Which mobile devices should I bring along to Mobile World Congress?

Monday, February 25th, 2013 Tom Truong, Product Manager

As the smartphone product manager at iPass, the question of which devices to take with me actually comes up on a daily basis. There are usually 7 to 8 devices that manage to find a spot in my bag, but today was going to be different. I had to pack for four jam-packed days at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and space and battery life were going to be key considerations.

The phone candidates were:

• Samsung Galaxy Nexus – a good Android device that has NFC, but how prevalent was NFC going to be in Barcelona? Also, battery life would be good for 4.5 hours and then it’d be a gorgeous desk weight.
• Apple iPhone 5 (64GB) – This is my personal device, with tons of music and room for photos. They battery life seems to be worse than previous iPhone incarnations, but could still muster about 6 hours of moderate use.
• Samsung Galaxy Note – aka the Android “phablet”. Okay, so it might look a bit ridiculous with its 5.3” screen against my ear, but I barely use it to talk anyhow. Running the latest Jellybean OS, the year-old device already feels slow, but the upside is definitely its 9+ hour battery life with normal use.

Here, I went with the iPhone 5 for the storage, battery life, and the competent picture & video capabilities. However, I couldn’t resist the possibility of the phablet device possibly being the jack of all trades for all the phone stuff as well as being an e-reader for those long trips, so the Galaxy Note found a spot too.

Now was the tough choice: which tablet to bring? Consider the options:

• Apple iPad 3rd generation – My favorite tablet for much of 2012, it was also the heaviest one. The retina display on it makes it great to use remote desktop software like LogMeIn or CloudOn to easily access all my corporate resources. They battery life wasn’t too shabby either, usually lasting about 8 hours.
• Apple iPad 2nd generation – This one has absurdly good battery life, still running over 12 hours after more than a year of battery charges. Sure, it doesn’t have the retina display, but it’s also a bit thinner and lighter than the 3rd gen. One small detail that makes the 2nd gen great is that it has twice the ram as the first gen, and it isn’t finicky about needing a high amp charger like the 3rd gen.
• Samsung Galaxy Tab 7” – If you thought holding up a 5” phablet to your head was strange, then you’ve yet to see me with my Galaxy Tab. Back in 2010, I bought this 3G-enabled Android tablet with the goal of flashing the European firmware on it so I could use it as a phone too. The fact that I still have this 3 year device around is a testament how ahead of its time it was. The sad thing about it is that I haven’t had time to upgrade the OS on it, it’s sputtering along with Froyo 2.2.

• Random thought: the older Android OSes seem to actually run faster on lesser hardware and also had better battery life with the smaller batteries they packed. Case in point: this device still lasts a whole day and evening of heavy use.

• Apple iPad Mini 8” – While this one is definitely thin and light with a 10 hour run time, I haven’t found an ideal time to pull it out over a phone or a full-sized tablet yet. Not having a retina display could be part of the reason I don’t reach for it as much. That said, it’s still a great screen and size for reading books.
• Microsoft Surface RT 10” – I love the idea of having a keyboard and kickstand built into a sleek slab. This may be the work tablet for the economy class flyers like myself. Having Microsoft Office and USB ports is a breath of fresh air in the world of mobile devices. I haven’t found it to run any longer than 6-7 hours, but it seems to be the low end of what is acceptable for battery life.

Considering all this, I decided to give the Surface RT a shot. Perhaps I could even use it as a laptop replacement. I also found room for the iPad Mini. I’m not a fan of typing on it since the keyboard takes up so much of its screen, but its size, weight, and battery life won me over.

All right, with four devices, it may not seem like I made any real decision, but for me, this is a personal best in terms of slimming down. Hey, 4 out of 8 ain’t bad. I’ll follow up with another blog entry as I push these devices to the limit during my trip to Mobile World Congress.

Tags: mobile worker, smartphone, tablet