Not everyone wants a phone that can find your location / tell you where to eat / surf the net .... some people just want a mobile that makes and takes voicecalls and messaging and there's nothing wrong with that!

Ease of Use

If you're looking for a simple phone you'll want it to be as easy to use as possible. Look for well-spaced buttons, external volume keys for quick in-call adjustments and a clean user-interface and efficient operating system.

How do you judge if a user-interface is any good I hear you ask? Simple, it should feel intuitive and easy to use. Equally, you'll know if your operating system is any good as it there won't be any when you perform tasks on the device.

Most people have used a Symbian-based mobile phone at some point and will enjoy the platform's familiarity, however, phones with proprietary operating systems might be awkward and unusual and take a bit of getting used to.

Battery Life

There is nothing worse than having your phone unexpectedly run out of battery. So, first take a look at the handset specifications and see how long the battery lasts. Battery life is often quoted in both standby and talk time, but it is unlikely that you'll just be using it for just one or the other as battery life depends entirely on your patterns of usage. Bear that in mind when checking the specs!

Also little details like the type of charger used can be important here. Having a proprietary charger port is a real pain as you'll have to use your manufacturer's specific charger. On the other hand, more and more new handsets come equipped with standardised micro USB ports, meaning that you can easily charge your handset from any USB hub.

Fabulous Form Factor

Handsets comes in all shapes and sizes but the form factor can have implications for it's use. What type you go for is largely is down to personal choice, but you should bear the following in mind:

Clamshell or flip phones look great and don't tend to call anyone whilst in your pocket, but the hinge means that the structure is weaker and might be susceptablie to damage.

Slider phones are also safe from unwanted operation in the pocket, plus there's no beating that satisfying "snap" after finishing a call.

Candybar phones are the classic shape and tend to be more sturdy and straight forward compared to other form factors.