When shopping for a cell phone, making the right choice can be an uphill task. This is because there are different models and designs to choose from.

You should shop smart and choose a phone that compliments your lifestyle and meets your needs. This cell phone shopping guide will help you make informed choices.

1. Features and Style of Cell Phones

Your choice of a cell phone will be determined by your budget and needs. If you are working with a tight budget and you have basic needs, you can settle for low priced cell phones.

On the other hand, if you want the best technology in the market, there are cell phones that match your need. However, before making your pick, there are a couple of things you need to consider.

1.1 Smartphone

This is more than your average cell phone. Apart from offering basic phone capability, they have amazing built in applications and they can be used to access the internet. They also use different operating systems such as Blackberry, Android, Blackberry OS, Windows Mobile and iOS.

With applications in Smartphones, users can respond to mails, read mail, access documents and view web pages at fast speeds.

1.2 Non-Smartphones

These have texting and talking capabilities. While they can be used to access the internet, the speed is lower and the quality cannot match up to that of Smartphones. This is a smart choice if you need a cell phone for communication purposes only and what is more, it is affordable.

Before buying a cell phone, be sure to look at the features. This is because some phones are designed for specific purposes and as such, certain features are emphasized more than others.

For instance, there are some cell phones that come with walkie-talkie features while others have push to talk features. Others can upload and connect to social networks.

Some of the features you should be on the lookout for include fast internet connection, cameras, Bluetooth, QWERTY keyboard, touchscreen, MP3 player, GPS and Wi-Fi connectivity among others.

2. Cell Phone Design

Cell phones come in different designs and you should pick one that compliments your lifestyle.

Some of the common designs include the following.

• Bar designs: Bar designed phones have the keypad and screen situated on the same side. Users are not required to close or open the cell phone to access features.

• Slider: Keypad is designed to slide open from under the cell phones screen.

• Flip: The screen is designed to close on top of the phones keypad making it smaller.

• Swivel: The screen is designed to swing around and out to expose the keypad