Are smartphone gifts a good idea?

Ahh. The holidays are over (for most) and now is the time when we look back on our successes and failures over the past few days and reassess. Was drinking that second rum and coke before dinner a great idea? Probably not. Did you knock it out of the park with that Pandora bracelet charm in her stocking? You betcha. Should I have replaced her Nexus 5 with a 5x  or perhaps a OnePlus X?  Now we get into the meat of the matter. In short, are smartphone gifts a good idea or not?

First of all, smartphone gifts are not to be taken lightly. Any smartphone you buy is going to be a pretty decent investment. Whether you're buying a Moto G or a Galaxy Note 5, you're in the triple digits, and in some cases, you're in the high triple digits. This is a pretty sizeable investment on a phone for yourself, let alone someone else. After all, you know what you want. You have done the research, and you have the knowledge about this arena. You have no idea what is going to really get your friend or loved one excited, or irritated with a phone. And I think we all know that phones can be filled with both excitement and irritants.

Too personal

A smartphone is such a personal device, it should be left up to the individual which phone they will choose as a pocket companion. You may think that Google Now far outshines Siri, but maybe another person doesn't care about digital assistants at all, and just wants something simple to use. Maybe the geocaching experience is simply better on an Android phone, and since that's what they're going to do with it the most, they don't' care that Apple has finally fixed notifications.

Even a simple upgrade from an old phone to a new one might be fraught with pitfalls and risks. Maybe the one thing your wife loves to do with her Lumia 930 is double-tap to wake, and the Lumia 950 you got her won't do that. I mean, double-tap to wake is a tiny little nothing feature and no one will talk about at parties, but when it's suddenly gone, you notice. And it can make you angry.

Which corners are safe?

One other thing to consider is that, assuming you are one of modest means, you are probably not going to be going top of the line here. So that means, you're looking at the midrangers – the Alacatel OneTouch Idol 3 or the Moto G, or something in that neighborhood. So when you're not buying the latest and greatest, where do you start cutting the corners? Does your recipient want 1080p? A not-as-great camera? A slower processor? You are well aware of the compromises you'd make, but what about them?

And yet…

But aren't you the one who has done all this research? Aren't you the one who spends hour after hour at Pocketnow reading about all this stuff? Aren't you the mobile expert in your family/among your friends? Aren't you the one all these people are going to come to when they're considering their smartphone buying options? I mean, if you're going to put on your smartphone expert hat, you may as well double-down on that and pick out your loved one's next experience. This is your chance to be a guide into a new and exciting realm of smartphone ownership – embrace it! Especially when it comes to midrange phones. You should know what they like, so you're going to know where the corners that are being cut are ok.

Plus, you know you are going to be the source of tech support for this phone, so shouldn't you have some say in what you have to support? If your friend is considering a new phone, and you know they're going to be coming to you for help, it's not crazy to think you should be able to pick the experience you'll be supporting.

Know your audience

A smartphone is a wonderful gift to give someone, as long as you know enough about them to be able to gauge their interests. Chances are, if you're spending this kind of cash on someone, you probably know a little bit about them, and what they like. And if not…well, I won't judge.

So what do you think? Did you put any tech in anyone's stocking over the holiday? Or is that strictly a hands-off area for you, whether for logical or financial reasons? Sound off below. If you gave tech, how did you do? If you got any tech, how do you like it? Overall, what did you learn? Sound off below, and let's see if we can figure this out.

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