Whoever said mobile phones are used for calling has been living in the last century. A mobile phone is now so much more than just a calling or messaging device. It is a lifestyle gadget. Through your mobile, you can access the Internet, listen to music, watch videos, play games. When a gizmo is so central to our existence, the buying decision becomes even more so. Deciding which cell phone is right for you depends on many factors such as the place where you would use the phone, how often you would you make and receive calls, roaming access, the security and sound features you need. Here are a few important things to consider when buying a cell phone. But more than that, with connectivity being the mantra, it is also critical to know the various features a phone offers in terms of multimedia and connectivity.

You may already have a budget in mind as to how much you would like to spend. Mobile phones typically range between Rs 1,519 to Rs 62,829. The size and features affect the price.

YOU NEED THE PHONE FOR:
That you need a mobile is a foregone conclusion; what needs to be figured however, is what you will use the mobile for. The application the mobile is most needed for will help you get that much closer to deciding the phone you want to buy. Choose the personality that applies to you and determine the phone of your choice.

Basic user
You are one of the rare few people who actually needs a mobile just for calling and messaging and couldn't be bothered about the rest of the features. In fact you’ve hardly ever scrolled through all the setting on a mobile phone.

Type of phone - The basic user needs a simple straight forward mobile with none of the multimedia or connectivity frills. You might not even miss the games in your phone. However, since you need the phone for calls and SMS, you do need to check for talktime as well as standby time. The phone should ideally have at least two to three hours of talktime and up to three days of standby time.

Mid-range
You need it primarily for calling, but would like a few other features like music or games that you could fiddle around with.

Type of phone - You're looking at something between a too-tech and no-tech phone. So you want a little bit of both. The mobile that you would suit you, should have a few additional features besides the regular ones like a radio or a basic camera or a few games, maybe Infrared or GPRS. While you’re not stingy, you still have a certain upper limit beyond which you won't spend on a phone.

On-the-road user
You want a phone that is sturdy and has a long battery life as your constant on-the move lifestyle won't allow you to recharge too frequently. Plus, since you're almost always on the road, you need a phone that can keep you entertained as well as stay connected through the web.

Type of phone - A sturdy, healthy talktime, preferably world phone. You are looking at a phone with features like voice dialling, speaker phone, wireless connectivity through Bluetooth, Infrared, at least 350 hours of standby time, a 2 or more megapixel camera, as well as an LCD colour display.

High-powered executive
You need your entire work den in your palm. So this means your phone should be a mini-desktop with all the features of a PDA, Bluetooth, with conference calling capabilities, as well as a QWERTY keyboard.

Type of phone - You are looking at high-end business phones. A complete PDA enabled phone with all the what-have-yous of wireless connectivity. With the kind of work that you do, you need to be carrying your office with you wherever you go and so, your mobile must substitute your workstation.

Multimedia
You want a mobile purely for its multimedia applications. A camera, an MP3 and the latest 3G are what you look for in a phone and the higher the multimedia applications, the more appealing the phone.

Type of phone - You need a mobile phone that will have a high-resolution camera, a good quality MP3 as well as FM, and a host of other features like music composer, photo as well as video editor, memory slot, multiple format support, screen resolution with A2DP support.

Fashion
Features are important but what's more important is that the phone should be in. You are extremely fashion-conscious, so the newer and trendier the phone, the better.

You clearly like the latest, so more the features, the better and since your prime concern is having the trendiest model, price is not a concern. So before we go into the features of the phone, let's look at the different types of mobile phones. They are of four types – candy-bar, clamshell, slider, and the Communicator/PDA phone type. So among the many features that you choose from, you need to figure out which type of phone you would want. A candy-bar is the regular boxy phone. It's available in various sizes and weights. A clamshell is very stylish and also useful if you intend keeping the mobile in your pocket as this phone eliminates the possibility of accidental calls. However, if you need to operate the phone with one hand then a clamshell may be inconvenient. The slider is also a very handsome looking mobile phone type. This one too is very handy to use. Before buying a phone, just place it on your ear and see if you're comfortable with it. Also, see if the mobile can be scrunched between your shoulder and ear. Just like in shoes, try and break into the model, get comfortable with the weight, size and shape of the phone you are planning to buy. A phone may look very stylish but if you are uncomfortable using it, you'll never be able to enjoy your purchase.

Also the mobile you buy will depend on the carrier, that is whether it is GSM or CDMA. This choice will depend on which service provider offers the best service as well the best coverage in your area. While giants like Tata and Reliance offer CDMA, there are numerous service providers for GSM mobiles. If you want a feature packed phone, then you should buy a GSM mobile. However, if you are looking at a budget phone with limited features, then CDMA phones are ideal. Also, the tariff costs on CDMA phones is cheaper especially on long distance calls.

FEATURES:
Talk time and standby time
The talk time of the cellular phone is the number of minutes you can talk with a fully charged standard battery. The talk time with a standard battery varies between 120 minutes to 360 minutes. Approximately 700 mAh will be able to give you a talk time of 4 to 5 hours. Standby time refers to the time that the battery will last (in hours) when the mobile phone is switched on but is not in use (i.e. not being used to make or receive calls).

Phone operating system/user interface
The simple test here is – fiddle with the model, if in five minutes you are nowhere close to figuring out the operations, the mobile is not user-friendly. It would be sensible to go for mobiles that are easy to use with easy access buttons. Also you shouldn't go for a phone that has more features than you need.

Dual Band/Tri Band/Quad Band
You cannot use a phone in a country where your GSM is not supported. If you are a globetrotter, you would like to use a handset that can be operated, so you would at least need a phone with a dual/tri band. Quad-band phones, as the name suggests, operate across four frequency bands. They provide better coverage than triple-, dual-, or singleband phones. These phones are compatible with four GSM frequencies— 850 MHz (prevalent in the US), 900 MHz (prevalent in Europe), 1800 MHz (prevalent in Asia), and 1900 MHz (also available in the US). Dual band phones, however, are the most common.

EDGE/EGPRS
You can use all the Internet applications like web browsing, email, chat over the mobile network at a higher speed than GPRS enabled phones and view all the websites in their exact form on the Internet.

WAP
Enables easy and quick exchange of information via e-mails and also provides easy access to Internet services such as weather forecast or online booking of cinema tickets etc.

Bluetooth/Infrared
A hassle free, wireless method that is very useful for sending and receiving phone book entries (business cards), pictures, music files, reminder notes, etc.

Wi-Fi
It allows you to access your office or home wireless network including access to the files that are available on the network.

USB connector
It allows the user to connect his or her mobile phone with the computer or other peripherals for data transfer. If the mobile has a USB connector cable, the data and images files can be transferred by connecting the phone to the PC via a manufacturer approved data cable. One end of this cable will be attached to the mobile phone and the other end will be a normal USB connector, which can be connected in the PC USB port, and the data can be transferred between the devices through the software provided by the mobile phone manufacturer.

FM radio
This is a handy feature to have during long journeys. Besides, since it is a satellite medium, you dont have to worry about taking up memory space on your phone.

MP3 capability
If your MP3 capable mobile phone is WAP-enabled, you can directly download and play MP3 music on your phone. In case your phone is not WAP enabled, you can simply transfer the downloaded music from the PC onto the mobile phone.

Inbuilt camera
Digital cameras to mobile phones can vary from .3 megapixels to 5 megapixels. The quality of the image depends on the camera lens as well as its resolution. Image quality of 2 MP cameras are decent. Users can transfer the images to their computer or directly to the printer through various connectivity options like Bluetooth, Infrared, USB connector and Wi-Fi.

Video recording
Some camera mobiles have the feature to capture moving pictures or videos. All camera mobiles phones have different duration lengths of video recording. It allows the user to record video on their camera mobile phones. Depending on the duration capacity of the mobile phone, one will be able to take short or long videos.

MORE FEATURES
One can select a mobile phone based on the features mentioned below. First narrow down the features that are required. Buying a very high-end mobile phone with all the features (which are very expensive) will be of little use if at the end of the day you are not going to use all the features available. Make sure the money spent by you does not go down the drain.

PDA enabled
Enables you to carry out the functions of a PDA, which means working on Outlook, Word, Excel, Powerpoint and other such apps other than functioning as a camera, music player, alarm etc.

Voice dial
Voice dial is very convenient and useful in places where you cannot see the keypad or while driving as it helps you keep your hands off the phone. It also assists speedy dialling of telephone numbers.

Flight mode
The flight mode option allows the user to switch off the mobile phone feature on his phone and use it only as a PDA or an MP3 player. This allows the user to use the PDA or mp3 function of their mobile phone in areas where they are not allowed to use their mobile phones like airplanes, etc. This allows one to access the other features of his mobile phones while access areas where mobile frequency might interrupt with the working like airplanes, auditoriums, etc.

Handsfree speaker
Allows the user to use his mobile phone without placing the phone next to his ear.

Touchscreen
Touchscreens are common in PDA enabled smartphones such as the XDA O2; it allows the user to feed in data on the phone with a stylus, avoiding use of the keypad.

Flash
Some mobiles phones have an inbuilt flash. There are two types of flashlights – first is a photo light and the other is flashgun, which is quite similar to a normal camera. Photo light works more like a flashlight, whereas flash only works when the shutter button is pressed to capture the image. It allows the users to take photographs from their camera mobile phones in low light conditions.

This is a long list of features but at the end of the day, it is usually a couple of features that matter most to a user - a decent talk time ranging between 3-4 hours after your daily battery charge, decent storage capacity for your music and photo files, earphones or headset to talk while driving or walking. Of course, die-hard techies would beg to disagree!