Has anyone purchased a smart phone, but not the broadband service? I figure with so much free wifi available, the need for Verizon, AT&T, et al is somewhat diminished. If you buy a phone, and not the service, do you get hosed on the purchase price?
Yes you get hosed on the purchase price.
You have to pay the full price (usually $500+) for the phone. The extremely cheap prices you see advertised online and on TV and everywhere else are subsidized by the company charging you a monthly premium.
If you want a smartphone with no phone service, get an iPod Touch.
I think the OP wants phone service, but only voice and not data.
I’m not sure if you can purchase one from a retailer without a data plan. I have an iPhone 4 that I will be selling in about 3 weeks when I upgrade, so I’d like to know the answer to this as well. I know that even without phone service, my old old one still works on the house wi-fi. (I use it as an iPod touch to listen to music while I’m showering.)
Actually, I just went to the Apple site…you can purchase a new iPhone 4 with 8GB storage for free, but you have to get a data plan in addition to voice. The smallest amount is 300 MB for $20 per month in addition to the $39.99 for the voice (with AT&T - I didn’t check the other carriers).
I’m still curious to know if you can do it with a used one.
I bought my first smart phone off craigslist without changing my dumbphone plan, and AT&T automatically bumped me up to a smart phone data plan. It was like $30 extra if I recall.
As soon as this contract is done I’m switching to pay as you go. I suggest everyone else do the same. Pay a few hundred extra up front for the phone, and save ~$2000 over the life of the 2 year contract. It’s a no brainer if you can afford a phone.
Actually, I did just that about 2 weeks ago. I got a bit of a discount on the phone, but it was still close to the price listed. (maybe 15% off). I didn’t want to upgrade my plan, and my plan wasn’t one that gave me a discount on new phones. WiFi works for me too.
“I think the OP wants phone service, but only voice and not data.”
Correct. Thinking I could get data from various wifi connections.
Isn’t that the idea behind Republic Wireless? Super cheap plan where you use WiFi whenever it’s available, then cell network when it’s not. Unlimited everything for $19/mo.
If you don’t want to spend a lot for a new phone, just get a used phone, refurbished phone, or a new last-year’s model. Then, when you own the phone outright, you can hook it up with a regular voice plan without having to get a data plan. (My quick pro-tip: stick with Tmobile.)
Here’s a few threads that you should read through for the possibilities:
Possible to get a Smartphone without data service?
How much does it cost you to own your smart phone?
[3 month SIM - Myth or Fact?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=665627)
[What I Would like in a Phone - How to Get?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=664944)
I am pretty sure this has been discussed before but as mentioned cell phones are subsidized so you will pay quite a bit more to buy one with out service. A used phone or an iPod touch are two other options - the iPod touch if you don’t mind carrying two devices, but you do loose a little compared to the iPhone. The camera is not as good and there is no built in GPS for starters. I am not sure if there is an Android equivalent to the iPod touch.
(On preview - What voltaire said 
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AT&T forces you to buy a data plan if you use a smart phone on their network even if you bought the phone without subsidy :mad:, so definitely check with your carrier before you buy a phone.
FYI - the subsidy mechanism we’re talking about is extremely common in the US, but not as common in the rest of the world.
Or so I’ve been led to believe.
-D/a
Probably the best new phone to buy off subsidy is the Galaxy Nexus: https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=galaxy_nexus_hspa
Quad band (AT&T and T-Mobile Data bands), 4g, powerful. The best because it isn’t ridiculously overpriced or really weak off contract like most other phones.
The cheapest way is to get a used phone off Craigslist, Ebay, or places like Cowboom that sell used or refurbished phones. Note that you pretty much have to use prepaid to get Voice without Data. I don’t think it is possible at all to get Verizon without data, but definitely possible to get T-Mobile and Sprint based data free. I personally use T-mobile, bought a used smartphone and dropped the SIM in on a pay per minute plan. $100 covers the first year, and if you don’t use all the minutes you can refill for like $20 or $30 more near the end of the year and extend your expiration for another year.
Living in Australia so I am not sure what is available elsewhere.
This is exactly what I have done – I bought a low-kevel samsung (ACE) nearly a year ago and fitted a 32gig sd card. I have disabled data services on the phone. i have a pre-paid service that allows free calls to a small number of designated phone numbers using the same provider. I have access to wifi at home and at work.
The net result is that I am able to do most calls that I want for free. i can get all the data service I want through wifi connections more than 90% of the time. In an emergency I can switch on the data service to use GPS maps, but I know that I will pay for it. And it costs me a whopping $30 to top up my service which I do once every 4-5 months.
So, worthwhile doing it if you can find the right configuration of hardware and service to match your needs.
Why don’t you get a phone from Virgin Mobile? They don’t require a contract. They cost more than a phone with a contract, but the HTC EVO V is $300, which is only $100 more than is costs with a contract from Sprint. Of course, if you and called when it was on sale, you could have got it for $240.
I just signed up for Clearwire and canceled my home internet. If I want to get online, I can just take my hotspot with me. Orlando is wired for Clearwire, so this probably doesn’t apply to everybody.
There’s a lot of options from various carriers (particularly the smaller ones like Sprint, T-Mobile etc. not Verizon or AT&T) but a smartphone, i.e. not a ‘feature phone’ with just basic messaging, email & internet, but a true ‘smartphone’ running either Android OS or iOS (or Windows Phone OS) simply will not function via wifi without a data plan enabled. It’s just how they work. Wifi is usually faster (especially if you’re still using 3G) and won’t count towards your allotted monthly data usage, but with a smartphone it still requires a dataplan of some kind.
I believe the iPhone 5 and most of the next-gen smartphones will use VoIP (voice & data are no longer separate). They may still do the plans & billing separately, but the underlying technology will integrate them seamlessly.
You’re completely wrong about that. You don’t need a data plan in order to use wifi - that would be silly.
I have a 3G Motorola DroidX that has no service unless I use the wifi. But with wifi I can use Skype, surf the internet and do anything my Droid with service does. At first I thought it was locked and I would have to hack it to be able to use the wifi but then I was shown how to touch each corner of the LCD in sequence to unlock it. Works great. However, since I’m not always in a wifi location I still need my Droid that does have service.
So yes, you can use it to make phone calls (receiving calls is a little different) with things like Skype and you can use it for data like internet surfing and downloading too.
Definitely WRONG. Smartphones such as an Apple Iphone or Android Phone such as a Samsung Galaxy S3, Google Galaxy Nexus, etc work fine without cellular service at all over wifi, if you only want to use it for the internet features (ie as a glorified Ipod touch). Or even if you use a SIP app or the Skype app to actually make phone calls. You can actually get quite a bit of mileage out of a smartphone just using wifi + google voice app for texting + skype, magicjack, sip, or hacky google voice apps to make calls.
They all work just fine when paired with a sim card with no data plan and only voice or only voice + texting. I’m not sure whether you can do this on Iphone, but on android you go into the settings and uncheck use cellular data and it will not even try to connect to the 2g/3g/4g on your carrier.
Guess I’m wrong. Oops! :smack:
I am amazed that the carriers didn’t collude with the phone manufacturers to intrinsically link all smartphone data functionality to the existence of a data plan. I’m absolutely *shocked *that Apple didn’t do this! I mean, what would they have to lose? Although from a technical standpoint smartphones are essentially portable desktop computers (with built-in wireless connectivity), because of the huge discounts the carriers give on the purchase prices (with a contract) I figured they’d feel entitled/required to restrict them that way!