The nice thing about non-subsidized phone is that you can use it with any SIM, including prepaid options. I don't know how the situation is in the US, but in E

The nice thing about non-subsidized phone is that you can use it with any SIM, including prepaid options. I don't know how the situation is in the US, but in Europe it's quite common and in big parts of the world it's your only option. For example: When travelling in Thailand I can get a SIM at every 7 / 11 for about 5 bucks with 100 baht credit. This is more then I usually need for the few weeks there and it's extremely convenient when you want to call around the country without being hit by absurd roaming fees. Having lock-downs of any kind on a phone to me is a killer criteria for not buying it. Subsidized or not.