What Cell Phone is Best for Business Travel

Question: What kind of cell phone/ smart phone do you recommend for business travel? If you lost your phone and could get any smart phone that you wanted, what would it be?

Rory’s Response:

Cell phones have changed a lot for business users over the last few years, especially since the emergence of the iPhone. Windows mobile phones and Blackberry phones have historically been the mainstay as far as business users go because of their integration with corporate email servers like Outlook and RIM’s (Blackberry) enterprise server. Since the iPhone however, the phone has moved beyond just being attached to work email on the go and has shifted to a mobile OS that can run customizable Apps.

Right now, both Microsoft and RIM (Blackberry) are falling behind in this area to the likes of Google Android and Apple iPhone devices, because the latter options have put together a vast repository of applications for just about everything.

Blackberry phones are currently the volume leader in the smart phone arena, but they have been dropping steadily in volume to both Google and Apple.

Google’s Android OS is an open source mobile operating system available on many different smart phones, which lends itself to a large degree of customization via apps. This way, the phone can be tailored to the individual’s needs. Android phones also integrate with Google’s Gmail and docs applications, allowing voice over IP via Google talk and a cheaper alternative to enterprise email and office document solutions when compared to Microsoft or Blackberry.

I currently use a Windows Mobile Samsung Omnia which has served me well enough, but I am eagerly waiting for my contract to wrap up so that I can switch to an Android phone. If my phone took a trip into the toilet today, I would probably head out and get a HTC Incredible since I travel in North America and don’t necessarily need a world phone.

World travelers should look at the Nexus One Phone as a World Phone.

No one phone is perfect for everyone but I think that Android phones offer the most flexibility, so if you find one that offers what you need, go for it!

HTC Droid Incredible

Nexus One review
Rory D is the business travel correspondent for Vagabond Journey Travel. He is available to answer your business travel questions. Just go to ASK business travel questions and fill out the form. Expect a response from Rory on the site in a couple of days to a week.