Looking for smartphone help

[herbgeek]

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I don't have a smartphone. I take endless teasing about this, being in software development. I haven't really needed one as I work from home, and am in front of computers and phones all day. I also have a tablet which goes traveling with me (but is wifi only) as well as an ipod touch for music. My dumb phone to call and text has been fine, but some recent traveling has been changing my mind on all of this as I see the utility for travel like not having to find a printer at a hotel to print out my boarding pass, as well as having just one device instead of the multiple I carry (add the GPS and a camera to the ipod and tablet).

I live in the boonies where the only coverage that comes in at all is Verizon, so I'll likely go with one of the Verizon MVNO's (resellers). So I have a couple of questions I'd appreciate input on:

1) how much data do you use per month and do you consider yourself a light/medium/heavy phone user? Data usage seems to be the big price differentiator, and I have no idea how much data is "typical". I would not be playing games or streaming movies/audio. Just doing things like google maps when out and about. I would load apps over wifi if that is possible.

2) what kind of phone do you have and do you like it? I like the aesthetics of Apple (I have an ipod touch 3rd gen) but not the price. If I went for an iphone, it would probably be an SE- but is it REALLY worth the money over, say, a Samsung or LG phone? SE appears to be too new to have much of a refurbished market. Google Pixel phones are the same price as iphones.

3) how much memory do you have on your phone?

Anything else I should be looking for/asking about?

[freshstart]

I love my iPhone 6s, it plays nice with all my other devices, it's like having a mini-macbook with me because everything syncs over the cloud. It's intuitive to use and I am not a high tech savvy person. Recently, we bought the cheapest smartphones you can get, ZTE, for my parents. OMG, awful. Not easy to use even to make a phone call or send a text. I ended up getting my dad a 5s, not bad on the learning curve because he has Apple devices. My mother wanted a $20 flip phone, lol.

Another thing I like about iPhones is the ease of being able to get help. Even without Applecare, the company has repeatedly helped me over the phone for various devices. And the Genius Bar is always available. Also, I once dropped my phone and shattered the screen, it was 3 mos out of warranty. I walked into Apple and they gave me a new one (not refurbed) and transferred all my data for free. They've done other things like that over the years. Enough that they've earned my loyalty.

I have 3 gb of data a month, I'd say I'm a low data user. I check email, send email, google stuff and watch the occasional movie on netflix


good luck in your search!

[Tybee]

The iphones are much easier to use. It doesn't sound like you would use much data per month, but I would go with a no contract plan and start at the lowest and work up if I had to.
I have a 5s and it is too small for me to use comfortably, but the 6's were too expensive, so that was what I could afford.

[19Sandy]

I don't have a smartphone either. When it is like 10 dollars a month, then maybe I will. I am frugal!

[Dhiana]

I'm a heavy user of an iPhone 6 with 3gb prepay data/month.

Lots of google maps use to find bus routes, bus app to see when the next bus is actually arriving, social media, blog posting, kindle books, acctg, photography, and photo editing.

No gaming. No streaming of movies, etc except on wifi.

Only rarely do I hit the 3gb limit and it's usually only a day or two before the next month is to renew. That's with very heavy use. My bus commute is about 45 min each way, each day plus waiting times at the stops.

I use the cloud for most things so the phone's memory is mostly used by photographs, which I take a LOT for my business and I have 2 full length movies on it. I am surprised how little space kindle books take up on my phone but I only have about 20 or so on the device. (The other 1200 or so are in the cloud :D I think it has 32gb memory.

Hope this helps.

[Tammy]

A year ago, when my husband and I were still grandfathered in on a 15 year old unlimited version data plan, we were using a combined 45 gigs a month in out two iPhones. It cost us 120 a month.

We saw the writing on the wall and finally got home Internet with wifi. Verizon forced us to a new plan a few months ago. We now use 8 gigs combined monthly for 110 a month total. And our internet/wifi costs 70 a month.

We are heavy users. We love our iPhones. We were android fans for years but will never go back.

[jp1]

I would consider myself a heavy medium user. I don't stream movies, but I DO stream pandora all day when I'm in the office. And I'm constantly using google maps and the bus location app and the like, as well as scrolling through social media when I'm bored. I have a 3 gb plan but rarely go much over 2.

I currently have an iPhone 6. Love love love it. It's just enough bigger than my old 4s. I've never had an android so I can't compare, but if you already are familiar with the iOS environment the will be no learning curve.

As far as amount of memory it depends on how much music you plan to carry with you. 16gb isn't going to be enough if you have lots.

[ToomuchStuff]

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I don't have a smartphone. I take endless teasing about this, being in software development. I haven't really needed one as I work from home, and am in front of computers and phones all day. I also have a tablet which goes traveling with me (but is wifi only) as well as an ipod touch for music. My dumb phone to call and text has been fine, but some recent traveling has been changing my mind on all of this as I see the utility for travel like not having to find a printer at a hotel to print out my boarding pass, as well as having just one device instead of the multiple I carry (add the GPS and a camera to the ipod and tablet).



So call me a bit confused. You can't present your tablet the same way your wanting to present your phone, rather then printing? Seems to me you should be able to save what your showing on the tablet, then present it.
As to the embarrassed software developer, well how many times have you or your embarrassers typed your code into the phone itself? Seems to me you should be seeing your developers using a bluetooth keyboard and typing into their phones if it is that big of a deal.:idea:

[catherine]

Haha, I was just on an online chat with an AT&T representative to decide what to upgrade to. I have an iPhone 5c, which I am totally fine with. I didn't feel I needed to upgrade until I got a research gig that requires me to audio record a lot of interviews and I know I'll run out (I have 16GB). So I figured I'd invest in the upgrade, and I was deciding between the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. I will probably do the iPhone 7 because I like the smaller size--if you plan on watching movies on the phone, you may wish to do the larger size.

I am also grandfathered in an unlimited data plan, which is great, because I consider myself a moderate to heavy user. I don't stream media, but I do access apps constantly--I LOVE all the apps: I have everything from Facebook to a rosary app. I have time management apps, permaculture podcast apps, my Kindle app, Uber, 2 plant identification apps, Pray-As-You-Go app, Evernote, Boycott, ChiRunning, etc etc.. I looked at my usage history and last month it was 1.6GB.

I'm not even sure if there are many 16GB phones now. I would also suggest getting at least 32.

I also have to say that I am an iPhone lover. If I were to be stranded on a deserted island--and they had data roaming, the only thing I would need is my iPhone.

[jp1]

So call me a bit confused. You can't present your tablet the same way your wanting to present your phone, rather then printing? Seems to me you should be able to save what your showing on the tablet, then present it.


In some circumstances that would work. (Or using the iPod for this). But with certain carriers there's no way to actually download the boarding pass, so having internet access as you go through security or board the plane is necessary.

[Dhiana]

In some circumstances that would work. (Or using the iPod for this). But with certain carriers there's no way to actually download the boarding pass, so having internet access as you go through security or board the plane is necessary.

Oftentimes I'll screenshot the relevant portions of tickets, UPCs, emails, etc needed to get through just in case service is interrupted.

[frugal-one]

I have a TracFone that is a smart phone. It is $100 per year. I have over 3300 minutes that have rolled over. I don't use the phone much since I also have an iPad. I would rather use the GPS that plugs into the car. I have heard that using through the phone can be difficult at times to get reception. YLMV

[rosarugosa]

Hey Frugal-one, Did you get your phone from TracFone? If so, would you mind sharing what model you bought and whether you like it or not?

[19Sandy]

I think I am clueless about smartphones but don't they require using more minutes plus using WIFI? I don't have Wifi. Then again maybe I don't know what I am talking about with this stuff.

I do have a cheap tracfone but I know they charge more for tracfone smartphone minutes than basic minutes.

[herbgeek]

With a smart phone, You are charged for data used. This is typically in gigabytes. Most plans give you a generous amount of minutes for voice calls.

[creaker]

I have a cheap Android from Boost Mobile (my only complaint is the camera is crap). Fixed rate for unlimited voice/data, they just ratchet down the data speed after you've gone above a certain amount. But I haven't used data enough to be impacted by this.

About wifi, you want to set up a smartphone to use wifi wherever a secure connection is commonly available to you (home, work, etc.) - it's faster and you don't eat into your data limits when it uses wifi instead.

[ToomuchStuff]

I think I am clueless about smartphones but don't they require using more minutes plus using WIFI? I don't have Wifi. Then again maybe I don't know what I am talking about with this stuff.

I do have a cheap tracfone but I know they charge more for tracfone smartphone minutes than basic minutes.

Free WIFI allows you to use your smart phone, as a smart phone, without using your data, of course for a trade off (security, any restrictions/data logging they put on their system, etc).
Some people supply it either for convenience or to get you to stay longer, others don't, because they need the turnover (don't be sitting at one table drinking a coffee for hours).

[Meezer_Mom]

I have been with Cricket (a subsidiary of AT&T, so all their poles across the country) since February 2014. $40/mo, less $5 with auto-pay. My first phone with them was a Samsung Galaxy Express that cost about $160. Loved it! Daily use, little streaming. It recently died. They have two Galaxies that are next generations. One was $20, the other $80. I went with the $80 model (Galaxy Prime Amp). Happy so far. Highly recommend Cricket and Galaxy.

Before that, I had an HTC Wildfire S, which died this bizarre, weird death I can only compare to the melting of the Wicked Witch of the West. I used Virgin Mobile, which uses Sprint poles. Both sucked.

[frugal-one]

Hey Frugal-one, Did you get your phone from TracFone? If so, would you mind sharing what model you bought and whether you like it or not?

I bought the phone from Shopko. It was $50 with 400 minutes. it is a Samsung ... Core Galaxy comes up when I turn it on. I have it set to use wifi first. I just checked the phone and it is model number SM-S820L Android version 4.4. There probably are newer versions but this works great. I found it easy to use. I did not have a Smartphone prior to this.