Whether it's your mate down the pub, the opinions of the printed column inches or the person on the other end of the phone trying to get you to upgrade to the iPhone 4, the trouble is that there's only really one person out there who can tell you which is the best mobile phone for you, and that's us. No, just kidding. You were right the first time. It's you.

However, in order to get your decision making process from A to B that might involve having to understand what in-plane switching is or why 320dpi is something that should pique your interest, and if the techo-jargon doesn't float your boat, then you're back to square one. Or at least you were.

Meet the Should I buy an iPhone 4 quiz and the shortcut to solving mobile phone conundrum. Answer the questions, tot up your answers and take a look at the section at the bottom for the next move you should make.

Questions

  1. Do you own a Mac? (yes = 5 points, no = 0)
  2. Are you an Apple fanboy? (yes = 10 points, no = 0)
  3. Do you have spare money? (yes = 4 points, no = 0)
  4. Do you use a PC? (yes = -2 points, no = 0)
  5. Do you want to read ebooks on your phone? (yes = 2 points, no = 0)
  6. Are you planning on doing a lot of typing on it? (yes = -2 points, no = 0)
  7. Do you like to be known for having the latest gadgets? (yes = 5 points, no = 0)
  8. Do you want to watch porn on it? (yes = -5 points, no = 0)
  9. Have you always been hoping that video calls would take off? (yes = 4 points, no = 0)
  10. Do you already own an iPhone? (yes = 4 points, no = 0)
  11. Do you want to be able to truly multitask? (yes = -3 points, no = 0)
  12. Do you watch a lot of video on your phone (yes = 8 points, no = 0)
  13. Do you own an iPad? (yes = 4 points, no = 0)
  14. Do you want something to keep the kids quiet in the car? (yes = 3 points, no = 0)
  15. Is a single volume button just not enough for you? (agree = 4 points, disagree = 0)
  16. Can you expense it against your earnings? (yes = 3 points, no = 0)
  17. Are you okay being owned by Apple? (yes = 3 points, no = 0)
  18. Do you need to own a beautiful looking device? (yes = 3 points, no = 0)
  19. Are you expecting an iPhone 4 to mean you can do things that you can't already? (yes = 0 points, no = 2)
  20. Do you take a lot of photos on your mobile? (yes = 3 points, no = 0)
  21. Are you looking to ditch your pocket camcorder? (yes = 5 points, no = 0)
  22. Do you want to stand out from the crowd? (yes = -4 points, no = 0)
  23. Do you have either big house or big office or both? (yes = 2 points, no = 0)
  24. Are you financially prepared to go for the most expensive phone on the shelf? (yes = 3 points, no = 0)
  25. Do you bemoan your phone ruining your clothing lines? (yes = 2 points, no = 0)
  26. Is e-mailing what you really want one for? (yes = -5 points, no = 0)
  27. Do you make many calls out on windy streets? (yes = 3 points, no = 0)
  28. Is iTunes your desktop media player? (yes = 3 points, no = 0)
  29. Do you have a decent set of headphones of your own? (yes = 2 points, no = 0)
  30. Are you liable to mess up a smartphone given too much freedom? (yes = 3 points, no = 0)

 

Should you buy an iPhone 4?

Hell no (-21 - 7)
Do not buy an iPhone 4 or an iPhone of any kind. Take it from us that this would be a large mistake rather like the one where they decided against fitting that iceberg detector on the Titanic.

You don't own a Mac, you're not that flush for cash and you'll take better photos on another, more dedicated camera phone. Chances are that you don't have a smartphone of any kind and it's probably not really worth you getting one either. Try a quality feature phone of some sort like a Nokia 6700 Classic. If a smartphone is something you aspire to, then follow Pocket-lint on Twitter or on your RSS or just check in once a day and you'll probably start getting addicted to this kind of stuff. Maybe next WWDC when you come to answer this quiz, you'll get a different result.

Try a different smartphone (8-34)
You're obviously someone who likes their gadgets and you're quite rightly in the market for one kind of smartphone or another. That said, the iPhone 4 probably isn't the one for you.

It's unlikely that you own a Mac and the only thing tying you into the Apple ecosystem is probably your use of iTunes or the fact that you've got an iPod lying around somewhere. So instead of opting for the obvious, take a look at either an Android phone - the HTC Desire, Legend, Hero or the Nexus One would be best - or if e-mailing's the most important thing for you, then it has to be the BlackBerry Bold. Sure the iPhone 4 is all flash (note the small f) but every Tom, Dick and Harriet will have one in three months' time.

Your kinda phone (35-53)
You may not necessarily be the number one Apple fanboy on the planet but you're certainly ticking a lot of the right boxes here. There's a good chance you already own an iPhone or, if not, you probably always wanted to. Now might be your chance to get involved. It's clearly a great phone, it's much better than the last model and, lets face it, you can afford it. Jot down 24th June, make sure you've earmarked the cash in your budget and maybe cancel one of those charity subscriptions to make up the monthly difference.

Why are you reading this? (54-90)
You've only done this quiz to kill time until 24th June, haven't you? In fact, you're probably sat next to a calendar with a red marker pen in your hand just waiting to cross off the days. You're either reading this on your MacBook or your iPad or more likely both while your Steve Jobs duvet and pillow set are tumbling in the dryer. Yes it's expensive, yes Apple owns you but you just don't care. It's all so, so worth it to have the very best that technology can offer and a well-deserved air of the smug about you too.

You can find our complete iPhone 4 coverage on Pocket-lint right here.