phone does have one, then you may need to change the phone if the hard disk is corrupted. Go for an expandable memory than a hard disk. Business v/s entertainment phones: Do you need a business phone or an entertainment phone? At this point in time, no phone offers both. Apple’s iPhone is supposed to incorporate the two. But the launch is still a while away. If the primary purpose of the phone is for business, opt for a business phone such as Sony Ericsson’s P990i, Nokia’s 9300i. They offer you entertainment too, but the features are limited. Style, camera & music: These are add-on features. If you are buying a phone for these features, you better buy a decent phone. This means it will cost you a bit extra. Most cameras attached to mobile phones are just for the heck of it. They have poor resolution. It’s only lately that mobile companies have started offering decent camera phones and there are only a few phones with good resolution. Music too is a must for the Gen-X. Sony Ericsson phones beat Nokia on this front. Functions: Many people are lured towards extra functions that a phone offers. But many people do not even use some of the basic functions. There is no point wasting money on additional features. So, if your phone has the capability of text messaging, FM or/and MP3 for music lovers, internet surfing capability and games to pass time, it should be fine. Also, do look out for a handsfree with it.
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