Smartphones for Business Users - What to Choose?

Today, there is a larger variety of smartphones available than ever before. Smartphones come in every shape, size and color imaginable. This makes it increasingly difficult to find a good smart phone for business needs. Choosing the right model for business use is not the same as choosing the right social networking smart phone.

Business users in general have a different set of requirements and needs when it comes to a smart phone, such as access to the corporate Exchange server, remote desktop functionality and so on.

Unfortunately, these things are often ignored by phone manufacturers. This does, however, make it easier to see what phones are designed with business in mind and what phones are designed with personal use in mind. Let’s have a look at the alternatives.

Shopping around for a business smartphone deal can be difficult because most carriers are pushing phones that are for more for personal than business use, i.e., mainly with social networking features, games and multimedia features.

The two most popular platforms for smartphones at the moment are without a doubt the iPhone and Android-based phones. Both of these phone types blur the lines between personal and business-oriented smart phones, but are However, these phones aren’t the only option; Palm and Blackberry phones still hold a small footing in the market for business-oriented smart phones.

As you probably know, the iPhone, since inception, has become the most popular smartphone ever. The phone is one of the hottest products on the market in all categories and they’re selling like hotcakes. Recent releases of the phone have been plagued with a few bugs, however, but this has not discouraged potential buyers as Apple has a tendency to bounce right back.

The iPhone, as popular as it may be, is arguably the least business-oriented of all the other smartphones on the market, but it is continuously growing in popularity even among business users – partly for being the easiest phone to use, but also thanks to its versatility. The iPhone AppStore contains tons of additional software that can make the phone more suited for a certain individual’s needs.

Another very popular option on the market is phones based on the Google-sponsored Android operating system. Since Android was launched, the number of different models has increased exponentially. Because of the sheer number of different Android-based phones, it may be difficult to find the perfect model, but on the plus side they are all compatible and capable of running the same apps.

Android is an open operating system that allows more freedom for developers. Because of this, these phones have become more and more popular with those looking to break away from Apple.

For the same reason they are also often touted as more business-oriented phones – especially for large corporation with in-house developers who can create their own applications. Google has its own version of the aforementioned Apple AppStore – the Android Marketplace, which is not quite as large yet but still big enough to offer almost anything you’re looking for.

Palm and Blackberry phones are still very viable options. These phones have always been the most business oriented phones. They usually feature full keyboards and often include a comprehensive set of business and document editing tools. At the same time, they don’t have as many potentially distracting multimedia features.

This makes these phones very popular with the business community. Also, since these phones aren’t the bestselling devices at the moment, they can be bought for relatively affordable prices.

Whatever device becomes your next business smartphone, just remember to carefully consider the data plan of your carrier. These can often be the deal breaker. Smart phones use a tremendous amount of data so it’s important to consider this before making your final decision.