About to get my first smartphone and smartphone plan

[David C]

So I’ve done quite a bit of research and I’m down to three choices.

1. Sprint (student discount)
Price - $57.39/month
Plan – 450 all talk minutes and free after 7PM & weekends. Unlimited Text. Unlimited Data.

Considered Phones included with plan:
* Apple Iphone 4S 16GB (2 yr contract) - $0.00
* Apple Iphone 5 16GB (2 yr contract) - $99.00
* Apple Iphone 5 32GB (2 yr contract) - $199.00
* Samsung Galaxy S4 [I think 16GB] (2 yr contract) - $149.99
* Samsung Galaxy 3 16GB (2 yr contract) - $0.00
* HTC One 32 GB (2 yr contract) - $99.00
* LG Optimus G (2 yr contract) - $0.00

Extra Stuff: Says I can get $100.00 back with old sprint number. I do have a sprint phone and number but its not a smartphone so I’m not sure if this applies.



2. T-mobile Prepaid Plan
Price – $30.00
Plan – 100 talk minutes. Unlimited Text. Unlimited Data.

Considered Phones included with plan:
* Samsung Galaxy S3 16GB - $549.99
* LG Optimus L9 [I think 16GB] - $290.00

Extra Stuff: It says the phones are included with a refill card. I’m guessing it’s a month’s worth of the plan?



3. Virgin Mobile Beyond Talk Plan
Price - $35.00
Plan – 300 talk minutes. Unlimited Text. Unlimited Data.

Considered Phones included with plan:
* Apple Iphone 4S 16GB (3G) - $382.49
* Apple Iphone 4 8GB (3G) - $297.49
* Apple Iphone 5 – COMING SOON
* Samsung Galaxy S4 16GB (4G LTE)- $149.99




**Final Thoughts/Questions:**

1. Do you think it’d be wise/safe to buy unlocked phones instead of buying phones with the respective phone providers? If so, where? I feel like Ebay would not be safe.

2. I’m not really sure which phone to go for. I’m thinking either an Iphone, Samsung Galaxy, or HTC One but I have no clue (I’m even confused whether to go for the Iphone 4, 4s, or 5)




Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys!

 

[David C]

Mistake on a phone for Virgin mobile. Theres a galaxy S3 not S4, for 399.99

3. Virgin Mobile Beyond Talk Plan
Price - $35.00
Plan – 300 talk minutes. Unlimited Text. Unlimited Data.

Considered Phones included with plan:
* Apple Iphone 4S 16GB (3G) - $382.49
* Apple Iphone 4 8GB (3G) - $297.49
* Apple Iphone 5 – COMING SOON
* Samsung Galaxy S3 16GB (4G LTE)- $399.99

 

[Jad Chaar]

I personally have my iPhone 5 on Verizon. They are not at all budget friendly though. I think the Sprint plan will provide you with a good deal and Sprint has good coverage.

 

[Black March]

Not gonna talk about data plans or providers, I live in Norway so don't know jack-**** about how all that works in the US.
Quick rundown of the alternatives:
iPhone - if you have other apple products this is great. It's also got Airplay, which is an excellent way of transferring picture, video or sound from you cellphone/tabler/macbook to a monitor or sound system. (I work with selling audio and video equipment and very often, when I explain customers about airplay and they have an android phone, they're very disappointed)

That said, customization on an iPhone is limited. But the roof is quite high. For instance when I got my iPad 6 months back, the VERY first thing I was going to do was to change they onscreen keyboard from default to a swiping type keyboard. Turned out though, with apple you can't do that. I was almost in shock.

That said, the iPad I bought is probably the single best device I've ever owned. I'm extremely happy with it, and my next laptop will without a doubt be a Macbook Air. Honestly, I'd say iPhone is the best possible choice for 95% of the population! Anyone who isn't waaay above average tech savvy, and that doesn't mind buying things rather then "borrowing" (apps/music/videos and stuff) will without a doubt love the iPhone. I'd reccomend this phone to everyone in my family, except myself. But I might still end up buying one.

Sidenote: If I was to buy an iPhone, I'd currenly wait for the 5s. Because right now it's kindof like "Buying an iPhone is worth it for IOS, despite the crappy hardware" but once 5S arrives it should see significant improvements over the current iPhone 5. (Seeing how Galaxy S4 has 4 core 1,9Ghz chip vs iPhone 5 with 2 cores 1,2Ghz)

But again, iPhone is about the user friendly experience! Not the hardware

Android Phones:
Open phones, and here is where you get the best customization and you're able to truely make it "your own". There's very few limitations, apart from a few pre-installed apps that often come with the phones. The Samsung Galaxy phones are excellent choices overall. But the quality feels a bit fiddly, HTC One X or Sony Xperia Z are good alternatives as far as build quality goes. That said Samsung are the best at providing the latest android updates to their phones.

If I was to choose an Android Phone, I'd actually buy a Galaxy Note I think. Ridicilously big, but it kinda just works! If you've ever thought about random **** like changing the Caps-Lock key in windows to something else just because you didn't like it. Then Android Phones are for you xD Apple and Microsoft just ain't going to allow you to do that kind of stuff.


Sidenote, I currenly own a Windows Phone and all I have to say is this! Avoid at all costs!
Except MAAAYBE if you think of yourself as a somewhat simple smartphone user that will only use basic functions such as browser, email, sms, phone, calendar and so on. In that case buying something like the Samsung Ativ S gives you absolutely phenomenal value for your money.