Whether you’re an iOS, Android, Windows 8 or Blackberry kind of person, there’s no shortage of phones to choose from. When you think you’ve finally settled on the right phone for you, there’s the matter of picking the right accessories, and yes, there are some intriguingly useful accessories out there!

Leaving out all the fluff, here’s a list of smartphone accessories that can be genuinely useful in genuine real-life scenarios. The point here is not to support accessories by any specific brand, but rather to let you know about innovative types of smartphone accessory that you may not be aware of yet.

Smartphone Wallet

Your smartphone and your wallet are two items that you never leave home without. Why hasn’t anyone figured out an intelligent way to combine them? Why aren’t there smartphone cases out there that also double as a proper wallet? Actually there are, and we’ve noticed a trend recently with this kind of hybrid accessory coming up in sizes compatible with the most popular smartphone brands.

Jogging Armband

This type of accessory is no longer a novelty, and you’ve surely gazed in contempt at those modern people who won’t leave their phones behind even when they’re out exercising. Right? Well, truth of the matter is a) those jogging armbands are very convenient if you need to remain contactable at all times and b) your smartphone can be a great fitness assistant, gathering statistics on your training that will allow you to keep pushing yourself in just the right manner.

Power Pack

Since the Achilles heel of current smartphones is the limited battery life, you might as well start using your phone as sparingly as possible. OR – better yet, you can just get one of those portable battery packs that will hold enough energy to recharge your phone several times over. This item can make the difference between carrying around a cool smartphone and carrying around a boring techno-brick.

Smart-watch

Sure enough, smart-watches are destined to be the new thing. Apple fans have been waiting breathlessly for the rumored iWatch, while Samsung fans already swoon over the “Gear”. Truth of the matter though is that such devices should become quite common very soon. Most importantly, they really don’t have to be as expensive as Apple and Samsung would have you believe. After all, these smart-watches are essentially a Bluetooth-enabled display that picks up notifications from your smartphone.

Don’t be surprised if within a year or so, everyone and their cousin is wearing one of these in tandem with a smartphone – especially as soon as cheap smart-watches flood the market.

Credit Card Terminal

Whether you’re an independent business owner or a freelance entrepreneur, you know there are times when it would be amazing if you could just accept credit card payments – since sometimes that’ll be the only payment option available to some customers.

Well, you will be happy to know there are credit card peripherals out there that can be plugged into common smartphones to make a serviceable credit card terminal that does not imply a huge investment.

Charging Dock with Speakers

Another happy accessory combo, this type of thing doubles as a charging dock and external speakers. After all, if you’re going to clutter your desk with yet another trinket, it might as well be useful for multiple purposes! Has anyone seen one of these that also include the functionality of an external battery pack? Now, that would be something!

Have you already embraced any of these ingenious smartphone accessories? Is there any particularly kit you want to let us know about? Feel free to write in your opinions below!