Best smart phone OS for real estate agent?

[Compddd]

My mom is a real estate agent and is still using an old Blackberry. She wants to get a new smart phone. Which phone OS would be best for her? iOS, Win Phone 7, or Android?

Thanks guys

 

[purbeast0]

i'd just tell her to go to the store and try them out and see which she likes the most.

i'm not really sure what being a real estate agent has to do with anything though.

 

[Kenmitch]

App wise probably iOS > Android > Win Phone

Screen size will make or break the choice I'd think. Take her shopping and see what she likes as far as size style of phone. Galaxy Note seems like it would be of more use than a iphone but the phone is rather large.

 

[Red Storm]

Very open ended question. Does she need a physical keyboard? What does she need/want to do with the phone besides email? What carrier is she on?

 

[preslove]

Tell her to ask her colleagues if they use any smartphone apps for their business & how useful they are. There might be some unique iOS apps that could be really useful. If not, then she should just go to the store and pick out what she likes.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

If battery life is important she might want to put the Razr Maxx at the top of her list.

 

[bearxor]

Yeah, I'd just ask around her fellow relators and see what they're using. Everyone at my company is picking iPhone, and they even had some big real-estate guy come in and give a class on iPad which everyone said was great, but I missed it .

 

[Eug]

What does her office support? I know a lot of people still get Blackberries in various businesses because their IT depts. support Blackberry OS.

That said, it seems iOS support is becoming much more common, and the iPhone is popular with a lot of the small brokerages with no real IT dept. Android not so much. Win 7 Phone not so much either.

ie. The two most common it seems to me are Blackberry and iOS, but I could see Android working for some.

 

[sgrinavi]

For a mom? iOS - unless you want to be her personal tech support

 

[Puddle Jumper]

For a mom? iOS - unless you want to be her personal tech support

Both my parents have had no problems using their Android phones.

 

[zerocool84]

Honestly, stay BlackBerry. I'm sure as to real estate agent she'll send tons and tons of emails a, day. Nothing beats a real keyboard for that. Sure software keyboards are getting better but they still suck compared to a real one from any OS company, not iOS, Android, or WP7. Unless she really wants a newer smartphone but the only decent Android phone with a real keyboard is the Droid 4 and it's a slide-out keyboard which would be annoying to open all the time.

 

[2timer]

Maybe your mom should look at a SG3 with S voice, its a new smartphone with a large display and she can type emails easily with the voice function.

 

[Oyeve]

What does her office support? I know a lot of people still get Blackberries in various businesses because their IT depts. support Blackberry OS.

That said, it seems iOS support is becoming much more common, and the iPhone is popular with a lot of the small brokerages with no real IT dept. Android not so much. Win 7 Phone not so much either.

ie. The two most common it seems to me are Blackberry and iOS, but I could see Android working for some.

I run my IT dept. and I couldnt care less what my users use. For IOS and android activesynch is the same. For BBs I have my BES. I give my users whatever they want and dont really care what they choose.

 

[Mopetar]

For a mom? iOS - unless you want to be her personal tech support

My mom is using an Android phone and hasn't called me about any problems once. She's not the most computer literate person either (she still calls her browser "Foxfire" even though I switched her over to Chrome a while ago.) so I don't think iOS is necessary.

 

[shortylickens]

Real estate agents need to look cool. Get an iPhone, Lexus SUV, and prada bag.

 

[Oyeve]

Real estate agents need to look cool. Get an iPhone, Lexus SUV, and prada bag.

I always see realtors with BBs. Seriously, always have BBs.

 

[MotionMan]

1. She needs to survey her real estate friends/colleagues and ask her broker what they use and like;

2. I assume iOS will have the better and more varied apps, but, again, she should ask other REAs what apps they use the most;

3. No matter what she gets, she should get extra batteries/external batteries and maybe a ProClip charging device (I LOVE mine);

4. Almost all of my REA clients have iPhones (with external batteries). BBs are a far distant second (with extra batteries).

MotionMan

 

[Oyeve]

Notepad/Pen. Foolproof/futureproof.

Really, I'm in IT going on 30years now and always, always, always carry a pencil and a pad.

 

[MotionMan]

Notepad/Pen. Foolproof/futureproof.

Really, I'm in IT going on 30years now and always, always, always carry a pencil and a pad.

Does your notepad and pen make phone calls, give directions, check listings, update your calendar and contain your entire contact list?

Really, do you think you even bothered to try to answer the question, or were you just trying to have one of those "I don't have a mobile phone/I don''t watch TV/I don't drive a car" moments?

MotionMan

 

[slackerinabox]

Was a real estate agent and, for me, battery life was key. I used a blackberry because of this but my current windows phone has decent battery life as well (and my wife's iphone gets great battery life too)

 

[Bateluer]

I always see realtors with BBs. Seriously, always have BBs.

BBs have far longer battery life than most iOS/Android/WP7 devices.

FYI, apps on Android and iOS are on par with each other and have been for a long while. But she should check to see what real estate apps she's interested in, there's a number on both platforms.

 

[Oyeve]

Does your notepad and pen make phone calls, give directions, check listings, update your calendar and contain your entire contact list?

Really, do you think you even bothered to try to answer the question, or were you just trying to have one of those "I don't have a mobile phone/I don''t watch TV/I don't drive a car" moments?

MotionMan

No, I wasn't trying to be one of those. Just stating the importance of a simple pad and pen to write on. are you just trying to be one of those "a-holes" all the time?

 

[MotionMan]

No, I wasn't trying to be one of those. Just stating the importance of a simple pad and pen to write on.

Which is completely off topic and useless in the context of this thread. Thanks for nothing.

are you just trying to be one of those "a-holes" all the time?

Nope - Only when appropriate.

MotionMan

 

[Compddd]

She is on Verizon, I'm guessing that limits the options for her.

 

[redgtxdi]

Indeed. The great Satan (aka Verizon) is a bit of a limiter but not without good phones, at least as far as I've seen.

I don't know how much "show" people do as REAs on their devices but if that's a large part of the gig, BBs typically have smaller screens. An iPhone or droid would do a better job of showing off with larger screen. Plus the BB browser ain't great.

As much as my brain associates BB with "business" oriented phone, I have to say that I think *I* would probably be after a larger screen + better browser for show and tell, myself.