Google’s new tool helps you pick an Android phone

Google has quietly launched a new suggestion tool on the Android website at android.com/phones/whichphone. Which Phone, first spotted by XDA, asks you a few simple questions about your smartphone usage and then offers a few Android suggestions that might work for you.

You’re first asked to pick what your new Android phone is for. Although you can pick all 12 categories, Google asks that you pick at least three from the following: taking photos, listening to music, being productive, social media, gaming, watching videos, being on the go, staying fit, texting & instant messaging, talking, web browsing, and expressing my style.

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After you pick one, you’re asked how often you use your phone for this task along with a potential follow-up question for how intense the task can get. Then you’re taken back to pick another category.

After you’ve added three categories, the tool informs you it has a few suggestions ready. If you want, you can add more categories to your list and keep answering questions to narrow down your selection.

On the next page, you’re asked to pick a carrier: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, or Verizon. Yes, this is clearly a U.S.-centric tool, though you can simply click “Choose later” and you’ll still get a list of phones.

I picked categories that require more resources, so unsurprisingly my results included flagship phones. Once the phones appear, you can filter by carrier, size, price, and launch date. You can then save these phones to your email, add them to your shopping list or, for whatever reason, share them on social media.

The Android tool’s branding is in line with the company’s recent “Be Together. Not the Same” campaign, which debuted along with Android 5.0 Lollipop in October 2014. Google has since run multiple ads in this same vein, emphasizing that Android runs on a myriad of devices.

The challenge is of course figuring out which one is for you. At least, it was a challenge, until this tool showed up.

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