Smartphone/Plan advice for a late adopter

[TheAdvocate]

Disclaimer - I don't currently own a real smartphone (I have a Samsung Reclaim - probably 5 years old), because I (strongly) dislike smartphones, texting, and how these devices turn everyone into a zombie,, etc.

However, I need to be able to get infrequent, but regular communications from my wife (mundane but improtant stuff like: pickup kids from school, take them to practice, get some milk, etc), and work is making that more and more of a pain to do so easily.

Wife and I currently share an ancient sprint voice plan (it's probably 8+ years old) - ~$42.50/mo total, for two lines, including taxes. Doesnt do texting or internet. I may have to grudgingly start using texting or email, and work does its best to block wifi signals these days, so I need a reliable way to get those messages when I don't have access to wifi, though it's never a problem except at work (and I'd like to use free wifi in all other situations).

Someone even advised getting an ipod Touch since Im such a music junkie & texting "for free". Not sure how that works.

Bottom line is: I don't care about the gadgetery - I just need the basic functionality, for as cheap and reliable as possible. The price benchmark is in bold above. I know its unheard of these days, but I wont ever do one of those ridiculous plans I see on TV. ($130/mo? No way!)

Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

 

[ImDonly1]

If Tmobile is OK then you can use their prepaid reseller ultra mobile $20/month for unlimited talk and text with 100mb of data.

As for smartphone that depends how big, cost, android or iPhone.

Under $200...
Moto G for $100 (no LTE) as the budget option.
Lg g2 for $200 as the higher end good value option.
Or iPhone 5/c.

 

[Strk]

Cricket has a $25 talk & text plan. It is for basic phones. It is at&t so it uses their towers. Pageplus also has a $30 plan and uses Verizon's towers.

 

[KeithP]

If using the Sprint network works okay for your needs I would check out Ting.
https://ting.com/rates

It sounds like you really only need texting so just about any phone they have will work.

-KeithP

 

[cronos]

KeithP beat me to Ting, but that's what I was going to post about since you're using Sprint.

I would also look into AT&T MVNO (including GoPhone and Cricket) if AT&T signal is good in your area. They are cheap and reliable. Although you do have to buy the phones.

Either way, there are a dozen possible solutions for you, you just have to sift through them and pick what's best for you. And don't worry, your price benchmark isn't that special. I've mentioned several times here that the limit in my family is ~$10/month/line and we've been doing that for at least 4-5 years now. Although we do use these plans with the latest smartphones available because unlike you we love our gadgets!

 

[TheAdvocate]

Thanks for the advice guys. I don't really like Sprint, but I have been trapped in a legacy plan ("free & easy"?) that they dont offer anymore and wont offer back to me if I leave. I called them yesterday. The Rep who answered the phone was incredulous that there was still someone on that plan.

 

[bearxor]

Do you , in fact, only need texting?

If so, that may work on your current plan. Your current plan probably doesn't include texting in the price but you may still be able to do it on your current plan and phones. You'll be charged per text probably about a quarter for each one. But if it is, as you say, infrequent communications then that may be a cost you can stomach. But even one a day at that rate would increase your bill by 7 or 8 dollars. And if you respond by text then double that.

If Sprint's network works for you, coverage-wise, and you want a smart phone with no data access and unlimited voice + text, I'd actually suggest Republic Wireless. You can get a motoE for $100 and then subscribe to the $10/mo plan which gets you unlimited voice and text on wifi and cellular and will let you surf the internet on WiFi hotspots.

You could do the $25/mo plan and get 5GB of 3G data added on, which is more than enough for you. Even if you did both lines, you'd come out to about $55 after taxes on both lines. It's only about $10/mo more than you're paying now for greatly expanded functionality.
https://republicwireless.com/info/plans/

Here are the phones On Republic. If you can swing the 1st gen motoX for $50 more each, then I'd highly suggest stepping up to that.
https://republicwireless.com/info/phones/

Compared to ting, you get a lot more for not a whole lot more cash. And your bill is a lot more consistent. Two devices on Ting costs you a base $12/mo. Then, if you use over 100m but less than 500m (which is probably about your average) that adds on another $9. If you sent and received two text messages each per day, you'd average about 120 messages per month or so, that's $5/mo. And if you wanted cellular data, 100MB is going to cost you $12/mo. That puts your total at $38/mo + taxes. The problem is that this goes up/down depending on usage. Use more data, pay more. Use more minutes, pay more. Or less. Republic would give you much larger limits and a more consistent monthly expense. Does Ting have the ability to be able to cost less per month? Sure, absolutely.

 

[Midnightsnacker]

One thing you have to be careful about MVNOs is that they don't all have roaming. For example Virgin Mobile is on the sprint network, but only uses towers that actually belong to sprint. On the other hand, Republic wireless is on the sprint network, but their contact includes (almost) the same roaming onto verizon towers that someone with a sprint phone would have access to (still not quite the same as the actual sprint service as they have pretty tight caps on data roaming). So both websites say they use the sprint network, but one had much better coverage. The same applies to MVNOs on other networks.

I am on Republic wireless with the first generation moto X, and love it. My wife and both my parents have the moto G, and for each of them it is their first smartphone, and they all love it. It's not as cheap as the moto E, but I think it's a better bang for your buck. I wouldn't spend the extra money on the moto X unless you are a power user.

I would add one more thing to the info posted by bearxor: You can also switch your plan twice a month. My dad does when he travels. Normally he is on the $10 a month unlimited talk and text, but switches to the $25 plan which adds 3g for the days when he travels. The billing for when you change your plan gets broken down to a per day basis so you don't have to have it switched for an entire month.

 

[Channeledbymodem]

If T-mobile's coverage works for you then a very cheap but efficient solution is the Lumia 521 Windows phone, $45 on Amazon. My wife and I both use the T-mobile MVNO Ptel's paygo. $5/mo buys you up to 100 voice minutes, 250 texts, or 100mbs of data. Unused $ rolls over. My wife loves both her Lumia and the service. I use a much more expensive and capable LG Optimus G Pro and I'm also very happy with Ptel.

 

[happy medium]

I'd go with Cricket or metro pcs. Unlimited talk/text for like 30$ a month.

 

[dlock13]

If you go with Cricket, have myself or someone you know invite you. You can get a $25 credit towards your service after having a line for at least 60 days.

 

[TheAdvocate]

Update: I went with Republic. So far so good. Only complaint is their # transfer form wouldnt accept Sprints 800 # for customer service, and getting tech support from RW is non existent.

I went with two of the $10/mo plans. Unlimited calls and text, but data is wifi only. I can change my plan 2x /mo, pro rated, if I want unlimited 3G data. So far, I havent needed it. "Wifi. Wifi everywhere." No contract too owns.

Using Moto G phones. Quad core, 4.5 inch screen. Reminds me of my tablet but much faster, and good battery life. Only gripe is no micro sd slot, so limited to 16GB. Still, these were cheap high quality/feature set phones.

The actual service works great though. Added bene is being able to use wifi for calls where Sprint service sucks, like my house.

For $23 / mo for two lines, I cant complain. Thanks all for advice.