Help a future Android user!

[Itsatrap!]

Hello,

I'm considering buying a new phone ('tis the season for that, right ?) and I was aiming to buy my first Android phone. I never owned a smartphone except for the the Iphone 3g someone kindly passed down to me a couple months ago. But surprise, surprise it's pretty slow and outdated so I was considering a new phone and Android seems to offer better specs for less bucks. Oh, and I want mine to be unlocked (more on that later).

I'm currently on SimpleMobile and like the system of having to pay as I go and not promising two years of my life and my pinky finger just to get a new phone (plus the monthly payments are really steep in the U.S - 60$ for a monthly account access fee WTF ??).

So I was considering the Moto X or the Google Nexus 5 as my top contenders, I like the HTC One as well but the prices for unlocked versions doesn't make it competitive enough. I know they have their pros and cons but either one would make me happy.

So the requirements for my new phone are listed below :

_350/400$ unlocked (I'm hoping for the cybermonday discount on the MotoX)
_phone compatible with a 40/50$ a month plan such as SimpleMobile, MetroPCS or whatever carrier offering a similar deal.
_phone works with a French carrier, because I'm leaving the US in a year or so and would like a phone that could still be working over there with a new sim card.

And I have a couple questions as well : What does unlocked really mean ? Can I bring the unlocked phone up to any carrier (I know there are frequency issues) ? Is there different types of unlocked phones, meaning a different unlocked versions for each carrier ?

Or am I just better off buying the Moto G on the internet for 200$ because I don't really care for the LTE and just buy a new phone when I move to France ? But with which carrier will I be able to use it in the U.S ?

Nevertheless I'd rather have a top of the line phone that I could use for at least 2years.

Sorry about the wall of text and thanks a lot for your patience !

 

[luv2liv]

moto g or moto x or nexus 5. you cant loose with anyone of those phones with GSM and sim card.
i do not know what kind of technology SimpleMobile uses. However, metropcs uses cdma technology and wont work with what the French network is using with their GSM and SIM cards.

 

[blairharrington]

Hello,

I'm considering buying a new phone ('tis the season for that, right ?) and I was aiming to buy my first Android phone. I never owned a smartphone except for the the Iphone 3g someone kindly passed down to me a couple months ago. But surprise, surprise it's pretty slow and outdated so I was considering a new phone and Android seems to offer better specs for less bucks. Oh, and I want mine to be unlocked (more on that later).

I'm currently on SimpleMobile and like the system of having to pay as I go and not promising two years of my life and my pinky finger just to get a new phone (plus the monthly payments are really steep in the U.S - 60$ for a monthly account access fee WTF ??).

So I was considering the Moto X or the Google Nexus 5 as my top contenders, I like the HTC One as well but the prices for unlocked versions doesn't make it competitive enough. I know they have their pros and cons but either one would make me happy.

So the requirements for my new phone are listed below :

_350/400$ unlocked (I'm hoping for the cybermonday discount on the MotoX)
_phone compatible with a 40/50$ a month plan such as SimpleMobile, MetroPCS or whatever carrier offering a similar deal.
_phone works with a French carrier, because I'm leaving the US in a year or so and would like a phone that could still be working over there with a new sim card.

And I have a couple questions as well : What does unlocked really mean ? Can I bring the unlocked phone up to any carrier (I know there are frequency issues) ? Is there different types of unlocked phones, meaning a different unlocked versions for each carrier ?

Or am I just better off buying the Moto G on the internet for 200$ because I don't really care for the LTE and just buy a new phone when I move to France ? But with which carrier will I be able to use it in the U.S ?

Nevertheless I'd rather have a top of the line phone that I could use for at least 2years.

Sorry about the wall of text and thanks a lot for your patience !

Moto G or X and Nexus 5. I believe you'll need to use a GSM provider with these phones. To know if a carrier you are interested is GSM look it up on Google or ask here.

My immediate thought is a Moto X or Nexus 5 with Straight Talk. They offer LTE now for $45/month. 2.5 GBs then throttled after.

You can use the X or Nexus 5 in France next year. Whether they are LTE compatible over there I don't know. My immediate guess is they are not. You might just want to sell your US phone before you leave for France and get a new one over there. In one year there will be better and more enticing phones on the market.

Unlocked means you can use it with any carrier as long as it's compatible with said network.

 

[s44]

Simple is all right, if the coverage (based on T-mobile) works for you. You could also use Straight Talk, which lets you use either AT&T or T-Mo networks.

Fortunately, any carrier-unlocked (whether shipped that way or done yourself) US Android these days will get you regular and 3G service on the above US options and basically all European carriers. What you *won't* get is LTE in both places: Euro models will give you LTE there and 3G here, and vice versa for American. (Unfortunately, there's another wrinkle with Euro models -- most won't be compatible with the T-Mobile network you're on, so you'll have to switch to Straight Talk/AT&T.)

So from that point of view, getting the G as a starter phone isn't the worst idea. The Nexus (and X) will have better resale value, though, so you won't lose a lot...

Another option to consider, btw, is to get a good-condition (T-Mobile) One or S4 or even Note 2 off of Swappa. Again, a lot of the depreciation has already happened, so you won't take a huge loss if you resell this for a Euro-LTE phone when you move. Or you could just buy a Euro S4 or Euro One if you're OK with sticking to HSPA on Straight Talk/AT&T while you're here and going to LTE when you move.

 

[Itsatrap!]

Thanks a lot guys (or girls), you're all awesome for taking the time to answer. Happy thanksgiving !

 

[lopri]

Unlocked can mean two different things: Sim-unlock and bootloader-unlock.

SIM-unlocked phones let you use it on any compatible networks (i.e. carriers). Lots of phones are SIM-locked because of carrier subsidies. Bootloader-locking is for the phone's security on device level. OEMs do not want you to mess with the underlying frameworks for the OS and phones' features for warranty reasons.

Personally it'd be a very hard pick between the N5 and the Moto X, but I would prob. go with the N5. As great the X is, it's hard to go back to S4 Pro after experiencing S800.