What the Heck is the Spec?

With Android phones you have a lot of choice and variety.  Each phone can have wildly differing specifications.  How are you supposed to know what is best for you?  Well, I have read many articles and do you know what they all end up saying?  Choose the one that will meet your needs.  How's that supposed to help?  You may not even know what your needs are yet.  In my opinion it comes down to what features do you find important and what hardware specifications are you willing to pay for.

What do I mean by features?  Well, think of the things on the phone that you can touch or interact with as the features.  For example, the screen size and resolution, hardware keyboard, physical vs. capacitive buttons, and the software over lay that you use every time that you turn on your phone and touch the screen.  Virtual keyboards are becoming more and more the norm.  But, some people really like to interact with a physical keyboard.  Most physical keyboards are nice but they do add some thickness and weight to the phone.  You have to consider how you carry your phone, in a purse versus a front jeans pocket, to see if the thickness of the handset will affect your choice as well.  The screen size will surely make the overall length and width of the phone vary.  A phone with a 3.5" screen is much smaller than the phones that are rocking a 4.3" screen.

Unless you are a little bit of a dork like me or you are just a very informed consumer, hardware specifications can be a little confusing and abstract.  Most people just want a cool phone that will always work for them.  And that's great!  I do too!  But, these carriers are locking me into a two year marriage with this phone and I don't want to have any regrets.  Now, if you watch specs on phones and always want the latest and greatest that Android has to offer...You will NEVER buy a phone!  Because there is always something coming down the road that is better.  So, you may just need to find a phone that looks good, feels good, and performs good and jump right in.  The screen is the part of the phone that you always use.  So, get one that is big enough for you to comfortably use.  The processor and RAM make all of the software run on your phone.  My advice is to not skimp on these two specs.  If you do get a lower end phone with an older processor and less RAM, just be prepared for some jittery response from some apps and event from the regular phone screens that you use to make your phone do all of the neat tricks that is capable of.  If you are going to use this as a primary or secondary camera, make sure to watch some reviews on line and even try it out in the store to see if the camera take good enough pictures.  Remember, more megapixels does NOT always mean better pictures.  Trust your eyes and choose what looks best.  I don't even want to talk about this but...3G vs. 4G has got to be a consideration as well.  4G is much faster than 3G.  But, you need to be in an area that has 4G coverage to see those speeds.  Also, to date the 4G phones tend to have bad battery life compared to 3G phones.  I am sure that will improve in the future.

I always like to have as much choice as possible.  But, that can make choosing the right phone a little stressful if you get overwhelmed.  The iPhone overcomes this by limiting your choice.  They have a 16GB and 32GB model that comes in white or black.  So, you essentially have four choices.  But, the rest of the specs are the same.  This means that if you get an iPhone 4 you can expect that all the apps are going to work the same as any of your friend's iPhones.  That can be comforting and safe.  Their interface is also very polished and intuitive.  A three year old can pick up an iPhone and use it right away.  Which is nice.  Android is much more customizable which can make it more confusing.  I'm OK with that.  Then I can make the phone that is always with me truly mine.  No one else's will be like mine.

So, there is a lot to consider when you are looking for that next phone.  If you get confused just check out some You Tube video reviews of the phones that you are interested in.  Or, join a forum, read articles or leave comments on a blog like this.  People love helping each other out on blogs and forums because we are all excited about the same topic.  This is an important decision.  The phone that you choose is going to cost a lot of money over the two years that you have it.  And, you better like it because it is going to go everywhere with you.  It's going to be like your best friend.

Have fun exploring all of the options available to you!
TPoA