Camera Phone Buying Guide

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All you need to know about picking the right camera phone for you

 

Just a couple of years ago, you probably experienced some hand holding in deciding whether to purchase a cell phone with an integrated camera. These days, you’ll be hard pressed to find a phone that doesn’t have a camera.

Now that the camera has become a standard feature, you’re buying decision hinges on certain considerations that you need to take into account. There’s the quality of the camera, of course, but there’s also the matter of what to do with your pictures. Today’s camera phones are significantly more flexible in terms of printing, sharing, and moving your pictures. While that’s great news, it can make choosing the right camera phone for you infinitely harder or easier.

In order to find the cell phone that’s right for you, you need to do some homework. The best cell phone for you depends on your priorities: Do you want to print pictures at home or order prints from an online retailer? Or is having your photos easily available online to friends and family more important? Or do you just want to send them in messages to other cell phones via messaging (also called MMS).

This guide should help point you in the right direction so you can find the camera phone that’s right for you. This isn’t 2003—there’s no excuse for having your pictures trapped in your phone.

Also, be sure to read our tips on taking quality pictures with your camera phone.

  • The Basics
  • What you need to know about camera phones.

  • What to Look for in a Camera Phone
  • It’s not just point and shoot. Don’t go without these key features.

  • What You Can Do With Your Camera Phone
  • Everything you need to know about sharing and printing your pictures.

  • Extra Features
  • These extras prove that you can do more than you think with your camera phone. Find out which is right for you.

    John Frederick Moore is a freelance technology journalist and the author of How to Do Everything With Your Camera Phone (McGraw-Hill/Osborne).

    Best Rated

    These camera phones score top marks by Users and Experts:

    Nokia N95

    Samsung SCH-A990

    Sony Ericsson W810i

    Must Have

    No camera phone is complete without an external storage card.

    Easily transfer photos from your cell phone to your computer with the DataPilot kit for handsfree calls in the car.

    Get a little extra security with a You Get it Back tag.


    None of the remaining products have this feature.
    All the remaining products have this feature.
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