Use this comparison tool to shop for a new cell phone

Michael Timmermann | November 13th, 2017

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Money expert Clark Howard says that people are coming up to him more often to ask about the best cell phone plans and deals on smartphones.

With so many Apple and Android devices to choose from, it can be hard to easily identify the best new cell phones.

Shopping for a new cell phone? Google can help

Let’s say you’ve been looking through the Black Friday 2017 ad scans and found two phones that you’re interested in. How are you going to decide which one to buy?

Before you hop in the car to learn more about the phones from a salesperson, start with Google.

Using Google’s regular search feature, you can now enter two phone models with a “vs” in between and you’ll get a side-by-side comparison of their main features.

Here’s what came up when I searched “iPhone 7 vs iPhone 8” on a mobile device:

The new comparison tool will display information such as a phone’s release date, storage capacity, screen size, weight and battery life — as well as either the total price or the price on a monthly payment plan.

This feature also highlights the star rating and links to reviews — Clark always reads the reviews thoroughly.

For the comparison between the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8, Google’s “highlight differences” mode made it clear to me just how much the two models have in common.

In fact, Clark says the iPhone 7 is the deal for Apple users this holiday season — not the iPhone 8 or iPhone X.

Google’s cell phone comparison tool doesn’t give you all the information you may want before buying a phone, but it’s a good starting point and could help you eliminate some phones from consideration.