Despite the perceived high price tag, smartphones can save you a small fortune when you consider the number of other devices that they replace. It is now standard practice for smartphones to not only incorporate complete media players and digital cameras but also act as mobile internet browsing devices, GPS locator systems and personal organisers. As such, a high end mobile phone is more than capable of fulfilling the role of a digital camera, an MP3 player, a PDA and to some extent a netbook. This is however relatively old news, what is more exciting is that some manufacturers have recently made further advances in terms of rendering their top end models truly mutli-functional devices which are by no means inferior to the stand-alone alternatives.
Not content with simply offering a digital video camera a number of mobile phone manufacturers including HTC and Samsung have released models which boast High Definition video cameras. These handsets not only replace digital cameras but usurp the majority of them in terms of quality: a victory for the smartphone! This notion of matching the performance and functionality of standalone equipment is mirrored by a number of mobile phone manufacturers in the area of satellite navigation. A great number of smartphones don't just offer GPS features but are capable of acting as a complete in-car Sat Nav system. For the most part, the conversion of a phone to a fully capable Sat Nav unit can be a rather costly affair, with the majority of brands charging for the service. Nokia have however bucked the trend and currently offer full Sat Nav functionality for their compatible smartphones free of charge.
It is not just in terms of the equipment that they replace that smartphones are becoming a financially viable investment, but now also with regard to the price of the handsets themselves. It is common practice that once an updated version of a piece of electrical equipment has been released, its predecessor is offered at a lower price. The mobile phone industry adheres to this technological universal, meaning that highly sophisticated handsets are becoming ever more affordable. In addition to this, brands like Acer who are new to the market, yet highly established in closely associated industries have started releasing technologically advanced phones at unfeasibly low prices. Take Acer’s new beTouch E110 for example: This handset features a touchscreen, AGPS navigation and is built around Google Android yet is available sim-free for less than half the price of equivalent models by other manufacturers.
In short, smartphones are transforming into realistic alternatives to a multitude of devices and in many cases offer precisely the same quality of performance. Despite this, they are also starting to enter the market at prices more in line with basic handsets and consequently offer unsurpassable value on every front.
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