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When Mulling the New Smartphone, It Can Be All in the Family

by Keith Gatling | 4 years ago

OK, so now it’s time for the big question...just what kind of cellphone...or really smartphone...should you get? Should it be an Apple or an Android?

You’re not going to like my answer, because it’s not a simple one.

The answer is...it depends.

Depends on what?

It depends on a number of things. What other kinds of devices do you have? How comfortable are you with “getting under the hood” of technology? How much are you willing to spend? What do you want to do with it besides just make phone calls and send text messages? What do other family members, who will end up being tech support, have? What do other family members that you might want to do video chats with have?

Like I said...it depends.

So first of all, what are you used to, what do you have already? If you already have any Apple product...a computer, an iPad, an iPod...then the answer is very simple...get an iPhone. It’ll work very easily with what you already have. If you already have an iPad, it’ll just seem like a smaller version of that, but that also makes phone calls. If you’ve been using an iPod for years...and I mean a real, Apple-branded iPod, and not some bargain basement, knock-off MP3 player...an iPhone will work with your music just as easily as your iPod did. And it’ll make phone calls.

Will it cost more than an Android phone? Well...yes...ummm...maybe. For the answer to that you need to see my blog post about comparing Apples to equivalent Androids.

Will you be happier with it? I think so. There’ll be less of a learning curve involved.

On the other hand, if you don’t have any Apple devices, and if you already have an Android tablet (like a Samsung), then by all means, get an Android phone. Preferably by the same company that made your tablet. That way it’ll be very easy to transfer the knowledge you have about using one to the other.

However...if you own a Kindle Fire tablet...well now, we need to talk.

I make no secret of the fact that I absolutely hate the Kindle Fire family of tablets. That’s because unlike the Android and Apple devices, they’re what I call “walled gardens” that only want you to be able to play with their friends, and make it very difficult to use anyone else’s apps.

So first of all, if you have one of these devices, when it dies (or you finally get frustrated with it), replace it with either a nice Android tablet or an iPad.

Second, what kind of phone you choose is based on the other considerations; and since I’ve gone on long enough for now, I’ll cover them next time.