Best Smart Phones for College Students

There are many cell phones available today that have the features and processing power to make viewing documents, video chatting and accessing social media easy and fun for a busy college student. Here are just a few to narrow down the selection.

The BlackBerry Curve 9310 is a quality smartphone for those looking for great social media capabilities at a reasonable price. The sides of this phone use rubberized bevels for an easy and comfortable grip and a fully loaded physical keyboard for very fast typing compared to other LCD screen keyboards. The phone is responsive with its OS 7.1 system allowing for fast navigation through menus and apps. This social device lets you quickly access BBM, Twitter, Facebook and emails, keeping you up to date on social feeds. The hardware includes a 3.2-megapixel camera, internal storage of 512MB and 512MB of RAM and is capable of holding a MicroSD card up to 32GB. The BlackBerry 9310 is a great choice for those looking for an inexpensive yet versatile social media smartphone.

Figure 1 Image via Flickr, by roblawton

The Samsung Galaxy S III is leading the way in technology, further closing the gap between smartphone and laptop. This phone combines Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 OS technology, a 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and 4G LTE connectivity for smooth menu and app navigation as well as fast downloads. A very slim and sleek design helps decrease size while still offering a very generous 4.8-inch HD display. The Samsung Galaxy S III exclusively offers S Voice command, which enables access to the phone’s apps, navigation, Internet and email, and AllShare, which allows media and file sharing; transfer Word or PowerPoint files with other Samsung phones and broadcast locally-stored content from your phone onto other devices that use AllShare such as Smart TVs and computers.

Figure 2 Image via Flickr, by vernieman

The HTC One X is another big name 4G LTE Android smartphone. The hardware features the latest technology for fast downloading and menu navigation thanks to the 1.5 GHz dual-core processor and the Android Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 operating system. Standard Android features include Calendar and Contacts, plus Tasks and Notes for your to-dos and memos but the biggest feature of this phone is the media capabilities. A 4.7-inch LCD screen made from Gorilla Glass, Beats Audio and movie and audio apps let you watch movies in ultimate high definition with great sound quality and listen to clear and crisp music. The HTC One X is a great choice for those in the market for a media powerhouse of a phone.

Figure 3 Image via Flickr, by John.Karakatsanis

The Motorola Droid RAZR MAXX is the much desired upgrade from the Droid RAZR model. It sports an impressive 3300 mAh battery that makes it one of the longest lasting smartphones available today. The 4.3-inch screen features 960 by 540 qHD resolution that displays clear and concise Web pages when using the Internet. It outperforms most other smartphones because of its 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 4G LTE connectivity. This is a great phone for the everyday user looking to use media apps and the Internet, and it will have the battery life to last throughout a day of heavy usage. 

Figure 4 Image via Flickr, by vernieman

The iPhone 5 is Apple’s sixth generation smartphone and features 4G LTE connectivity, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and 1GB of RAM. The new 1,136 by 640 HD 4-inch screen provides crisp text and images, is highly responsive and visible in very bright lighting situations, making it easier to read messages and emails while on the go. Also, the iPhone 5 has a 16GB to 64GB storage option that allows for massive document storage. It also has a front facing camera for easy video conferencing. The iPhone 5 features the newest iOS 6 system combined with new features to create a lighter, thinner and faster iPhone.

Figure 5 Image via Flickr, by Yutaka Tsutano

Each smartphone described above has its own unique features that make it more desirable to some more than others but they all make for a great cell phone for today’s college student.

This piece was created by Jared Wadsworth, a freelance writer and blogger who focuses on technology, science, gadgetry and computers. He is particularly interested in cell phones and cell phone gadgetry; click to learn more about the blackberry bold if you’re also interested in this topic.