Top 5: Things to consider when buying a smartphone

-Look, I feel for you, buying a smartphone is complicated. You never feel like you really got the right one, I mean I work at CNET for crying out loud. Even to buy a new phone I feel kind of sick. I'm Brian Cooley with top 5 things to think about when buying a new smart phone. Inspired by a surgery done by business intelligence, they ask people what their number one smartphone buying factor was. At number 5, we're starting off a little wanky, it's data* migration. No, just 3.9% of folks said this is their number one concern, but I think more should have. I mean how were gonna move your context, calendar, media, photos, messaging, history, account settings from whatever you carry now to your new smartphone. Well, check CNET TV and google around for tips on how to move your stuff from phone to phone. It's different and sometimes barely possible depending on the combo phones in question and pack a lunch. You may end up doing it several times before it gets done right. Number, 7.2% of you said carrier. Does like carrier you want, offer the phone you want. Now, it would be pretty damn frustrating if you live in Illinois ** Honda Accord, but they only work on roads in Wisconsin. Sure, you can move, but is it worth it. That's kind of the situation we found. So, as much as I hate to give the carriers that much power in my life or yours that might be where you wanna start your search. Number 3, surprisingly, is app selection because just over 8% of you said this is the top priority but there's all that hyper around that, much of what makes a smart phone smart are the apps you load on it, but clearly a lot of folks remember that the web, which all smartphone access is kind of the ultimate app and oh yeah, cool qualities still ranks higher than angry birds mouth for now. Number 2, now we get some big numbers, is feature. 33% of you said this is your number one concern area. This stuff like resolution, battery life, keyboard type, the camera, the storage, does is support flash, but don't fool for the spec arms race. It's an 8-megapixel camera meaningfully better to you than 5-megapixels. Do you even know? or do you just wanna brag? Can you really see that extra bajillion dots of screen resolution is a really good screen, really good. Read our reviews because we tell you what specs make a real difference and so did the users [unk] as well. before I get you to the number one thing people site as their main reason to choose a smart phone, let's look at the one that rank bottom of the list. Price, just 3 percent said price is their biggest concern that's because price is pretty irrelevant right now. The sweet spot for all the top smartphones is 200 bucks with 2-year activation. Few of them are 100 dollars, few are 250, maybe 300, but not for long. Expect to pay 2 bills. It's the full cost of your 2-year contract you wanna scrutinize. That's where you'll spend anywhere from a couple of grand to 2400 to pushing $3000. Okay, what's the number one thing most often cited by people buying a smart phone, their top concern, 38% say platform, Android, IOS, Blackberry, Windows phono, WebOS. Phones have made operating systems hot and crucial again. The operating system the phone runs on dictates what is good at in many cases and how the interface looks and feels. The stuff you have to look at and navigate every time you pick up the phone. So, you better like it, and platform also determines which tech jihad you've just singed with, which fanboys will diss you and the comments your smog techy friends will make behind your back. So, you see, a lot rides on platform. Okay, hopefully this has helped and remember relax, whatever you get something better comes next week. For more top 5's like this, go to top5.cnet.com. I'm Brian Cooley, thanks for watching.