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If I were a Realtor which Smartphone would I buy?

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Moby

Phones have become an inseparable part of our personal and professional lives, and it seems that this is especially true for Realtors. In just a few years cellular technology has experienced tremendous momentum; it has transformed from a simple calling device into the Swiss army knife of the 21st century.

Considering how often we change/upgrade our phones, we thought it was a good idea to create a post about the current Smartphone battles that are taking place on the web. To spice up the battle we thought it would be great to see which Smartphone brands the ActiveRain community prefers.

Let’s say we wanted to start a forming a decision on the best Smartphone by searching the Internet. If we were to type “the best Smartphone” in a search engine we would face these three scenarios;

1) 38,500,000 results for Web pages that compare Smartphones.

2) Opinions from die-hard fans, whose sole aim is to convert everyone to their own brand.

3) Read hundreds of results that compare features that are not really relevant to Realtors.

So how do you find out which brands Realtors prefer? To help you out with this process, we created an all-in-one infographic for our fellow ActiveRain members. A Realtors Guide to the Smartphone Marketplace is a compilation of different Smartphone survey results, designed specifically for our ActiveRain Realtors. Feel free to copy, reblog, or link this infographic however you would like:

 

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Now the exciting part: “Do these statistics apply to our ActiveRain community?”. We thought creating our own poll would be especially useful for those of you who are thinking of upgrading or changing your phones. Feel free to share your thoughts on which brand/application is best in the comment section.Results from the survey will be reposted later this week in our Smartphones for Realtors Blog-Part 2: How to use your Smartphones as a safety device.

Take care and stay safe everyone!

Moby Team

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1~Judi Barrett
Integrity Real Estate Services 116 SE AVE N, Idabel, OK 74745 - Idabel, OK
BS Ed, Integrity Real Estate Services -IDABEL OK

I love my HTC Touch Pro.  I read all of the reviews etc before choosing and am glad that I did.  It tethers to my Cradlepoint, expanding its use tremendously.

Jun 28, 2010 01:24 PM
Chris Olsen
Olsen Ziegler Realty - Cleveland, OH
Broker Owner Cleveland Ohio Real Estate

Fun post.  I am a blackberry user but will probably switch to a droid when my plan is up.  I'll miss the physical keyboard, not that i'm a huge fan of the bb keyboard.

Jun 28, 2010 01:51 PM
Lorrie Semler, REALTORĀ® in the Dallas area. Call/text 972-416-3417
HomeSmart Stars - Addison, TX
Real Service. Real Results. Real Estate

iPhone all the way!  And I recently read (and posted) that it will open Supra lockboxes in August.

Jun 28, 2010 02:06 PM
John Novak
Keller Williams Realty The Marketplace - Las Vegas, NV
Henderson, Las Vegas and Summerlin Real Estate

I'm really disappointed with AT&Ts coverage lately, so that rules out the iPhone. It's going to be Droid Incredible for me -- just wish I could get my hands on one sooner.

Jun 28, 2010 02:13 PM
Rob Lang
At Home Kansas - Shawnee, KS
Local Expert in NE Central Kansas Real Estate Home

iPhone is the king for (relevant) apps for me currently.  I'm more than happy with my coverage.

Jun 28, 2010 02:36 PM
Dave Jones
Dave Jones Realty, llc. - Prospect, CT
Broker/Owner - e-PRO Dave Jones Realty llc Prospec

I thought it couldnt get any better when I started with my iPhone 3gs about a year ago.  I switched to it from a BlackBerry, prior to that I had a Treo.  I was wrong about it not getting better.  I started using the Iphone 4 last week!  Wow, I wouldnt trade it for anything!

Jun 28, 2010 02:53 PM
Renee Thompson
Premier Sotheby's International Realty - Tampa, FL

I used to be a blackberry lover, and couldn't understand why my husband loved his I Phone so much. When it was time for me to get a new phone, I took a leap and went with the Droid Eris. I absolutely love it! The blackberry does not compare. While the Droid does not push email as quickly as blackberry, it still pushes it. All of the other features far surpasses the Blackberry. I am now addicted to Droid. 

Jun 28, 2010 02:56 PM
Jamie Parker Gwinnett
Exp Realty - Snellville, GA
Realtor, Snellville Homes

My contract is up on 7/8.  We are switching to Sprint due to great pricing in our area. My wife already switched and has the HTC Android Hero. Still torn between the Evo and getting the new Blackberry. I struggle typing on her virtual keyboard. I have a Palm and can do emails and texts fairly quickly which is why I am leaning a little towards the Blackberry.  Any thoughts? Thanks for the great post.

Jun 28, 2010 03:10 PM
Marcy Moyer
eXp Realty of California Silicon Valley Probate, Trust, and Investment Sales - Mountain View, CA
Probate, Trust, and Investment Specialist

My husband is an engineer at Adobe.  He jsut finsihed a project putting flash on Droid.  It should go onto Blackberry and Paln soon.  this will enable a much better web experience and the ability to get right to the MLS.

 

Marcy

Jun 28, 2010 03:23 PM
Moby
Moby - Santa Monica, CA

Its really great how passionate most of you are about your Smartphones! 

Again, thank you to those who have recently commented! All of your comments and tips will definitely be helpful for AR members who are considering changing their phones.  

Jun 28, 2010 03:28 PM
Rick Cavallaro
Rhino Realty Pros - Westminster, CO
"Charging Hard on Your Behalf" ~ Colorado

I really like my BB Curve, but am thinking about the new HTC Evo from Sprint due to the applications and screen size.

Jun 28, 2010 05:04 PM
Liz Lockhart
Riverbend Realty, Cape Girardeau, MO - Cape Girardeau, MO
GRI, Cape Girardeau Real Estate

Palm Centro is the last warrior standing with an IR port.  I love being able to open the Supra boxes with my phone, so I'll stick with the Centro as long as it lasts. Yeah, I know that I could get a fob to covert IR to Bluetooth, but I have gotten so used to the convenience of only having to keep one device charged--the phone.

Jun 28, 2010 05:05 PM
Chris Alston
Chris Alston (Keller Williams Realty, Silicon Valley, California) - Campbell, CA
Silicon Valley, California

Interesting thoughts...  iPhone users are more webby and use social media more.  So that would be my only choice in recommendations.

Jun 29, 2010 05:52 AM
Leslie Prest
Leslie Prest, Prest Realty, Sales and Rentals in Payson, AZ - Payson, AZ
Owner, Assoc. Broker, Prest Realty, Payson,

Tried a Blackberry Storm and HATED it- now have a Droid and really, really love it.

Jul 01, 2010 09:25 AM
Ty Lacroix
Envelope Real Estate Brokerage Inc - London, ON

What a timely post, long time BB user and willing to look at other systems.

Ty

Jul 05, 2010 10:22 AM
Nick T Pappas
Assoc. Broker ABR, CRS, SFR, e-Pro, @Homes Realty Group, Broker/Providence Property Mgmnt, LLC Huntsville AL - Huntsville, AL
Madison & Huntsville Alabama Real Estate Resource

I've been using a BB Storm for the last year and a half.  Although I'm not familiar enough with other phones to make a good comparison, it does what I want it to do and that is it functions as a phone and I can send and receive emails.  I've heard a lot of good things about the Droid and will be checking that out when my contract expires.  I don't like the idea of using my phone as a key for Supra's for the same reason I don't like all in one printers...if one feature goes down that pretty much affects the use of the entire unit.

Jul 11, 2010 07:37 AM
Sidney Kutchuk
Property Management & Sales at REALTY WORKS TEMECULA, CA 92590 (951) 217-6745 - Temecula, CA
Property Management & Sales Experts 951-217-6745

DROID X is the new Realtors best friend. Here is the link to my Droid X post.

http://kutchuk.activerain.com/post/1743384/motorola-droid-x-smart-phone-a-realtors-best-friend-

Sidney Kutchuk
www.aShortSale.com

 

Jul 13, 2010 07:51 PM
Moby
Moby - Santa Monica, CA

Thank you everyone for you comments! and Sidney, thank you for sharing your post with us!

You can check out the results from the above poll in our latest blog post "Smartphone Advice from one ActiveRainer to Another"

Jul 14, 2010 06:20 AM
Jim Paulson
Progressive Realty (Boise Idaho) www.Progressive-Realty.info - Boise, ID
Owner,Broker

I have used over a dozen different phones and keep upgrading since it is my lifeline in Real Estate.  I ahve used phones from Kryocera, Palm, Blackberry and my favorite by a HUGE margin is the HTC EVO.  It can run on 4G in Boise, Idaho and also I can use it for a secure mobile hot spot to power my iPad and 7 other devices at the same time!  I can shot HD video and upload it to YouTube or watch it via an HDMI port on my TV's.  If you want a really cool iPhone, I suggest getting the iPad with Skype or Google Chat/Voice and you end up with an iPhone on Steroids!

Also, since this post was created, Supra has released apps for Blackberry, Android and iPhone.  You can use the iPhone adapter on the iPad to open their lock boxes but they don't admit it or acknowledge it for some reason.

@#20, I agree with Dawn, since when were HTC and Motorola "platforms" (instead of manufacturers)?

Recently Supra has released apps for Blackberry, iPhone and Android for their lock boxes.  However, I am successfully using the iPhone device to open the Supra iBoxes with my iPad even though they say it can't be done (grin).

@57 Marcy, If your husband could install flash on my iPad, I would be greatful!

 

 

Dec 30, 2010 06:32 PM
Paul Gapski
Berkshire Hathaway / Prudential Ca Realty - El Cajon, CA
619-504-8999,#1 Resource SD Relo

Nothing better than the iphone 4. good information and data for this post.

Apr 01, 2011 06:42 PM