Top 5 business smartphones

By Charles McLellan on 15 June 2009

(Credit: PDA in hands image
by Brano Hudak, Royalty free)

Smartphones have come a long way in the last few years, and it's now feasible to consider going on a business trip leaving your notebook PC behind, trusting in the functionality of your business-ready smartphone.

That can mean a significant difference in technology travel weight — around 200g for a mobile and its charger, compared to 2-3kg for a notebook and its associated paraphernalia.

The device you choose depends, as ever, on precisely what you want to do with it. But most business travellers will have a minimum set of requirements, which we suggest will include the following: access to email (preferably "push" email from the company mail server); the ability to open (and preferably edit) business files such as word processor documents, spreadsheets, presentations and PDFs; and a web browser (preferably with VPN access to the company network).

Then there's connectivity, which will primarily depend on the amount of data you need to shift around. If you're a heavy data user, you're looking at 3G/HSDPA with perhaps a side order of Wi-Fi (which will also be required to take advantage of fixed-mobile convergence); if you just want to check email occasionally, GPRS will probably do.

Users, or their IT managers, need to consider whether their usage is primarily voice-centric or data-centric. That will determine the kind of form factor required. Luckily there's a wide choice available, ranging from conventional-looking phones to BlackBerry-like devices with QWERTY keyboards, to hybrids with slide-out keyboards. Search around and you should find something with ergonomics that suit you.

BlackBerry Bold 9000

The Bold is what BlackBerry fans have been waiting for. It's feature-rich and sharply designed, let down in small measure by some cumbersome software.

Topics: 750, 8300, 838, atom, blackberry, curve, dopod, e61, e61i, life, nokia, o2, palm, treo, xda

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Comments (2)

  • pdafanatical commented on 04/01/2008 19:34 Report abuse

    My vote for the "best business smartphone" is the Dopod 838Pro.. Just grabbed one from www.pressdigital.com.au for $675 - and I've already got it running my price-books and push-email - plus the keyboard is excellent. Works a treat and the price was less than any of the others I tried.

  • Mark Griffin commented on 27/09/2007 12:44 Report abuse

    The first company to offer a PDA phone that has a small numpad for phone calls plus a stylus for general interaction with the system and 3G capability is going to make some serious money. Everyone who I talked to who uses PDA phones wants one like this and there are no manufacturers doing it.

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