Sorry about the topic name- I know there is no one "best" cell phone for anybody, but I have certain specific needs and wants, and would like help in narrowing my list down to a handful of brands and models.
Needs/really wants:
- Phone should be openline/unlocked or easily unlockable at a repair shop, as I change SIMs and carriers from time to time: I'm currently using Globe but may want to switch to Smart later to take advantage of free Smart-to-Smart texting between my wife and me.
- Good keypad ergonomics (if not a touchscreen phone). It should be very east to text on as I do that on my cell phones more than almost anything else.
- Very responsive screen if a touchscreen phone, My wife has a Samsung touchscreen phone (I don't know the model) which she loves and I hate. I like the large screens of the touchscreen phones but I miss my keypad/keyboard.
- Easy to read in direct sunlight. I live in the tropics and the sun's pretty bright on clear days.
- Camera that takes very good photos even in lower light. It should have a bright flash too. I'm involved in animal rescue work and I need a camera that's always handy to record those unexpected encounters: photograph a dog in distress, an incident of animal abuse, etc. It should have a dedicated camera shutter release button on the side of the phone.
- A notepad or memo application for shopping lists, writing down directions to a place, etc.
- Countdown timer (so I don't burn the rice)
- Calculator that's easy to use.
- An ebook reader as this is actually what I use my phone for the most, thanks to Project Gutenberg and others. It should read standard-format files such as plain text or PDF. Ideally it will remember my place if I should have to close my ebook in a hurry, such as when my wife asks me the time (I should probably get a watch, hehe). At the very least the phone should have an ebook reader that works on it available for download if it doesn't already come with one installed.
- USB and Bluetooth connectivity
- Wifi so I can look things up on the Internet without having to use up my phone load (we all use prepaid SIMs here in the Philippines).
- It shouldn't cost a million skillion pesos. Php8000-8500 (under US$200) would be my upper limit. A used phone would be OK: it doesn't have to be the latest and greatest bleeding-edge technology. I paid P7600 for a new Sony Ericsson T700 last year, to give you an idea of prices here. Most newer Smartphones and iPhones cost over P10,000 which is too much money for me.
- It should be smallish yet rugged. My current phone looks pretty much like a Blackberry Curve or Nokia C3, so one about that size and shape would be OK, or even smaller. I used to have a Sony Ericsson P990i and while that was a nice phone in many ways it was too bulky to carry in my pocket.
Wants/nice to haves:
- Quad-band GSM so my phone will still work in case I ever go back to the US.
- Java so I can add games, apps, etc.
- QWERTY keyboard. I can get by with a regular alphanumeric keypad if the ergonomics are good, but I've gotten kind of spoiled by my MyPhone QT-23's Blackberry-like keyboard.
The QWERTY keyboard should have the following keys so I don't have to go to the symbols menu to add them while texting (I use these a lot): # @ & : ; ( ) ! ? , .
- Flashlight for the power "brownouts" (scheduled rotational outages) we get here.
- FM radio that doesn't need headphones plugged in for its antenna, for entertainment during abovementioned brownouts. I don't really need a radio and rarely use it, but it would still be nice to have.
- 3.5mm audio jack, so I can use my regular headphones when listening to music (which, again, I rarely do, but still...)
- GPS to help me find my way, and in case I want to go geocaching. Not required, would probably be rarely or never used, but nice to have if I ever need it. It's always better to have something and not need it than to need it and not have it.
- A Smartphone OS such as Android or Symbian would be nice to have too, so I can play with it and install mods and tweaks should I ever be bored. Not required at all but it might be fun.
Main or major needs: very good ergonomics for ease of texting (whether keypad, QWERTY keyboard or pure touchscreen), camera that takes good photos even in suboptimal lighting conditions, ability to read (preferably) plain-text or PDF ebooks, memo/notepad, alarm clock, countdown timer, wifi, small to medium form factor, ruggedness/sturdiness of case, keys and buttons.
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