Best phone? Best temporary phone for ~6 months?

[KingGheedora]

I have iphone 3g right now which I have not been happy with for over a year now. My contract with ATT is up next month, but I can get out of it now if I want to, because of bad signal I've complained about to ATT since Feb.

I don't like the iPhone and want something non-Apple, something open pref so most likely an Android phone. I'd like to get a really good one that has good hardware and good sound quality , and is really fast and responsive. I only want a cheap plan though, ideally ~$50 a month. I don't use much data, and would probably switch from unlimited to 200MB a month if I were to stick with ATT. I checked on their website and my usage never goes above that during any month.

My phone right now is nearly unusable (battery charge won't last more than 2 hours, can't charge via USB to computer -- has to charge directly to AC adapter. 3.5mm jack broken, software totally glitchy) so I do need something within the next couple of weeks. Is there a cheap yet decent android phone that's decent right now? I wouldn't mind getting a used one. I checked used Nexus one and they are still expensive, around $475.


Basically, i want to know what will be the best phones to get in the next 6 months, what will be the best and cheapest carrier (NYC area). Then, what is a cheap temp phone I can get now on that carrier, if the good phone isn't out yet?

 

[tatteredpotato]

You're going to have a hard time getting a smartphone for around $50 a month. ATT is the only company that might have decent pricing since they don't offer unlimited data.

ATT had pretty bad Android offerings IMO, but they just recently launched the HTC Aria.

 

[dougp]

You're going to have a hard time getting a smartphone for around $50 a month. ATT is the only company that might have decent pricing since they don't offer unlimited data.

ATT had pretty bad Android offerings IMO, but they just recently launched the HTC Aria.

The Aria is the best offering right now from AT&T - if you can wait until the end of July, the speculation is the Captivate will launch on the 25th.

 

[preslove]

The closest you're going to get to $50/month is to buy a T-Mobile Vibrant for retail, which should be somewhere around $450 (a TMO store clerk told me that the pricing should be around the HD2, which is $450). This will allow you to get their even more plus plan, which is $59 month for 500 anytime minutes, unlimited nights & weekends, and unlimited text and data.

Vibrant comes out on 7/21.

edit: And this way you will not get charged an ETF when you jump ship. And T-Mo allows you to make payments on the phone.