Smart Phone - Best Buy

[Cypress]

After several happy years of tracfone service. I am considering purchasing a smart phone. Being the consumer and wanting the best price for cost, I am curious what you own and what features it provides.

I have Motorola Razor and Nokia Lumia 720 as a possible best buy.

I would use this as a telephone, camera, e-mail and possibly video. I have stayed away from smart phones due to the monthly fee. But, I do not have internet connection at home, due to cost and want either one or the other. I like the mobility of a smart phone.

Also, I live in a relatively rural area and wonder about reception. My tracfone operates very well in the area a majority of the time.

[Alan]

My wife had a fairly basic Tracfone for years and was quite happy with it's functionality as a phone, and you're right, reception was great everywhere we travelled. I've always had a company provided phone with all the newest bells and whistles, currently the iPhone 5.

A few months ago, wifey decided that it was time for her to hop on-board the smart phone express, although she was dismayed at the seemingly high monthly charges associated with the major carriers. After a little research, she decided to go with Virgin Mobile, which required a full-price purchase of the smart phone of her choice and enrollment in a monthly plan. What she ended up with is an iPhone 4, purchased from Virgin Mobile for $399, and a 300 minute per month, unlimited text and 3GB of data per month for $30.

So far, she's been very happy with it.

[SteveinMN]

Cypress, pick the network first, then pick the phone. Not every phone is available on every carrier. And a phone that doesn't have signal where you need it -- well, they're so light they're not even good as paperweights. TracFone works with different carriers in different parts of the country so they have pretty good coverage. If the cost of buying a smartphone up front from them (locked to their network) does not scare you, they might still be a good choice. I know a lot of people like the carrier Straight Talk for their smartphone plans; TracFone and Straight Talk are part of the same company (as are Net10, Simple Mobile, and, soon, PagePlus).

They'll all work for voice calls. They'll all work for photos and videos, though, of course none of them will come close to the quality of even less-expensive digital point-and-shoots. But if the quality is good enough for your purposes, it's good enough. And using the phone certainly will make it easier to share/move around photos and video.

All of the big carriers have coverage maps at their Web sites. Check them out, especially the data maps and especially where they differentiate between LTE and 4G/3G/EDGE/EVDO/whatever. They paint an optimistic picture of coverage ("Good" coverage may mean no signal inside a building but adequate outside), but it's a start. You probably won't have a problem in Mass.

Right now I'm in the process of retiring my smartphone, a Nokia E73. I really like the phone as a phone. But its Symbian OS is on life support, with Nokia having moved on to the Windows Phone OS that runs on the Lumia series phones. No computer is obsolete if it does what you need it to do, but I'm seeing developers abandon their Symbian apps and I see support disappearing for things like map updates (I use mine frequently as a GPS) and I considered myself lucky to find a Whatsapp application for Symbian when I needed it.

I won't consider a replacement Nokia with Windows Phone because 1) I am convinced that Apple (iOS) and Android are all developers want to deal with. Blackberry and Symbian are already out of mindshare. I don't see Windows being any different: Windows Phone doesn't really do anything better than iOS or Android; and Microsoft has burned its developers and its users multiple times, wasting their "investments" in software and training as they've introduced new versions of Windows for phones that completely break compatibility with previous versions.

I'm aware that by selecting an Android phone, I am becoming Google's product. No thanks. So I'm moving to an iPhone; a 4 (or a 4s if I can find one cheap enough). Yes, Apple makes some money off me from what I buy through their ecosystem. But if they're scanning the email I'm sending on my iPhone, they at least have the sense/good grace to not make a point of it. I also live in an Apple ecosystem at home, so an iPhone makes the most sense for me.

One thing you might consider is keeping the TracFone and checking out an iPad mini, especially from T-Mobile, if their coverage is decent in your area. T-Mo is offering customers 200 MB free data per month on tablets and, if you buy the mini from them, will allow you to stretch out the payments about two years (interest free, IIRC). That way you'll have a tablet which will make browsing and composing email/writing SLF posts/editing photos easier, some free data (more is available as needed), and a phone that you already know does well as a phone.

(Full disclosure: we currently are T-Mobile customers, but do not benefit from anyone else becoming a customer.)

[Gardenarian]

I'm really happy with my Republic wireless (http://www.republicwireless.com/) account, and the phone, the Motorola Defy XT, is just fine for my purposes.
I pay $19 per month for unlimited call, text, and data. They have a new phone, the Moto X, which is supposed to be excellent, and have plans for that starting at $5 (wifi only) and lots of other plans.
Highly recommended.

[pcooley]

I'd second the Republic Wireless vote, though I have not signed up. I use a Kroger iWireless Sanyo Taho. It's not a Smartphone, but I carry a $10 refill card with me so that I can refill the phone's time if I need to. I find that it's a real rarity that I need a cell phone. I use my iPod Touch for smartphone like things, and I can even call out on it over my Google Voice number when I'm somewhere with wifi. Occasionally I think of making the jump to Republic Wireless, but $19 a month for a cell phone is hard to swallow, when I can't think of any real need for it.

[SteveinMN]

I would suggest that anyone considering Republic Wireless' model read this (http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/forum/welcome-to-the-forum/republic-wireless/) first (Mr. Money Moustache discussion about them). If it works for you, great! But it's not the screamin' deal Republic makes it out to be.

[Gardenarian]

I would suggest that anyone considering Republic Wireless' model read this (http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/forum/welcome-to-the-forum/republic-wireless/) first (Mr. Money Moustache discussion about them). If it works for you, great! But it's not the screamin' deal Republic makes it out to be.

Some of the info from that forum is out of date. Republic now charges $99 for the Defy XT, which is a good deal.

I believe the "dropped call" problem has been fixed. I have never been talking on the phone and walked out of a wifi area. That situation just doesn't come up for me; I don't have a phone plastered to my ear all day.

The camera will be disappointing to anyone who has used an iPhone, but I have taken a lot of nice snapshots with it.

I've never had trouble answering calls.

The speaker phone works great for me - as I am hard of hearing, it is the only way I can use a phone, and have had no trouble with it.

I also have not had the problem with texts breaking up.

I don't have any need to text photos.

In any case, the new Republic Wireless phone, the Moto X, is a big step up from the phone they are talking about.

In short - if you are used to the latest cutting edge phone, and use it all the time, the Defy XT is probably not for you. Run the numbers on the Moto X and see if it an actual savings.

I'm very happy with the service - and you do get 30 days to return the phone if you don't like it.

and....NO CONTRACTS!

[SteveinMN]

Beyond running the numbers, read, read, and read. There are significant caveats about a RW's customer's liability if they lose or break the phone/have serious service issues after the 30-day buyer's-remorse period, need more reliable service than RW can offer,....

Gardenarian, I'm glad RW is working for you, but it doesn't work that well for everyone -- or their pain points simply are not yours. I. P. on MMM has a good background in telecom and raises valid points about RW service as it applies to the masses, not just individuals. He (and I, for that matter) has no axe to grind with RW or anything to gain financially by recommending for or against them. We just like stuff that works. :) I. P.'s key argument -- which remains after the points you addressed -- is that it's not that difficult to duplicate Republic's functionality for significantly less money than they charge. If one-stop shopping is simpler than DIY, no problem with Republic. I'm just urging anyone considering them seriously to make sure before signing that all the fine print has been read and that they'll have a lot of time during the first 30 days to try it out, because after that they're literally on the hook and the promised savings can evaporate quickly.

BTW, every carrier -- at&t, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon -- now offers no-contract service. And prepaid MVNOs (almost all of which run on the bigger networks) offer still lower prices for equivalent service. It's not necessary to go RW to avoid a contract.

[gmpg54]

I use a LG vortex model on the Straight Talk network which is affiliated with TracFone.I had the phone,was able to keep the same number. I live in a rural spot in upstate NY and the service is excellent.The cost is 45.00 per month for unlimited everything.There is a 30.00 a month plan as well as a 60.00 one which I believe is for international calling. Good luck.

[happystuff]

Saw the tail end of a commercial the other day for Tracfone with what looked to be a "smart phone" type phone and mention of certain features for $7-something a month. Just caught the tail end of it - sorry. But might be worth looking into.... or not. lol

[Tradd]

I've seen Tracfone smartphone models at Target. Pay $75-$100 for phone. Lower end Android phones, but for someone looking for something basic, worth it, I guess. I think one of the other plans, such as a flat fee per month under Virgin Mobile or one of the other prepaid providers (AT&T, Verizon, etc.), might be a better option than Tracfone for something beyond basic.

[rodeosweetheart]

I did what Alan's wife did with the Virgin mobile I phone--bought the iphone and arrange dthe deal through Radio Shack--very affordable.

[Cypress]

Thanks for the advice. My tracfone is now 4 years old. It works fine but I wonder what the life span is meant to be. It's also a flip phone, nice and small, tucks right into my purse. Tracfone does make a smartphone for about $60. Than you buy your minutes as needed or per quarter. I bought it through Radio Shack and took advantage of the double minutes at point of purchase.

I saw an ad for TMobile mentioning that the rates for international calls are the same as domestic. Of course, the fine print wasn't mentioned but as I have tentative plans to travel to Italy next year, I was hoping to use the phone there as well as take pictures and send them home or into the cloud if possible.

I think a trip to Radio Shack is next. I generally receive good customer service when in the store.

[SteveinMN]

I saw an ad for TMobile mentioning that the rates for international calls are the same as domestic. Of course, the fine print wasn't mentioned but as I have tentative plans to travel to Italy next year, I was hoping to use the phone there as well as take pictures and send them home or into the cloud if possible.
I'm not sure which ad you saw, but I can tell you that T-Mobile will bill international calls at 20 cents a minute, which is more than most U.S. calling plans but far less than the other Big Three charge (right now; they well may co-opt T-Mo's exclusive on this).

Also keep in mind that every carrier out there uses the word "unlimited" very loosely. All of them have some cap one can reach which will affect your calling/data experience, whether it's a hard cap (e.g., no more data after your 2GB until the next billing period) or a throttle (e.g., no longer LTE data but EDGE or worse). Most folks will never hit that cap, but data-intensive users (people who watch video on their phones, stream music, or use their phone as their Internet router at home) can without much difficulty.

Finally, the T-Mo features you mention are on their postpaid plans, which require a credit check, unlike TracFone and other prepaid plans (including T-Mobile's).

[ToomuchStuff]

I wonder if the commercial you saw, had people sledgehammering the walls down? (saw it the other day but didn't pay much attention)


The reason I ask, is I believe "international" calls, originate from here in the USA. My understanding is not all the networks in Europe are compatible with the US ones, so your phone may not work over there (or there could be other charges or restrictions)

[Alan]

My understanding is not all the networks in Europe are compatible with the US ones, so your phone may not work over there (or there could be other charges or restrictions)
The technology is mostly the same. Digital cell phones in this country started with a hodge podge of technologies, CDMA (code division, multiple access), TDMA (time division, multiple access) GSM (Global System for Mobile communication), etc., with providers in this country setting up their networks to their preferred standard while virtually all of Europe consolidated on one standard, GSM.

These days, it isn't so much about the particular networks as it is the frequencies the carriers are allowed to transmit/receive on. Most modern phones will work within multiple frequency ranges.

[SnakeBlitz33]

Wow, glad I switched to Tracfone. My wife and I were paying $200 a month for two iPhones and then we wisened up and are now spending a grand total of $20 a month... saving that much money a month means a lot... especially when you really don't have the money to give!

[gail_d]

This may not work for Cypress--but after multiple years on my Tracfone flip phone, I upgraded last week to the LG 840g. It is not a smartphone, but it does have a capacitive touch screen. It costs about $30 on Amazon and gets triple minutes for the life of the phone. I easily transferred over my old phone number and the 700 minutes I had on the previous phone.

The LG 840g is a GSM phone running on the AT&T network, like my previous phone, which gets decent coverage where I live and travel. Not perfect--but good enough. It lets you easily use wifi, which I do have at home, so I can browse the Internet at home or wherever there's wifi. (You can also use Tracfone's mobile web also but it's slow and eats up minutes; nice to have in a pinch though.)

It has a camera, video camera, photo storage, calendar, alarm, e-mail push notifications, notepad, music player, Bluetooth connectivity, speakerphone, calculator, tip calculator, task list, & stopwatch. You can access Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace via the SNS feature. I've downloaded a number of free books from Project Gutenberg in the Qi00 format and they work just fine. It has good battery life. Comes in white or black. (And did I mention it was $30? I spent another whole $3.15 for a silicone skin.)

Those are the pros. Cons: It's a Java phone--apps and games are very limited. (I don't use my phone to play games, though.) While it resembles an iPhone, it is not a 'computer in a pocket' like the iPhone or Android phones. I've read on a Tracfone forum that it only shows YouTube videos in quarter-sized display. It has some weird quirks: on some screens, you can enter data via an onscreen horizontal keyboard; on others, you have to use the numeric keypad and "punch through" to get the letter you want.

But I think it will work fine for me for the specific uses I have in mind. I'm already using the simple calendar and notepad features more than I thought, and I'm currently re-reading _Little Women_ on my phone when I wait for the bus.

[ToomuchStuff]

gail_d,

Does it allow you to look up prices on something?

That is the only feature of a Smart phone I would somewhat like to have. (still using my $60 a year prepaid) Very few places would I even consider that, as most of my shopping is done before I go to a store, but I do have some damaged freight type of stores, that can have bargains, to more then retail.

[Glo]

I'm getting an iphone 5S. DS1 is adding me to his Verizon account for $40/month. That's unlimited calls, unlimited texting, and not sure what else. I've had a tracphone for several years and never liked it.

[gail_d]

gail_d,

Does it allow you to look up prices on something?



I just checked to see if I could access Amazon to do that. Yes, you can. There's a built in browser but I've also been experimenting with Opera Mini. I'd recommend that any web browsing be done via Wi-Fi rather than via Tracfone's mobile web, in order to save minutes.

I'm going to try to download a podcast next.

[gimmethesimplelife]

Uggggh cell phones! Not a topic that I have much luck with.....This past April I went out and bought my second smartphone - the first one I returned in 24 hours a few months before as it just didn't work and I couldn't figure it out. I also was about to leave for a job in rural Utah and needed a decent phone to keep in touch with my life in Phoenix, and the only two carriers that work in this section of Utah were Verizon and AT and T. So I locked myself into a contract at more than I care to admit to and did get a nice phone I can deal with - a Pantech Maurader, which is a great phone for smartphone newbies and I can attest to that as even as techno phobic as I am, I figured it out quickly and now love this phone other than the monthly bill. This phone also has a slideout keyboard which I absolutely had to have as I don't like touch screen keyboards.

So, anyway, due to health reasons the job in Utah did not work out and I found myself going back home to Phoenix soon thereafter and stuck with a phone I loved but a high bill. I'm trying to make the best of it by using various smartphone apps that pay you - it helps subsidize the bill.

Also interesting is this summer I did a mystery shop of a Cricket store, in which I posed as a new Cricket customer and signed up for a new basic flip phone and cell service. I ended up with six months worth of cell service for free and a 100% reimbursed basic cell phone from Cricket. The free cell service ends on 12/08 and I am keeping it going - the one government program I am still in gives me a $10 month credit towards the bill and its 29.86 a month. I will be using this phone as a business phone as I am starting something up on Etsy soon here and the rocks for the low end jewelry I will hopefully be selling are tumbling right now as I type this. Should I get any calls for this or something else I am starting up online, I want them to be separate from my smartphone line. So now I have two cell phones, crazy how this worked out!

But to get to the point raised by the OP - I can very much recommend the Pantech Marauder as an entry level smart phone.....Basic and yet has a lot of memory and a nice camera.

Rob

[Gardenarian]

Mr. Money Mustache (http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/11/16/republic-wireless-old-phone-new-phone-and-a-tempting-competitor/) just did a nice article comparing Republic Wireless and Ting.

[fidgiegirl]

I'm thinking of going Ting, but would need to buy new phones from them or used. Has anyone ever bought a used phone? I would need one that could run on Sprint.

[bae]

Here's my new "smart" phone. It makes phone calls, and can send text messages. And can send your position back to be mapped. And there's a flip-up cap covering a Big Red Button that when pressed summons $1 million of search/rescue/evac effort. And it works most anywhere, which for my purposes makes it the smartest phone of all...

http://iridium.com/Assets/iframes/iridium-extreme-slidedeck/360-image-sequence/extreme-spin0000.png

[SteveinMN]

I'm thinking of going Ting, but would need to buy new phones from them or used. Has anyone ever bought a used phone? I would need one that could run on Sprint.
I've bought and sold several, but I was only a Sprint customer for all of four hours (long story), so I've never bought a used Sprint phone. The drill is pretty much the same, though. First, find out which phones Ting (or whoever) will support. I'm guessing that they will activate pretty much any reasonably recent Sprint-labeled phone, but they might not activate a used Boost or Virgin Mobile phone even though those are also Sprint brands.

If you're buying off craigslist, your best bet is to meet the seller at a Sprint store (for other carriers, that carrier's store). First, it's a public place. Second, Sprint can verify that the phone is not listed as stolen and that the seller is not still under contract or delinquent in payments. All of those things wll prevent you from activating on another carrier. You should be able to place a call to Sprint Customer Service without any kind of account on your or the seller's part.

If you're buying off ebay, choose a vendor that's sold at least several hundred phones. It might be worth it to pay a bit more for a phone from a seller that accepts returns. It's worth asking if you can get the ESN (a unique identifier Sprint uses for each phone) and check with Sprint if there are any issues based on that number. The value of paying more to an ebay vendor is that they have their ebay selling reputation to protect. The higher-volume sellers verify that the phone is good for resale -- or, if something was missed, will make it right if you have a problem. Some of them also can refurbish phones -- maybe replace the battery, clean them up some, throw in a new cheap charger or such. Just remember that whatever they show in the picture is what you'll get. If they don't show a car charger in their pictures, you very likely won't get one.

I'm in the market for a used iPhone now and likely will go the ebay route unless I can find a great deal from someone I know or from one of a limited number of well-known resellers. It's worth a few dollars to me to not have the hassle of sending phones back and forth or encountering one of craigslist's flakier sellers.

[fidgiegirl]

IP Daley again of the communications superguide on MMM shared this in his blog about buying used phones.

http://www.techmeshugana.com/2013/09/ask-daley-southwest-colorado-2-cellphone-boogaloo/

[pinkytoe]

I continue to wonder why people today feel the need to be tethered to a phone. To me, it seems surreal to be in a public space and see literally everyone on their phones. DD and other family, friends no longer will communicate other than texting, so my turn now to go down this road of too many choices. I find the whole topic to be very non-simple.

[Cypress]

Some time has gone by since I posted this question. I still have my flip phone style Tracfon to which I add minutes by buying them at the local store. I've researched every bloody service available. Consumer Reports last issue had a large feature spread on this question. Of every carrier, there is a litany of complaints. All you have to do is put the name+complaint and every carrier, including Credo Mobile which was 3rd choice from CR has a BBB recent complaint. Tracfon has a value plan of minutes per month for a reasonable fee. But, when I tried to register on line, the web site would not accept my serial number even though it is correct. When I called Tracfon, I could barely hear Marco the connection was so garbled. He could not explain why the website did not work and asked if I wanted to process the plan change over the phone. I said no thanks as I didn't trust giving over credit card information. I am back to no smart phone, no plan. Every thing on line sounds great but there is a monthly fee of $$$ with hidden costs on every complaint filed. I am considering having a land line installed at my house with Charter. Verizon does not service my area believe it or not. I am calling more and more but the costs are out of control. Buyer beware!

[SteveinMN]

The América Móvil family of companies -- TracFone, Straight Talk, Simple Mobil, Net10, and a couple others -- has a longstanding reputation for terrible customer service. Many people are concerned that PagePlus, a Verizon MVNO, will see its customer service deteriorate since it was purchased by AM. It's the unfortunate flip side of low pricing and a hybrid approach to carriers that results in broader coverage than many MVNOs offer.

FWIW, supplying a credit card number over the phone is no more risky than handing the card to a waiter at a restaurant. But that is a matter of personal comfort level.