Sigh. At the rate Apple and its Android rivals are releasing devices, you would need to be robbing a spate of banks every month to afford them. But then the one central question we need to ask is – Why am I buying such a device in the first place? I bought a Samsung Galaxy Ace simply because my ancient Motorola L6 gave up its zest for life with a colourful burst of pixelized pixels. Yes, it was that ancient. I have used my Ace for 1.5 years now and was fully satisfied with it. The truth is, it proved to be a blessing in disguise.

You see, I landed an incredible job in social media. At present, I work for an awesome company called Loops Solutions. As a Social Media Manager, we need to monitor our brands and having a smartphone is a must. My Ace made all this simple. But then since it is a low-end offering by Samsung, there were many things that were left to be desired, like battery life, memory and features.

This period marked my addiction to the world of smartphones. I got involved in the ubiquitous Apple vs. Samsung battle. I became a hater and lover of all things Apple and Samsung. I wanted everything they put out. But there was always the question of money. So I set myself a list of prerequisites for the perfect device. They are as follows:

1. It should last at least 2.5 years.

2. It should be easy to upgrade.

3. It should fit my list of requirements. And what are those? Well, l am a heavy user of Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, Instagram, Kobo, Kindle, Google +, Google, Gmail, Gtalk, WordPress, Tumblr, YouTube and a myriad of other apps. Since I deal with images and adding effects to it, I needed whatever device I was going to buy to be versatile.

4. It should have a good battery life.

5. It should be durable and reliable.

6. It should have a good camera and have decent video functionality.

I will admit this – I am a complete noob. I have no problem admitting it and this is what helped me gather all the information I wanted in order to make that final purchase decision. I spent hours upon hours watching YouTube videos, reading reviews, talking to tech geeks and smartphone reviewers before I made that final decision. But what really made the difference is that opportunity to use a Note II and an iPad 2.

I travelled to Bali for my annual holiday and my Boss gave me his iPad 2 to use. I hated it at first but, I must admit, I fell in love with it. I loved how easy it was to use and that it hardly ever crashed. An office colleague upgraded it to iOS6 and it was buttery smooth. Reading, watching movies and social monitoring were a complete pleasure. The only drawback was the price factor. Apple supports their devices for a long period of time. Watching an iPad 2 run on iOS6 was just unbelievable. While there is a lot of hate between Samsung and Apple and their fans, the truth is that they both put out some amazing devices.

I won’t be dissing either brand since they both are exceptional. But what I will say is that if you are hunting for a device, list down your requirements and then see what devices suit those requirements. Thereafter, spend some quality time researching those devices. If you can use them for a set period of time, since there is nothing like using a device to know whether you are comfortable with it or not. As far as my requirements go, the Note II answered all my needs perfectly. Remember to keep an open mind when looking for something. You really can’t get too emotional with these things since the ultimate winner would be the brand.

Remember something else. The latest device will become redundant in a hurry, there are replacements every single year. This Note II, I am typing on, was released around 3 months back. Rumours of a Note III are already making the rounds. Expect it to be launched this year. But I digress. You probably want to know whether I am happy with my purchase. The answer is a resounding – Yes. It is, by far, the best device I have ever used. It has replaced 90% of my laptop and that is saying something.
All things considered, this does not mean I am a fan boy, rather someone whose requirments were met by the Note II. I hope this article is of some use to you and I hope my MO in choosing a device will be useful to you too.

By the way, that image is courtesy of my Note II. Whatever filter that has been added is via Instagram.