I’m wondering if it’s worth it to upgrade my dumb phone.
I’m paying $15 a month right now, which includes 200 text messages (the phone was free). As you can see, I’m not a heavy user at all. I am considering getting a smart phone to see what I’ve been missing, but not if it’ll cost me several hundred for the phone and like $100 a month for voice and data.
How much do you pay to own yours?
Free phone if I signed up for a 2 year contract, about $70/month for voice and data.
$39.99 a month for the voice plan on my AT&T iPhone. $5.00 for 200 texts per month. $15 for 200 MB of data. Total amount including taxes, about $67 a month.
Mine is about that as well for voice, texting and unlimited data. iPhone 4 on att.
I just did this myself - I was paying quite a bit more than you are, though. I went with this phone for $129.00 from Virgin, and pay $35/month for 300 calling minutes and unlimited everything else.
I will say that once or twice, I’ve totally lost data coverage for several days at a time. I use web functionality so little that it’s always resolved itself before I got around to contacting Virgin about it. I’ve never had any problem with calls or texts, but you may want to check their coverage in your area.
I bought a smartphone last summer because I wanted to use the smart parts while on vacation. The phone cost $150 (after rebate) and about $77 a month for voice and data. I couldn’t stand paying that much (i could afford it, just couldn’t stand it). I negotiated with the company, paid $30 for a new dumbphone which costs about $20 a month for voice. They let me out of my first contract w/o penalty. Then I bought a wi-fi only iPad which i love.
I have an iPhone 4S under contract with AT&T. I pay about $58 per month for 450 minutes (the lowest amount available) and unlimited data. (They no longer offer an unlimited data plan, but I’m grandfathered in for thirty bucks per month.) I get a discount of about twenty percent through my employer so that helps some.
I recommend that the OP keep the current phone and get an iPod Touch or iPad for the smartphone features.
T-Mobile. 500 minutes, unlimited text and data (“2GB full-speed”) for $70. I average about 10 minutes voice and less than 20MB data use per month.
They barely offer that anymore:
I was sad when I left AT&T for Sprint as I had been grandfathered in (I just couldn’t justify having to spend that much more for texting), but now I’m glad my loyalty was as much as theirs.
I pay about $110/month with all taxes and fees from AT&T for the iPhone, and I have a fairly low-to -medium use plan.
Here’s the breakdown:
Nation 450 with Rollover - $39.99 (I believe that’s the lowest rate plan)
Messaging Unlimited with Mobile to Any Mobile Calling - $20 (You can pay messaging as you go, if you wish.) It seems that AT&T no longer has limited text plans, so far as I can tell. It’s all or nothing. Otherwise, it’s $0.20 a text message, $0.30 a picture/video message.
Data Unlimited for iPhone $30.00 (There is a $20 plan for 300MB per month if you want it, but so far as I can tell, that’s the lowest data plan. Also, I believe the unlimited plans are grandfathered in. Once you switch to a limited plan, you can’t go back to unlimited data.)
Then there’s close to $20 in taxes and stuff.
HTC G2 (with qwerty slide-out keyboard) used in pristine condition off ebay for $150 including shipping. $30 a month for Tmobile monthly (prepaid) 4G which includes 100 voice minutes (only .10 a minute if you go over) unlimited texts, and unlimited* 4G web.
If the 100 voice minutes a month is not quite enough for your usage level, I recommend looking into using Google Voice combined with the app called GrooveIP to make/receive calls without using minutes, at least when you’re near wifi or have an excellent 4G connection.
P.S. To get that $30 plan I mentioned above, it must be through the Tmobile monthly-4G website or through Walmart. That plan isn’t available in a walk-in Tmobile store. If you go the ebay/used phone route, all you need to do is get the phone, and order the $1.99 SIM card activation kit, choose the $30 100/unlimited/unlimited plan, and you’re all set.
Hey, the $30 T-Mobile plan sounds pretty awesome. What kind of phones can I use with it? I’m assuming I can’t use it for an iPhone.
P.P.S In looking for a used phone to use with Tmobile’s service, any GSM phone that uses a SIM card will work. (Yes, even an iPhone made for AT&T.) But you should look for a Tmobile-specific phone if you want the 4G speed, since the data speeds on an iPhone on Tmobile will be severely limited to the slowest, almost dialup-like, speeds.
ETA: Heh, simulpost. Yeah, look for any phone made for Tmobile for best performance. While an AT&T iPhone would work, I wouldn’t recommend it.
Okay, last one, I promise. In selecting the best possible phone for Tmobile, I highly recommend going by the highest rated phones, or better yet, the Editor’s Choice, reviewed here. (Stick to the more recent reviews, some of those are pretty old and outdated phones.) That gives you a selection of phones to look for on Ebay. Definitely stick with sellers with good feedback, though.
(Alright, I lied) The review site I linked above includes non-smartphones. This is a better link, limiting the results to Tmobile Android smartphones with 4-star+ reviews. None of those phones are too outdated, and you pretty much can’t go wrong with any of them. It’s just a matter of price point and desired features.
I have T-Mobile, too. We (My SO and I) pay $80/month for 1000 shared minutes/unlimited text/unlimited web. It is a T-Mobile value plan and we bought our own phones - I got my HTC Sensation on eBay for $330. Voltaire’s plan sounds like a better deal, though. We never go near using all our 1000 minutes.
Paid $150 for the phone almost two years ago, pay around $50/month unlimited everything (except calls to landlines between 7a-7p).
£20 (just over $30) for a Samsung Galaxy SII and I’m not sure how much exactly in texts, calls, data and so on; the only time I’ve ever gone over the limit is to call premium-rate numbers for govt. services. It’s definitely worth it.
I’m shocked that anybody would pay that much for telephone service, unless you are also getting computer cable and TV for that price. I mean, seriously: $600 to over $1000 for a freaking phone?