Planning to buy a new mobile phone?

Be ready to answer a whole new set of questions.
The latest mobile phones are often a bit more than all you ever thought you needed in a phone.

The features include MP3 players, high resolution cameras, internet compliance, office compliance, lots of storage space … the list goes on. Some phones have more of these features and others have more of other features. And a few have more of everything. You need to figure out what you really need.

Nokia, Motorola, Sony, Samsung, LG, Haier, Sagem, Apple, Blackberry - you name them and they are ever ready to launch a few more features that are missing in the latest phone you bought just yesterday. Of course, you have to be ready to pay that extra amount to get those features.

The phones come in a wide price range. They could cost as little as Rs.500 and, for those for whom money is no problem, there is the lure of the high-end phones that carry a price tag of more than Rs.50,000.

the size is the least important of your concerns when buying a mobile phone. Your main concerns relate to the stuff that's loaded in the phone: the software and the hardware. If you decide well, you'll be able to meet your needs without paying through your nose.

First things first. Check the battery life of the phone. It would be a pity if you bought a phone with a host of fancy features you can't use because the battery keeps running out on you. A good phone should have a talk-time of between five and seven hours; more importantly, it should have a stand-by time of at least 300 hours.

Let's look at other features. Remember, you should buy a phone not because it has more features than some other phone but because the features are of some use to you. Buy a music phone, for example, only if you are the type who really likes to listen to music - and have the time to do so. Otherwise buying a music phone could just mean that you have compromised on a few other features that might be more useful to you.