With all the flashy new mobile phones out there, it’s easy to get confused about what is really essential for a basic, budget mobile phone. If you suspect that you really don’t need a phone with a camera, MP3 player, and a connection to the internet, you’re probably right. Mobile phone companies make the most money off of new, high-tech models that offer a lot of features no one really needs. In a sense, mobile phones are becoming victims of technology for technology’s sake, and mobile phone consumers are paying for it. The truth is, most people only need a few essential features on their mobile phones. Anything else is just bells and whistles designed to make mobile phone service providers money.
Basic Mobile Phone Features
These features are included on virtually every mobile phone made in the last few years, and they are really all most people need.
Voice Messaging
This is essentially an answering machine for your mobile phone. When someone calls and you aren’t able to answer, a personalized message will tell the caller you aren’t available and allow them to leave a recorded message for you to listen to later. A message service is important because it allows you to turn your phone off without worrying about missed calls.
Caller ID
Let’s face it, sometimes you just don’t feel like talking to Great Aunt Hilda. Caller ID displays the number (and sometimes the name) of the person who’s calling, allowing you to screen your mobile phone calls.
Phonebook
Mobile phones allow you to store frequently called numbers in a phone book, making it easy to make calls without having to look up a number. Some mobile phones have speed dial buttons that allow you to assign a phone number to a specific keystroke.
Lithium Ion Battery
In the early days of mobile phones, you could only talk an hour or two before needing to recharge your battery. Thanks to new technology, lithium ion batteries offer days of talk time before needing to be recharged. Although not all mobile phones include this type of battery, don’t bother getting one that doesn’t.
Nice Extras
These features are often, but not always, included with a mobile phone plan. While these things are nice to have, they aren’t essential, and they can even cost extra when you use them.
Text Messages
Text messages are the biggest scam in the mobile phone industry. It costs mobile service providers virtually nothing to send a text message, but because it’s novel, they often charge extra for it. Texting has become so popular that most plans include several hundred text messages a month. Just make sure you don’t go over your allotted number of texts or you’ll be paying for something that should be free.
Multiple Ringtones
Mobile phones usually come with a selection of ringtones based on classical or other royalty-free music. Custom ringtones downloaded from the internet are one of the mobile phone industry’s biggest money makers. While you’ll pay only 79p for a full version of a song on iTunes, a 30 second ringtone version will cost £3.50 plus the extra fee charged for time connected to the internet. Many mobile phones allow you to choose a custom ring for people in your address book, so you’ll know who’s calling just by what ringtone your phone plays.
Call Forwarding
Call forwarding allows you to send calls to your home or office to your mobile phone. This is a great feature if you are traveling or just spend a lot of time away from a landline. However, call forwarding usually costs extra and it cuts into your monthly allotment of minutes.
Games
Who hasn’t snuck in a round of solitaire during a dull meeting? Most mobile phones come stocked with one or two basic games as well as the ability to download more via the internet. An increasingly popular tactic is to “rent” games by paying a flat fee each month. Be wary when downloading a game with a monthly fee. Even if you stop using the game, you’ll continue to be charged unless you cancel the service. Buying a game outright is usually two or three times more expensive, but if you plan on keeping it a long time, it’s usually the best option.
Mobile Phone Money-Makers
These features are really just fluff for most mobile phone users. You don’t need these things, and you’ll probably end up paying to use them. Most of these features are designed to make money for mobile phone service providers.
Camera
Cameras have been common on mobile phones for a few years now, but why? Does anyone really need a mobile phone camera that takes fuzzy, low-resolution pictures? While taking a picture with your camera phone is free, sending it to someone costs extra.
Wireless Internet
Sure, it’s fun to browse the internet on your mobile phone at first, but the high fees associated with surfing the web on the go make mobile phones a poor choice for checking your email or using Google. What’s more, the tiny screen on your mobile phone isn’t suited to most web sites and makes the whole business miserable and frustrating unless you have a mobile phone specifically designed for using the internet.
MP3 Player
Since the rise of the ipod, MP3 players are showing up everywhere, and mobile phones are no exception. While having a combination MP3 player/mobile phone is a great idea, it’s still new enough that it just isn’t affordable yet. Mobile service providers include MP3 players in the hope that users will download songs using their mobile phone, which is far more expensive than using a regular computer because the mobile service provider can charge hefty fees for using the internet.
GPS
The newest gimmick is including GPS devices with mobile phones. Again, using these devices will require being connected to the internet. While GPS is a cool idea (imagine being able to get step-by-step directions to your co-workers party from your mobile phone), it’s still far too expensive to be practical for most mobile phone users.
Subscribe to RSS