There are a ton of phones on the market and it can be be extremely intimidating when you are choosing the phone that you are going carry around and depend on for the next year or two.
The place to start is to decide your primary use of your cell phone. Will you use it mostly for talking, texting, or staying connected to the internet? Once you've decided the main purpose of your future device, then you can key in on the features that matter most.
You will, of course be bound by your wireless carrier. For example, you may want a Palm Pre but if you are not a Sprint customer, you will have to choose something else. Each carrier has a decent selection of phones in every category, so unless you really love a certain you'll probably just go with your current provider.
One mistake a lot of people make is to get more than they need. Whether it's just wanting to have the latest and greatest or wanting to keep up with the Jones' motivating the choice, it usually results in regret ... and then blaming the cell phone for not performing.
Remember, first consider what you will use it for, then look at what's out there in that category. If you resist choosing based on how impressed others will be when they see your phone, you will probably end up very satisfied with your choice.
