Articles - Question of the week: what constitutes a perfect smartphone?

[HEXUS]

The iPhone 3G is here, and BlackBerry is preparing its retort, but are any of these handsets perfect? What features do you seek in the perfect smartphone?

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[Salazaar]

I've been looking for the answer to that question for ages, here's a few to get the ball rolling:

Able to make phone calls and texts (duh).
GPS
High speed data connection (3G+)
WiFi
Bluetooth
Camera(s)
Lots of memory
A relatively open OS (i.e. Symbian/WM6 good, Apple bad)
A user friendly & fast OS (Apple good, Symbian/WM6 bad)
Big screen

[pauldarkside]

Pretty much as Salazaar put it. The current offerings just don't quite tick all of the right boxes - I've been waiting for a good few years to find one which does but it appears I'll have to wait a while longer yet

(Oh and that BB Bold, where's the screen? It's so damn tiny!)

[Lucio]

Personally my key features would be decent touchscreen interface (with stylus for preference!) and WiFi connectivity. For business use, Push e-mail is also pretty much a necessity, along with a good battery life (if it can't last a whole day of use without charge, it's no good!)

[chrestomanci]

I would think of a good smartphone as a general purpose computer that has been shrunk to pocket size, and includes a cellar interface. In some ways I think having a good computer & operating system is more important than some of the extra features Salazaar mentioned like high speed data, and a camera.

Part of the reason I think that way, is because a good smarphone is also a PDA, that help you organize yourself The linux familiar project is quite cleverly named with this idea because it compares a PDA with the idea of a magical animal (such as a cat) that a witch uses to help her express her powers. When you think of a smartphone as part PDA, and get away from attempting to create a phone that does everything, then features like a camera become less important, and it is much more important to think about what the computer can do, and how the user can program it to be more clever.

For that reason, I am following the openmoko project to create an entirely open Linux smartphone. In terms of features on Salazaar list, it does not get a camera or high speed data, but it does get all the rest. More importantly the OS is absolutely open from top to bottom, and you can program it do do anything you want, in more or less any language. To me it has the potential to be a killer smartphone, the only snag is, at present the software is in it's infancy, and it has trouble even being a phone, but in 6 months or so it should be great.

[rjpearce]

Hey guys, your missing a recently released phone!..

The HTC Diamond also came out in July, it's availble from Tues 15th on T-Mobile as an MDA Compact IV. Stock limited though!.. I think the diamond is perfect is just a shame about the soggy bloated windows os underneath.

http://www.htc.com/www/product.aspx?id=46278

Hopefully an iPhone killer but it seems every man, women and sheep has already bought an iPhone.

But is a good phone to keeep me going until Android arrives!

[ionicle]

personally, i like my N95

for simplicity, i think its better than the iphone once your used to it, you can organise it so that everything is where you need it, and everything you need is within reach

5mp camera
8 gig internal memory
2 days + battery life
mp3 player
headphone connectivity
very loud, loudspeaker
wifi
bluetooth

it does almost everything

[nichomach]

Push email; that's the sine qua non. Connectivity-wise, I don't care much about Wi-Fi, as long as I have 3G/HSDPA and a reasonable data tariff. Good selection of applications (so Apple=Fail), and an open platform. GPS is nice, but I have a TomTom 920 anyway, so don't really need it. I actually still love my HTC Touch Dual; it's made my life easier in lots of ways.

[Nub1]

For me the main things are
1) Calls / Texts
2) A proper PIM system
3) A phone that integrates seamlessly with my pc and whatever office software I choose. Activesync and Sync Centre can be complete nightmares. I often end up with 3 or more sets of data in outlook. Grrrrr.
4) Decent processor/ memory so the phone loads and runs apps quickly.
5) Ability to add memory cards
6) Big Touch screen, stylus
7) High speed net connection
8) Push email
9) Decent battery life, mine does spend a lot of time sync'd to my pc whether at home or work but when you have to travel decent battery life is really necessary.
10) Open OS
11) Unlocked or unlockable not that sony ericsson crap sorta unlock.
12) Not the size of a brick !!!!

What I would like
a) decent media player
b) customisability
c) a reset button back to factory settings to enable brick recovery would be nice. To reset phone/bios/OS entirely. Flashing bios scares the crap outta me.
d) min of 5 megapixel camera with flash
e) wifi/ bluetooth
f) GPS
g) slidey out keyboard thingy

think I may be waiting for a while maybe I'm just too demanding

[pauldarkside]

Hey guys, your missing a recently released phone!..

The HTC Diamond also came out in July, it's availble from Tues 15th on T-Mobile as an MDA Compact IV. Stock limited though!.. I think the diamond is perfect is just a shame about the soggy bloated windows os underneath.

http://www.htc.com/www/product.aspx?id=46278

Hopefully an iPhone killer but it seems every man, women and sheep has already bought an iPhone.

But is a good phone to keeep me going until Android arrives!

Nope, didn't miss the HTC. From what I've read the interface is a little clunky/unresponsive and inconsistent. The lack of a memory slot put me off.

[Baggio18]

Aside from the normal functions (call, text, calendar, alarm - and no, don't really need MMS), I would say it has to be wi-fi and a memory slot (micro SD perhaps, not your sony memory stick rubbish).
I find things like GPS, 3G, keyboards etc are nice to haves but would not really be deciding factors.

[Parm]

My smartphone requirements would be pretty simple: wireless internet access, a very good browser, and a very good keyboard (touch-screen or not). Never-ending battery life, too.

I'd probably ditch a lot of other features. Particularly the camera, hardly ever used the camera on any of my phones. Same could be said about games. Never use them as a music player, either.

[jimbouk]

Requirement 1 - doesn't cost £400.

Requirement 2 - works like a phone.

Requirement 3 - can sync with contact/emails/calendar on a variety of programs.

Requirement 4 - mobile email.

People don't want smart phones any more, they want pdas/sublaptops with the ability to make calls.