Best Smartphones and PDA Phones

Best Smartphones and PDA Phones

Smartphone use is very much on the rise and large part of this growing trend (smartphone sales increased 60% year over year, comparing 2005 with 2006) is that consumers are demanding more and more functionality from their mobile communicators. Not only do you want the best voice quality, but you want to keep up with e-mails while on the road, manage your hectic schedule, keep up-to-date with your contacts, and stay connected to the internet in more ways than one no matter where you are. Smartphones and PDA phones provide this highly sought after functionality in ways that a regular cell phone, no matter how fashionable, ever can.

While the best smartphones and PDA phones are still marketed primarily at high-end business users, more and more "average" people are purchasing them as well. Here are a few of the most popular offerings in the market today, from the multimedia-centric to the ones catered specifically to the "power user."

BlackBerry Pearl 8100

During its development, it went by the codename "Stealth." It was going to be the next-generation smartphone from Canada-based Research in Motion (RIM), revolutionizing its BlackBerry brand, and by nearly all accounts, the BlackBerry 8100 "Pearl" has been a major success. Taking on a more traditional "phone" form factor than most of its BlackBerry stablemates, the Pearl does not come with a full QWERTY keyboard. Instead, this hot smartphone uses RIM's propriety "SureType" technology wherein two letters are mapped to each key, but still in a QWERTY-like layout. What this means is that a single button corresponds both to the letter Q and the letter W, and then the on-board algorithm takes its best guess as to what word you are trying to spell.

Because of this SureType keyboard, the Pearl is quite a bit more compact than most BlackBerry devices on the market, and finds a healthy middle ground between T9 predictive text (which most cell phones use for SMS text messages, for example) and a full QWERTY keyboard.

What really sets this BlackBerry apart, however, is that the Pearl does not come with the standard "scroll wheel" that other BlackBerry devices use. Instead, this PDA phone comes with an innovative trackball for navigation and most, if not all people who have used it, loved it. Naturally, the 8100 Pearl also comes with the usual suite of BlackBerry software, including Push Email and Personal Information Management (PIM) solutions. Look for it from Rogers Wireless, Cingular, and T-Mobile.

• Pros: compact form factor, unique trackball, very fashionable "phone-like" design

• Cons: no QWERTY keyboard, only 1.3 megapixel camera, no 3G high-speed data

Nokia N80

Personally, I love slider phones. This way, they can maintain a relatively compact footprint, while combining it with a larger display. The Nokia N80 caters to a different segment of the market than the more business-oriented BlackBerry and Palm Treo devices. It is, first and foremost, a multimedia machine. In this way, it comes with a fantastic 3.2 megapixel camera (which also records CIF video), integrated music (MP3) and video player, and high-speed UMTS for over-the-air data transfers.

The aforementioned large color screen (35 x 41 mm) is a very high resolution for a cell phone (352 x 416 pixels), and there is a secondary VGA camera mounted on the front for video calls. The operating system is Symbian version 9.1 with a Series 60 (S60) user interface. This is a very powerful solution as there are many unique programs available that you can run in a Symbian S60 environment.

On the downside, there is no QWERTY keyboard (only a regular numerical keypad), so inputting text in the case of emails, schedule events, and SMS text messages can be more difficult than on other smartphones or on PDA phones. Still, the Nokia N80 is a very formidable smartphone and comes highly recommended.

• Pros: Fantastic 3.2 megapixel camera, slider form factor, multimedia powerhouse, high resolution display, WiFi connectivity

• Cons: Not as readily available, only a regular numerical keypad, not a full "PDA" phone

Motorola Q

Motorola was one of the first companies to ever sell a cell phone to the commercial market and as such, they have many years of experience to back up their formidable reputation. With the huge popularity of the Motorola RAZR and its many variants, including the SLVR candybar, Motorola has really established itself as an industry leader in developing world class slim cell phones.

They've taken this "thin is in" mantra to the smartphone segment as well with the availability of the Motorola Q, sometimes shortened simply to the Moto Q. You can pick one up from several popular service providers, including Bell Mobility, Verizon, and Telus Mobility. It is easily one of the slimmest smartphones on the market at just 11.5mm thick, especially considering that it comes with a full QWERTY keyboard and runs on Windows Mobile 5.0 Smartphone Edition OS. If you want a touchscreen, however, this is not the device for you (it doesn't have one).

Some of its key features include a 1.3 megapixel camera, miniSD memory card expansion, side thumbwheel, 320 x 240 pixel color display, PIM functionality, and advanced speech recognition and speakerphone.

Other than BlackBerry PDA Phones, the Motorola Q's largest competition right now is the Samsung BlackJack, available from Cingular Wireless. This Samsung alternative comes with much of the same features in an equally skinny package.

• Pros: Incredibly thin, excellent keyboard, backed up by Motorola's years of experience

• Cons: No touchscreen, mediocre camera, no WiFi, display could be bigger

What Smartphone or PDA Phone is Best?

If you're in the market for the absolute best smartphone or PDA phone, there are countless options out there for you. In addition to the three cell phones described above, other notable options include the HTC Wizard (available as the T-Mobile MDA, Cingular 8125, i-mate KJAM, and Qtek 9100, among several other names), Palm Treo 700wx, and the Sony Ericsson P990i.

There is no ultimate smartphone that will be perfect for everyone. Take a moment to consider what features are most important to you, whether size is a defining factor, and what price range you'd like to stay in, and you will surely find the best smartphone or PDA phone for you'.

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