Smartphone with a data plan — Is it necessary?
I have been using PDAs (personal digital assistant or Palm Pilot, as some would call it) and smartphones for a decade now. They are less expensive and more portable than laptops.
My current smartphone (superphone!) is the Samsung Galaxy S III. It helps me with my tasks involving work, side-projects and entertainment on a daily basis.
Marveling at the power and style of this Samsung Galaxy S III, I cannot help wondering — can it survive without a mobile data plan?
Of course, it can. However, smartphones nowadays are highly recommended to be online all the time. Most apps need to be updated regularly via the Internet for them to function well. You even need the Internet on your smartphone to check the latest chika on your Facebook or Twitter timeline.
I find the Samsung Galaxy S III’s hardware awe- some, so awesome that it would be a waste if I did not have a reliable 3G network. I rely on my phone’s apps, and my apps rely on my data connection, a stable one no less. I am a demanding mobile tech user, more so now because all the work that I do revolves around the Internet.
Luckily, I have been subscribed to Smart’s unlimited data plan for the past couple of years, and with my Galaxy S III, I consider gadget and plan a perfect combination.
Here are the things that I have done with my Galaxy S III powered by my 3G service from Smart:
• Make Skype calls to colleagues based in the United States. Calls were clear, I even thought I used my voice plan to make those calls.
• Watch a training video on
the Galaxy S III created by a colleague. It was in high-definition but I was really surprised that it only encountered a few hiccups while I played it. On another occasion, I watched one of my favorite HD videos by Jamiroquai on YouTube and there was no buffering at all. All the more I appreciated watching the HD version on the Galaxy S III’s Super HD AMOLED screen.
• Use Dropbox to share
ideas with a partner for a proj- ect. Some of the photos I uploaded were taken by my Galaxy S III’s 8MP camera, which translates to a large amount of
files. But because of my fast 3G speeds, they get uploaded in no time! ( Dropbox comes
with free 48GB of storage with
the Galaxy S III).
• Move around and set up my mobile office anywhere I please. If the place does not have a Wi-Fi hotspot, no problem! All I do is turn on the Galaxy S III’s Wi-Fi Hotspot and I can go online. Now, in order for me to get to work, I need to be connected
to our VPN (Virtual Private Network) as well. It relies on a stable Internet connection and thankfully, I rarely experience problems connecting to it that could stall me from working.
• Yes, I work all the time but I am also active in social networking sites. I share photos taken with my Galaxy S III by posting them on Twitter or Instagram. Uploading is always a breeze.
• The Samsung Galaxy S III
is an HSPA+ phone. There are some areas in the metro where I experience speeds of 3-5 Mbps thanks to the Speedtest app. No wonder my data connection is flawless!
These are just some of the benefits of having a truly reliable data connection from Smart, with an excellent smartphone like the Samsung Galaxy S III. With such a combo, I work fast and smart to be ahead, and I enjoy connectivity from what they say is the “nationwidest,” most advanced mobile network in the Philippines.
So if you think that you should not get a data plan with a smartphone, think of Captain America asking you this question: “Take away that Internet connectivity from your Galaxy S III and where will you be?”
The Samsung Galaxy S III comes free when bundled with the Smart Unli Data Plan 2000 under a 30-month contract.