12 Must-Have Accessories for Your Smartphone(2)
Aliph Jawbone Prime Bluetooth Headset
The Aliph Jawbone Prime holds the number one spot on PC World’s Top 10 Bluetooth Headsets chart for good reason: It has stellar audio quality and a customizable fit for maximum comfort. Call quality is impressive thanks to built-in background noise cancellation. The headset can also detect and diminish wind during calls–a boon for those of us who make a lot of calls while on the move.
The headset comes with a large variety of earwear: Six earbuds as well as an optional ear hook. Many people dislike ear hooks and find them uncomfortable, but the Jawbone Prime gives you the option of using a stabilizing ring to fit the headset in your ear.
Available for: All phones with Bluetooth support
Price: $120
So many premium headphones to pick from. The Skullcandy line stands out for its combination of sound quality, comfort, and style, all at a reasonable price. The Holua headphones in particular have great sound quality due to their unique wooden casing that houses the 8mm speakers. The headphones are available in an array of attractive color combinations.
If you’re looking for something less expensive, check out the company’s Full Metal Jacket headphones. These sharp-looking units also serve as a headset with a convenient button that can be pressed to pick up phone calls. Both the Holua and Full Metal Jacket come with a slick carrying case and three silicone gel tips to fit any ear size.
Available for: All smartphones with a 3.5-mm headphone jack; phones with proprietary jacks must use an adapter
Price: Holua, $100; Full Metal Jacket, $70
Do you fear being caught flat-footed, on the road with your phone battery near-dead and no outlet to be found? Smartphone owners can take comfort in the fact that there is a solution: Energizer Energi To Go emergency charger. This handy, portable accessory lets you charge your phone from anywhere, no outlet required. It gets its power from a AA battery (make sure to carry spares). Models are available for Palm, LG, Samsung, Nokia and BlackBerry phones.
Also available is an HTC-branded emergency charger that will work with most HTC-manufactured phones like the T-Mobile G1, the HTC Touch Pro, and the T-Mobile myTouch 3G.
Available for: Most cell phones
Price: $25
A common complaint about the iPhone 3G/3GS is its mediocre battery life. If you’re using your iPhone to listen to music, surf the Web, and have GPS turned on, battery life will drain pretty rapidly. Therefore, a power pack is essential to get full use out of your iPhone. Phonesuit’s MiLi is one of the slickest power packs out there and provides a boost to last you all day.
If you have a case on your iPhone, you’ll have to remove it before plugging your phone into the suit. Fortunately, the MiLi is slim enough to use as an everyday power pack/case without adding extra bulk. One odd design choice, however, is that the MiLi uses a miniUSB connector–not the standard iPhone/iPod connector–so that means one more cord to carry around.
Available for: iPhone 3G/3GS
Price: $80
Palm makes charging sexy with its Touchstone Charging Kit. This $70 accessory provides a special back plate, as well as a slanted dock whose surface uses inductive charging technology. Inductive coils inside the Touchstone generate an electromagnetic field that transmits charge through the special back cover for the Palm Pre. Palm has done a good job customizing the Pre for use with the Touchstone, too; for example, if you place the phone on the dock while you’re on a call, it will automatically reroute the call to the speakerphone.
Available for: Palm Pre
Price: $70
Celio Redfly C8N
The Celio Redfly C8N is technically more of a mobile companion than an accessory for Windows Mobile phones. This portable terminal, which resembles a netbook, lets you take advantage of Windows Mobile’s powerful applications to their full ability. Theoretically, you can edit Microsoft Office docs on Windows Mobile devices, but how many of us have the patience to make the effort on the tiny keyboard of a smartphone? The Celio Redfly C8N’s much larger keyboard and display is a solution to this problem.
The C8N’s display does a great job of optimizing the low-resolution, portrait-mode display of a smartphone for the landscape mode of a netbook. Apps look great on the full display, but our reviewer ran into some issues when launching Internet Explorer and Opera Mobile. Even so, the C8N has better battery life than a netbook and will charge your handset when it is connected.
Available for: Windows Mobile smartphones
Price: $300
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