Wireless Phone Buying Guide:  Ease of Use

One of Your Most Important Considerations:  Ease of Use

Ease of use of your wireless phone should be one of the most important considerations in your decision on which model to buy. Gadgets and doodads are useless if you can’t figure out how to use them, or they take so long to employ—being buried in menus and lists—that you wouldn’t want to bother.

The Importance of Keyboard Design

Keypad design is one feature to consider when assessing ease of use for your wireless phone. You should be able to see the keys easily and press them without hitting two keys at once very often. They should have a backlight available for nighttime use, and the menu control should be a larger size key so you can thumb through your choices quickly.

The Importance of Screen Size and Color

Screen size and color is another important design feature. The screen should offer good contrast between the background and screen color, and the fonts should be large enough to read. You should be able to access your speed dialing easily, without having to go through menu steps. Shortcut keys should also be easily accessible.

The Importance of Speakerphones and Headsets

Although there is much talk about using cell phones while driving—and rightly so—some stubborn folks are still going to do it. Speakerphones or headsets will greatly increase ease of use for them, and eliminate some of the distraction of dialing and pressing keys to answer the phone. While lawmakers can’t stop everyone from talking and driving, the wireless phone manufacturers are at least trying to make it as safe as it can be.

The Importance of a Battery

A long battery life is also an important ease-of-use consideration. A wireless phone you have to plug in every few hours is not much of a convenience. Batteries these days often last up to a week with moderate phone use—note the amount of time you will use the phone before you decide what kind of battery would be best.

Easy to Use Keys

If you are considering a palm computer format for your wireless phone, make sure you can press the keys easily. There is little room on a small keypad for all the keys of the alphabet plus punctuation. Some PDA phones offer a stylus to press the keys, but those can easily be lost. Since those are the easiest way to press keys, though, make sure you have several styluses on hand.

The Importance of Reception

One of the most important considerations, though, is reception. If your reception is poor, you have to keep redialing and answering, logging onto the internet again, etc. While much of this depends on your service provider, make sure you have the best possible handset for reception.