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Recommend me a good Unlocked phone for Tmobile

H

holden j caufield

Diamond Member
I've been out of the loop and have no idea what's a good phone. I'm currently using a 3gs unlocked on Tmobile and the edge network is lame and the reception sucks. I'd like something stable, gets good reception, can hack/upgrade, has a large community around that has lots of apps etc.
 
Galaxy Nexus. $400 straight from Google, unlocked. Runs Android ICS, gets updates directly from Google (no BS carrier delays), 4.65" 720p screen. Maybe the greatest thing is it has both T-Mobile and AT&T frequencies, so you can switch between them at will. If you decide to switch to AT&T at some point, you just order a sim card and pop it in.
 
ok thanks guys, can you recommend me something similar but slightly cheaper. I have a few members in a family and I'll be upgrading their phones also. All of us are on the 3gs Tmobile and reception drops in my and their area happens often. Since I take care of the cell phone bill for my parents I don't feel like asking them for money. Since they are old school asian they won't see a point to upgrading phones but I'd like to. Also can I Remote desktop or put logmein on these phones, I'd like this option as explaining stuff to old non techy parents is very frustrating.
 
399 new is a good price for any phone, especially for the galaxy nexus with it's pure android, fast updates, and community support.

if you are willing to go used, check out the nexus S, htc sensation/amaze, or tmobile's version of the galaxy s2
 
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You aren't going to find a smartphone that is a significant upgrade over the 3GS for under $400 new & unlocked.

If you insist on looking anyway, the smartphone options under $400 T-mo unlocked with HSPA+ support (what T-mo calls '4G') are this:
LG Doubleplay ($350)
Samsung Exhibit II ($320)
MyTouch Q ($350)
MyTouch ($350)

If you don't care about HSPA+, then you have other low-end devices like the LG Optimus T and Samsung Dart. These wouldn't be an improvement on the 3GS, though.
 
actually exhibit 2 is usually around 200 on amazon, but not unlocked. probably pay extra 20 to unlock.
but exhibit 2 is entry level phone
 
A5 said:
You aren't going to find a smartphone that is a significant upgrade over the 3GS for under $400 new & unlocked.

If you insist on looking anyway, the smartphone options under $400 T-mo unlocked with HSPA+ support (what T-mo calls '4G') are this:
LG Doubleplay ($350)
Samsung Exhibit II ($320)
MyTouch Q ($350)
MyTouch ($350)

If you don't care about HSPA+, then you have other low-end devices like the LG Optimus T and Samsung Dart. These wouldn't be an improvement on the 3GS, though.
Click to expand...

You must have gotten all those prices straight from the T-Mobile website. Because at least with the Exhibit II, you can get it NEW (not used) from Amazon for $198. No, it's not a high end phone, but it's decent for the price.

Used prices on those phones are all in the $150-$200 range. If he's willing to buy a used phone, that is.

IMO if you start looking at anything above $300, you may as well just bite the bullet and pay $400 for the Galaxy Nexus. But if you want to save a bit of money there are other options:

HTC Sensation
HTC Radar (WP7)
Samsung Galaxy S2
Samsung Nexus S

All of these can probably be found for a reasonable price. Again, if you're willing to buy used. Some may be hard to find new at all and if you do they'll likely be overpriced and you'd be better off getting the Galaxy Nexus.
 
None of these are even half as good as the Galaxy Nexus.

Is your family not on a plan that offers upgrades? Unless you go secondhand, that's really the only way to get a decent phone for less.
 
s44 said:
None of these are even half as good as the Galaxy Nexus.

Is your family not on a plan that offers upgrades? Unless you go secondhand, that's really the only way to get a decent phone for less.
Click to expand...

Well the advantage to buying without a contract is that on T-Mobile you save a lot of money every month. For instance a 2-line smartphone plan is $120/mo if you buy discounted phones on contract with them, but only $80 for the exact same plan off contract. A single line 500 minute plan is $70 on contract, $50 off.

Sure, $20 less per month doesn't sound like a lot, but that's $480 over the course of a two year contract. A phone subsidy might save you a couple hundred bucks at the outset but not $480. Plus the Galaxy Nexus isn't available on contract anyway, at least not through T-Mo.
 
AstroManLuca said:
Galaxy Nexus. $400 straight from Google, unlocked. Runs Android ICS, gets updates directly from Google (no BS carrier delays), 4.65" 720p screen. Maybe the greatest thing is it has both T-Mobile and AT&T frequencies, so you can switch between them at will. If you decide to switch to AT&T at some point, you just order a sim card and pop it in.
Click to expand...

I am going to second that. This is exactly what I did.
 
I'm still using my Nexus One and its a great all-a-round smartphone. Good battery life, great screen, all kinds of dev support, excellent reception and very good wifi, and probably the smallest smartphone available.

Should be able to find one reasonably cheap too.
 
I'm on a not so expensive tmobile plan with unlimited talk/text/2gb data and only paid $75 for two phone. Adding a third would be like $20 more. Is an HTC G1 way too old/slow. I've seen used ones for super cheap and they get/got good reviews. Those things are 4 years old? Our iphone 3gs is probably 3 years old at the moment.
 
holden j caufield said:
I'm on a not so expensive tmobile plan with unlimited talk/text/2gb data and only paid $75 for two phone. Adding a third would be like $20 more. Is an HTC G1 way too old/slow. I've seen used ones for super cheap and they get/got good reviews. Those things are 4 years old? Our iphone 3gs is probably 3 years old at the moment.
Click to expand...

I would not get one of those. That was the first commercial Android phone as far as I know. Guaranteed to be much slower than a 3GS. I'd rather be hampered by EDGE speeds than stuck with a G1.

Even the humble LG Optimus T isn't horrible... it has a healthy 512 MB of RAM, although the screen is very small (just 3.2") and low res. But it has Android 2.3 Gingerbread and you can get a used one for like $60.

If you can stretch your budget just a little more though, maybe look for a Samsung Vibrant or MyTouch 4G. Both are a whole lot nicer than the Optimus and cost around $150. The Optimus isn't totally unusable but it is pretty cheap.
 
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I prefer new but I'm open to used ~200 or less is the range I was looking for other actually ~100 or less since they just need it for phone and light emailing. I might splurge for the $400 not sure yet.
 
I'd go find a phone on Craigslist. And stay away from the G1. With its 192MB of RAM and outdated android 1.5. It's a serious downgrade from a 3GS which still has active support from Apple.
 
dagamer34 said:
I'd go find a phone on Craigslist. And stay away from the G1. With its 192MB of RAM and outdated android 1.5. It's a serious downgrade from a 3GS which still has active support from Apple.
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HEY. The G1 has Android version 2.2, thank you very much. 😉

Officially at least. Some people at XDA have put, yes, Ice Cream Sandwich on it. Why anyone would want to run that is beyond me, but it has been done!

(I agree that it would be a downgrade from a 3GS, or anything other than an original iPhone).
 
AstroManLuca said:
HEY. The G1 has Android version 2.2, thank you very much. 😉

Officially at least. Some people at XDA have put, yes, Ice Cream Sandwich on it. Why anyone would want to run that is beyond me, but it has been done!

(I agree that it would be a downgrade from a 3GS, or anything other than an original iPhone).
Click to expand...

Regardless, it's clunky, chunky, and only has a 1150mAh battery which would need to be replaced by this point. I would never want to inflict a G1 on someone in this day and age.
 
Seems like any phone in your budget is a 3GS downgrade or lateral move.

My honest advice is don't upgrade your parent's phones if they don't see a benefit and put the resources towards a Nexus for yourself since you do see a benefit.
 
poofyhairguy said:
Seems like any phone in your budget is a 3GS downgrade or lateral move.

My honest advice is don't upgrade your parent's phones if they don't see a benefit and put the resources towards a Nexus for yourself since you do see a benefit.
Click to expand...

i'd go with this too. if they're comfortable using the iphones, it will be frustrating for them and you to re-teach them how to do simple things on an android phone.
 
poofyhairguy said:
Seems like any phone in your budget is a 3GS downgrade or lateral move.
Click to expand...

Keep in mind it's a 3GS on EDGE.

A Samsung Vibrant might be a sidegrade at best from a 3GS, but I'd probably consider it to be an upgrade from a 3GS on EDGE.

Also, OP, remember that you can sell the iPhone for a pretty good price too. Or maybe you're taking that into account in your budget anyway.
 
Parents going to be okay going from an iPhone to Android? If so, for T-Mobile I'd probably go with used Vibrants for under $200. I have Android 4.0.4 on my Vibrant and it's running surprisingly well for a single core phone with 768MB of memory.
 
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