Need to get a smartphone, kinda clueless - stay with Sprint or no?

[Maverick2002]

I'm finally read to jump on the smartphone bandwagon, mainly due to the nature of my work. I've been on a group plan with Sprint for many years now and I'm looking at getting the HTC, but I don't know the first thing about smartphones or the various carrier coverage, etc. I don't care about super fast speed or anything too crazy, though I would prefer a Droid based phone (no iPhone) and good GPS. I could potentially switch to another provider if it meant better coverage/cheaper plan.

Is there like a "smartphones for dummies" article on AT that I should read through or a list of recommended phones?

 

[QueBert]

Look into Boost Mobile, you get the Sprint Network and it's a great deal. Right now it's $50 a month out the door for unlimited everything. And for every 6 months you pay your bill on time, up till 18 months they drop your bill by $5 a month. So after 1 1/2 years you'll be paying $35 a month with no taxes or BS for the same service you get now with Sprint. They have the Samsung Galaxy Prevail, which is a decent Android phone. It's nothing special but if you don't need anything too crazy phone wise it might be perfect for you.

if you ask me, $35 a month on Boost is unbeatable in an area with good Sprint coverage.

 

[drizek]

Sprint is getting the Nexus S 4G and the Evo 3D very soon. Basically, these will be the two best android phones you can buy, so I say stick with sprint.

The difference between them is basically the Evo 3D has more features and stuff whereas the Nexus S is basically a developer phone and will let you mess around with it a lot more. I'd get the Nexus, but if you aren't interested in running custom software on it then the Evo will do more out of the box.

 

[Strk]

Switching carriers would get you a bit better coverage, but cheapest plans are on Sprint, especially when you add in corporate discounts (they're all over the place for Sprint).

For phones, I'd say it's really between the Epic and the Nexus S, at least until the Evo 3D comes out. The Epic gives you a physical keyboard, expandable memory and Samsung's Touchwiz interface. The Nexus S is a little thinner, 16gb of memory and stock Android.

There's the Evo as well, but it's showing its age. It uses a much older version of Snapdragon (Samsung's use an in-house processor for their phones that is very fast). The Evo is a big battery hog. Personally, I'd only look at the Samsung's until the Evo 3D comes out.

The LG Optimus phones are also nice, but they're small and not that powerful, but they are cheap.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

iPhone or BlackBerry

While my droidX is decent, it still has bugs... either it's software or hardware related...

the iPhone can now be bought through Verizon for Verizon service.

 

[Bateluer]

I'm finally read to jump on the smartphone bandwagon, mainly due to the nature of my work. I've been on a group plan with Sprint for many years now and I'm looking at getting the HTC, but I don't know the first thing about smartphones or the various carrier coverage, etc. I don't care about super fast speed or anything too crazy, though I would prefer a Droid based phone (no iPhone) and good GPS. I could potentially switch to another provider if it meant better coverage/cheaper plan.

Is there like a "smartphones for dummies" article on AT that I should read through or a list of recommended phones?

You have plenty of options for Android based phones on any carrier. Even the smaller, regional/prepaid carriers like Cricket, Boost, Virgin, etc, have flavor's of LG's Optimus One. Its a decent low end Android phone. Not on the same level as an Evo, a Thunderbolt, a Dx, or even an iPhone, but its a decent phone for the price.

Your first order of business is to find who's get the better coverage in your area, then determine what you're willing to pay. Getting the most expensive smart phone does you no good if you can never get a signal to use it. Then determine what you're willing to pay. You can usually get cheaper plans with the regional carriers, but you'll usually get slower data, less coverage, etc, and a restriction of which phones you can get. If you want the latest and greatest devices, then those regional carriers may not be an option. Are you willing to root and make aftermarket modifications to your device?

How much is battery life a concern to you? Do you live in an area where a carrier offers '4G' services?

Make sure you take at least two or three months to do this research too, let all the summer phones launch. Anything anyone suggests now, will not be accurate in a few short months. Trolls, make note here, I am not saying that today's current phones will be obsolete overnight, but they definitely will be playing second fiddle to the summer launches.

 

[boomhower]

Look into Boost Mobile, you get the Sprint Network and it's a great deal. Right now it's $50 a month out the door for unlimited everything. And for every 6 months you pay your bill on time, up till 18 months they drop your bill by $5 a month. So after 1 1/2 years you'll be paying $35 a month with no taxes or BS for the same service you get now with Sprint. They have the Samsung Galaxy Prevail, which is a decent Android phone. It's nothing special but if you don't need anything too crazy phone wise it might be perfect for you.

if you ask me, $35 a month on Boost is unbeatable in an area with good Sprint coverage.

They are cheap and you get great value for the dollar but you don't get any roaming. I would not be comfortable with Sprint service with no roaming.


OP: For the money Sprint is the best value. If you get good service where you are they are going to be the cheapest. However I would still investigate the rivals, better service is worth a bit more money. For instance where I live Sprint has excellent coverage but Verizon has data speeds 2-4x of Sprint, both 3G. Take a look at AT&T and T-Mobile and see what they have in your area. If T-Mobile offers "4G" then that would be my pick, fast and cheap. Every carrier has good Android phones, pick a carrier and then worry about the phone.

 

[lothar]

You have plenty of options for Android based phones on any carrier. Even the smaller, regional/prepaid carriers like Cricket, Boost, Virgin, etc, have flavor's of LG's Optimus One. Its a decent low end Android phone. Not on the same level as an Evo, a Thunderbolt, a Dx, or even an iPhone, but its a decent phone for the price.

Your first order of business is to find who's get the better coverage in your area, then determine what you're willing to pay. Getting the most expensive smart phone does you no good if you can never get a signal to use it. Then determine what you're willing to pay. You can usually get cheaper plans with the regional carriers, but you'll usually get slower data, less coverage, etc, and a restriction of which phones you can get. If you want the latest and greatest devices, then those regional carriers may not be an option. Are you willing to root and make aftermarket modifications to your device?

How much is battery life a concern to you? Do you live in an area where a carrier offers '4G' services?

Make sure you take at least two or three months to do this research too, let all the summer phones launch. Anything anyone suggests now, will not be accurate in a few short months. Trolls, make note here, I am not saying that today's current phones will be obsolete overnight, but they definitely will be playing second fiddle to the summer launches.

Depends on who the carrier is.
I don't see much phones coming to Verizon and it seems that they're behind the times in hardware phone technology(besides LTE) now.
It seems all the "cool" phones are coming on Sprint and T-Mobile.

I'm not really excited about the Droid Bionic just yet.
If HTC released the Pyramid to Verizon with LTE within the next 4 months, I'd sign a 2 year contract in a heartbeat.

 

[smartpatrol]

The HTC Arrive would be my choice if I were on Sprint. It runs Windows Phone 7 and has one of the best physical keyboards ever on a smartphone.

If you have your heart set on an Android phone, I'd say wait for the Nexus S 4G. I'd recommend against the Evo. The battery life is just amazingly bad on that thing. (I had one for 8 months.)

 

[mammador]

What are your needs? Touchscreen or QWERTY? Do you want (or care about) plenty of apps? Is battery life important?

I think the iPhone is still the best out on the market, but the Samsung Galaxy S II is worthwhile IMO.

 

[Maverick2002]

I'm not getting an iPhone.

My main needs are fast texting and GPS, right behind that is good net access/email. Apps I don't know/care too much about. I assume all phones have the basics like Facebook integration, etc.

Qwerty or on screen I don't know, I'm going to have to play around with on screen texting. If voice to text or text swipe works fairly well I won't need qwerty.

How good/bad is battery life in general on these phones? I don't mind charging once a day.

 

[mammador]

If just for texting/GPS, and then net access and e-mail, then the Blackberry Torch seems good. Blackberrys in general have that as their strong suit.

 

[Mermaidman]

I just upgraded from a Palm Centro to an Optimus (with Sprint) and am very happy with it. On-screen keyboard is the big shortcoming, but swiping helps a lot. It does have GPS, which is one of your requirements.

Disclaimer: The Optimus is my first smartphone and so my "wow" threshold is quite low.

(If you're on the SERO plan, then I think the Optimus is the best phone to go with it. I needed to pay $10 extra a month on top of my old SERO rate.)

 

[randomlinh]

I just upgraded from a Palm Centro to an Optimus (with Sprint) and am very happy with it. On-screen keyboard is the big shortcoming, but swiping helps a lot. It does have GPS, which is one of your requirements.

Disclaimer: The Optimus is my first smartphone and so my "wow" threshold is quite low.

(If you're on the SERO plan, then I think the Optimus is the best phone to go with it. I needed to pay $10 extra a month on top of my old SERO rate.)

err.. the Centro is a smartphone. a dated one, but it's a smartphone still.

 

[stlc8tr]

(If you're on the SERO plan, then I think the Optimus is the best phone to go with it. I needed to pay $10 extra a month on top of my old SERO rate.)

If you're satisfied with the Optimus then you might look into Virgin. They have the Optimus and it's only $25/month for 300 minutes (total minutes, no night/weekend) and unlimited text/data. And with no taxes, it's actually $25/month instead of more like $50/month after taxes/fees with Sprint's SERO Premium.