4. Call And Connect

Smartphones are still phones. Voice dialing, picture dialing, conference calling and speakerphone options are common. Windows Mobile Smartphones have dedicated volume keys, the BlackBerry Pearl has a mute button. But if you plan to synchronize a large address book from your PC, compare how you find addresses and dial numbers. Windows Mobile has particularly effective predictive dialing from the main screen so you don't have to open the address book first.

As with any phone, where you live (and travel to) dictates the network you can use. Most of Cingular's and T-Mobile's GPRS networks in the US have been upgraded to the faster EDGE protocol. In the UK, only Vodafone has no plan to offer EDGE. Cingular is deploying the fast new 3G standard, HSDPA but has no smartphones for the network yet. T-Mobile is investing in 3G spectrum in the US, but on a frequency that there aren't any smartphones available for yet. In the UK it has HSDPA, as do all the major carriers except 3. Sprint and Verizon offer EVDO rev 0 and plan to have faster Rev A networks in early 2007.

True 3G speeds need a phone with an EVDO or HSDPA radio - but that cuts down battery life.

Many smartphones support EDGE. An increasing number offer EVDO or HSDPA support including the Nokia N75 and N95, RAZR maxx, Samsung SGH-i520, Sony Ericsson K800i, LG JoY and HTC Meteor and it will be much more common in 2007. Only a few smartphones offer WiFi. The antenna adds a little extra weight and bulk to models like the T-Mobile SDA and while WiFi gives you by far the best download speeds it does use up more battery.

Here's a table of wireless data speeds.

Wireless data speeds