As my town’s resident technology expert, I am sometimes approached by complete strangers with tech questions. Lately, 9 out of 10 ask, “What’s the best smartphone?”

I can see in their faces that they would like a straightforward answer, something along the lines of, “Buy Samsung’s Galaxy S5; you’ll love it.” But I can’t say that. That’s not because the Galaxy S5 isn’t an excellent phone. Everything I’ve heard about it tells me that it is.

The only answer I can ever give is, “It depends.” And I follow that up with, “What are you going to be using the phone for? What do you really need from the phone? What can’t you do without in a smartphone?”

What’s the best smartphone? That’s the wrong question. More>