The mobile phone market is incredibly fast moving. As such, many of the things I say in this article will have little relevance in 12 months time. With this in mind, I will hope to cover mobile phones in such a way as to minimise this possibility. I will discuss many of the factors you may wish to consider when making a purchase decision. Of course, the decision is very much yours, but who knows, perhaps I will cover something below that you haven't considered.

Cameras

Almost every phone now comes packaged with a camera included. The quality of these cameras vary wildly from a very simple flash free 1.3 mega pixel lens to a ten mega pixel camera with high definition video recording. As well as using these cameras for taking photos and recording videos, they also offer functionality in many different ways. Phones with an internet connection for example, can often use on board cameras with communication software such as Skype to make free internet phonecalls. A camera can also often be used as a bar code scanner.

Internal memory

It is now commonplace for mobile phones to include a media player. This feature allows you to watch videos and listen to music on the go. While this feature can be very useful it is somewhat reliant on two other factors. Firstly, and most importantly, the phone will require memory for you to store your data on. This is another factor that varies significantly. Basic phones may come with 128mb storage or less while others can include up to 32Gb of storage. In addition to on board storage, many phones allow for the amount of storage to be increased by the addition of a microSD card. It is now possible to purchase microSD cards up to 32Gb, which can prove very useful when looking to carry media on the go. The second factor is battery life which I will mention briefly now.

Battery life

With phones becoming much thinner and more highly powered, battery life is often compromised. Yes, battery technology has advanced somewhat, but, if you are using your phone to play video you will see its battery life reduce at a very fast rate. When a manufacturer offers a battery length it is usually calculated from when a phone is set to its standby mode where only simple processes are carried out. The figure will be significantly higher than when you use the phones more energy sapping features. Something to look out for.

Whichever handset you decide on I hope that what I have talked about helps you with regards to what to look for and what you can expect.