Best Rated Cell Phones

The best rated cell phones aren't always the best cell phones. I know this sounds like an oxymoron, but it's true. It also may be disappointing news for those of you looking to buy what everyone thinks are the best rated cell phones. But why is it so hard to determine which cell phones are really the best?

Problems with Choosing the Best Rated Cell Phones

The best rated cell phones get their ratings based on user experience. This means a lot of subjective factors come into play, like user expectations, geographic conditions, quality of carrier service, how the phone is used, and so on. To put it simply: what is good for someone else might not always be good for you.

If you live in a city, you might be recommended away from a good phone by a series of rural reviewers who complained about that particular phone's reception. If you don't care that much about sound quality, you might find yourself needlessly discouraged by the rants of people who are overly picky about that sort of thing. In addition, how a phone behaves depends a lot on the carrier you're using it with, so it's important to not pay too much attention to reviews from people using other carriers.

Of course, if a particular phone gets terrible (or fantastic) ratings from thousands of people, you can probably use that information to make an informed decision. More often than not, however, you'll find mixed reviews on pretty much every phone out there. The important thing is to consider the subjectivity of the reviewers, and to be aware of what you should listen to and what you shouldn't.