When does a small, expensive smart phone lose its appeal? Maybe time for a Phablet and Smartwatch?

I'm coming up to the end of my contract shortly. I want to make some well-analysed decisions moving forward. 

Firstly, we've moved away from subsidised smart phones. We now paying the full cost. That's why in UK a decent contact with high end phone is moving into the £41 + price range for a 2 year contract.

18 months ago I got a galaxy note 2 for £41, full monty. Now the galaxy note 3 is in the £47 price range and requires an upfront payment.

As this new price takes effect on a monthly basis, include 2 other smart phone contracts for family members, you have 3 contracts costing £120+ a month.

So upgrading makes no sense unless you really know what features are important to you, and you really understand what you want out of a phone.

Smart Watch

We now are moving into the era of Smart Watches that can take a sim card, make calls, everything. I'm talking the Neptune pine Smartwatch. The pine has this quick release off the strap. The speed this can be done means that there can be no faster way to get your device in front of you.

The Smartwatch makes sense for certain users of smart devices. It equally serves, small phone users, Phablet users and tablet users. With front and rear facing cameras you get very quick access to a camera. Add on the ability to clip this little watch onto a bike, helmet, wrist, keyring, or just as it is in the pocket, it's very versatile.

I currently own a Sony SW2. I've found it was a great way to see how a device like this becomes useful. There are some very useful features and some features that are really lacking. The most irritating is that I can't answer my phone. The watch let's me know a call is on, but only let's me reject it. A quick answer would allow me to get it out my pocket or in most cases my bag.

To be able to answer straight away I can see is very useful. The Neptune Pine can make and receive calls. Very useful. I like the idea of a larger screen too. A 2.4" screen increases the capability of the watch tremendously. The trade off is the size when not in use, but there is also the beauty of the size to effectively stand alone very quickly.

The other exciting thing about this stand alone watch device is the price. It works out a lot cheaper than a small mid range smart phone. For £200+ you get a proper smart watch. The Sony SW2 is a much smaller screen, more discreet. But the trade off is being able to input into the device. When I get a text I can read it but can't reply back without my phone.

When receiving a twitter message I can read it quickly. Often there is a link with it. The link requires one to then get the phone out to read the article.

The Smartwatch and Twitter work really well together. But there need to be the ability to read the linked article, or even play the video on the watch.

Unless you've tried a smartwatch you'll never know how it uniquely fits into a lifestyle. This was the excitement of trying out the smartwatch and for the lucky few the google glass.

So here's what I think a stand-alone smartwatch would be good for:

• Calls
• Text and quick reply
• Twitter
• Reading Msgs and quick reply
• Camera
• Quick Viewing and reply
• Running, Cycling etc
• Music bluetoothing
• Wifi hub

Smaller Hi End Smartphone

As I'm not a fan of this type of smart phone this will probably be biased. Firstly, the price. For this year we are probably looking at £600+. 

This is why I feel the Industry is moving towards slight lower specs for the mid-sized phones. They are limited to what they can do.

As a Camera I feel they lack weight. So you get this wobbling. Plus the viewing of the subject before and after will never be the same as it is on a phablet.

Texting. I've watched a lot of fast texters on these phones and they are quick, but it makes lots of mistakes so their backtracking to correct is also hyper speed. 2 steps forward one step back.

Viewing and browsing, reading etc is just not the same as on a Tablet or Phablet. One can't compare it.

Making calls. Yes it's really good for this as the phone is usually quick at hand. This is a strength of it. But as I've stated above, the right smartwatch is even quicker and more convenient. For me the smartwatch wins this battle. Remember I'm talking about the Neptune Pine that detaches effortlessly from the wrist strap.

Now imagine Clubbing. Phone in pocket or phone on wrist. For Ladies their are no pockets often. Phone on wrist. Nice and safe, easily accessible. So it wins the minimal wear of the night out.

For constantly-on-the-viewing-of-device-types, having the phone secured to the wrist will reduce the cracked-screen epidemic overnight.

So what is a smaller, highly priced Smartphone useful for?:

• Calls? not really, a good Moto G will be better and price is fantastic. Or Smartwatch(Neptune Pine)
• Quick Viewing? Answer: as above.
• Camera? Yes....but a Phablet with same Camera Specs is a better all-rounder.
• Texting? Yes... long texts better than a Smartwatch but not a Phablet. Does it need high end £600 phone to achieve this. Moto G would serve better at a cheaper price point.

High-End Priced Phablet.

Is it worth spending the extra money for a Phablet. This question is a little more complicated. 

Firstly I own the Galaxy Note 2. Its a great sized phone. But soon after I longed for a larger screen. 

My current Trio of devices is Galaxy Note 2, Sony Smartwatch SW2, and the Tegra Note 7" Tablet with Super-Amazing Stylus!!

Since owning the Tegra Note Tablet I will rarely consult my phone when I am able to sit down at a Coffee Bar, in Evening at home, in bed. It's the Tegra Note all the way.

Is the 320gram weight a bother? Not really. it comes with a great Cover stand. If my phone is 180 gram in a single hand, 320 gram over two hands is lighter. Even single-handed for quite a while its possible to hold it comfortably.

The 5.5" phone does work well in my car, in its holder. I wouldn't want to try fit my Tablet in a holster. But some modern cars are pre-packed with 7" devices on the dashboard. Skinny unreadable phones in a holster in a car are more dangerous as you can't navigate it easily.

The Galaxy Note 2 has been a great phone for me and I feel still is. It does things very well. It's quite readable on most occasions. Its great for texting, reading messages, music organisation, quick stylus note taking, reading articles. 

I like the Size for in-stand Filming. I connect it to the Sony detachable lens QX10. It works fantastic with that. But the QX10 works even better on the Tablet(separately). The Camera on the Galaxy has been really good for me.

What the Phablet does well:

• Camera. Holding and filming. Good stable weight.
• Texting
• Reading and Browsing Internet
• Twitter - short read and extending the link read
• Organising Notes
• Google Keep( really works well with this)
• Stylus typing with Swiftkey. Brilliant with this.
• Video watching.

I find calling is a bit heavy with the Phablet. I prefer in car calls or using bluetooth. It will be interesting to test out the Neptune pine on calls.

Why Upgrade?

For me personally I really like the idea of a bigger screen. Higher resolution appeals too. All the good things about a Super-sized Phone would benefit with an upgrade to a 6" device. 

For me this time round is the idea of 4K video. I have a very personal reason for wanting 4K and have a great use for it for my Tai Chi DVD projects.

The LG G Pro 2 has slow-motion on the Camera, plus 4k. Stabilisation and a few other tweaks. Also its a 13mp camera. Also a big plus is its almost 6" with 77% use of screen on the front. So the footprint is fairly light compared to some other Phablets. 

The Super Camera, 6" and HD screen are my 3 key features. Placed in a reasonably compact frame make the LG G Pro 2 very appealing. More so than the Galaxy 5.7" Phone.

The only deal-breaker will be if it doesn't support decent stylus use. A little known titbit is I've tested the Tegra Note stylus on the LG G Pad 8.3. It responds beautifully to both ends of the Stylus. The test on the LG G2 proved fruitless. Doesn't work at all. So I shall be testing the stylus on the LG G Pro 2 when it comes out. I hope it works. I believe the 6" phone has a removable battery cover, and most importantly, removable battery.

I'm hoping the 6" size will encourage more use of the phone for me than my current phone. I believe the extra size and screen resolution will make for a more pleasant reading and viewing experience.