Tablet or Phone: Which should you choose?

There will be a lot of you out there who are already rocking a smartphone and/or a tablet, but for those of your about to dip your toe into the technologic water you may be wondering if you need both or just one.

Luckily TechRadar is on hand to help you make that decision, whether it's picking up your first mobile device or perhaps it's time to upgrade and you're unsure which direction to follow.

Of course you could make things easy and plump for both a shiny new smartphone and a tablet, but they don't come and cheap and for many of us we only realistically need one or the other.

There are numerous things to consider when it comes to choosing between a phone or table, but the key questions you need to ask yourself are; who is it for, what will it be used for, how much are you looking to spend and what screen size do you fancy?

• Best mobile phones in the world today

The biggest difference in phones and tablets is obviously screen size. This distinction is forever becoming more blurred as supersized smartphones begin to encroach on the 7-inch tablet market.

Looking for the best of both worlds? Then you might want to check out the 6.44-inch Sony Xperia Z Ultra or the 6-inch Nokia Lumia 1520 - there's even the 7-inch Asus FonePad which is a tablet first and foremost, but also has calling and texting abilities.

If plans for your new device centre around watching a lot of movies, reading books and magazines or browsing the web then we'd recommend buying a tablet.

While you can do all these activities on a smartphone, the smaller screen isn't as comfortable from a visual perspective, although phones are much better for music playback thanks to their portable nature.

We'd recommend a phone for those users who spend a lot more time on the go, for those who value portability as much as functionality. Tablets are becoming ever more portable, but nothing will ever replace the ease of being able to just pop something into your pocket.

• Best tablets in the world today

Phones are the better messaging devices, so if you're going to be sending a lot of texts, constantly checking your email or spending hours on instant messaging services then you'll want to lean towards a smartphone. Tablets are able to manage emails as well as run some instant messaging services, but phones win out overall here.

We love take pictures, so if you want your new mobile device to also double as a point and shoot snapper you'll once again want to be heading to the smartphone side, as they pack better cameras than tablets while also being a lot easier to carry around.