7 ms·

Unlocked phones are the way to go

46 points by pwthornton 13y ago

gagege 13y ago
My family is definitely going to be doing this next month when our Sprint contract is over. I'm also going to port our phone numbers over to Google Voice to avoid any future porting fees. The abysmal world of mobile phone carriers seems to be making some good improvements.
- colanderman 13y ago
  I've never had to pay a porting fee? (Beside my time arguing with AT&T to move a number from one prepaid MVNO to another.)
- pa5tabear 13y ago
  How does porting to Google Voice work? Can you set your Google Voice number to be the same as your number through your wireless provider? Currently I have a Google Voice account but it is a different number than my phone service.
- colinbartlett 13y ago
  Be careful with Google voice as your mobile number. Your texts won't be texts but will come in via an app. And it doesn't support MMS. You may not care about receiving photos but MMS is used to send multi-recipient text messages as well. The net effect is that if anyone, ever tried to send a text message to you and several other people at the same time you will not receive it. You will not receive a notice or anything, it will just silently fail and the sender will assume you are ignore them.
  - gagege 13y ago
    Ah, good to know. That's bummer though. I guess I'll have to live with the fees.
  - kjell 13y ago
    I've used GV as my only number for a few years now. > The net effect is that if anyone, ever tried to send a text message to you and several other people at the same time you will not receive it. I do receive these. I haven't ever heard from anyone "Hey, you didn't come to my <birthday party, other event>!?!?! I cannot send them. YMMV?
tootie 13y ago
This is the equivalent to buying a house or car with cash to save on interest. Of course you save money by paying full-price up front instead of financing. It only works if you have that much cash available though.
- nicksergeant 13y ago
  Except in some cases unlocked phones cost almost the same as locked phones (Nexus vs. iPhone, etc).
  - vvhn 13y ago
    > (Nexus vs. iPhone, etc). To be completely accurate - Nexus phones are an exception. Even the manufacturer of Nexus phones sells their non Google branded Nexus equivalent models at significantly higher cost. There is nothing else in the market priced like a Nexus phone (probably because no one can sell these devices at cost because they don't have the cushion of massive ad revenues).
- joewrong 13y ago
  Seems easier to save $300-$800 than the cost of a house or car.
- scrrr 13y ago
  Common sense dictates that if you can't afford a $800 phone, you shouldn't buy one, doesn't it? Consumers have forgotten.
  - bradleyland 13y ago
    No, it doesn't dictate that. Common sense dictates that: A) Your expenses shouldn't exceed your income. B) You should carefully evaluate the price you pay for financing. There is nothing wrong with amortizing an expense, provided it doesn't break your income/expense ratio and you aren't overpaying on the financing.
    - 13y ago
jdmitch 13y ago
* I can tell you we just switched from AT&T to T-Mobile and it’s been flawless.* That's because you haven't actually had to start using T-Mobile's horrendous service. When I tried to do this (admittedly a couple years ago) they told me with a straight face, after I had gone through all the effort of changing "You can't use data on your smartphone because you didn't get it from us." Why would I have changed over if I couldn't use data!?!? (It would have been edge or something ridiculous as well, as only people on certain contracts could use 3g!)
- toomuchtodo 13y ago
  I've used T-Mobile for over 13 years. Can you tell me what this horrendous service is? Its worked fine for me in Chicago, Tampa, Miami, Key West, New York, San Francisco, LA, and last but not least, on the playa at Burning Man (in the middle of the desert).
  - bluedino 13y ago
    Non-major cities can have terrible coverage. You might only get 2G speeds or have trouble using the phone indoors. It seems the more remote you are, the more you are forced to go with Verizon.
    - toomuchtodo 13y ago
      I admit, yes, if you are in the middle of nowhere, you may have a problem. I myself encountered some blackholes between Chicago and middle of nowhere Nevada, and on my way back through Yellowstone to Chicago. No carrier is going to have perfect coverage. This is something I'm willing to live with for unlimited connectivity @ $50/month. I mean, seriously! I get coverage in the Virgin Islands! Included! And with their new rates for International travel, I'm willing to let A LOT slide.
- Symmetry 13y ago
  Are you sure that they didn't tell you that because your phone's hardware was incompatible with their network? No CDMA phone is going to work with T-Mobile and you might not get the more advanced sorts of data service if the frequencies your phone supports aren't the same as the ones that T-Mobile uses. I certainly haven't had any trouble using 3G with phone's I've bought from Amazon or Google.
dijit 13y ago
Hm, I always assumed this stuff was transparent. In the UK you have the well-known "Sim-Only" and "Rolling Month" contracts, which are almost, not like contracts in the traditional sense given you can cancel any time. my Sim-Only contract that last's for 12 months is £15/m I paid £750 or so for the iPhone 5s with 64GB of space which is: £31 (over 2 years) £46 total a month for two years. a contract with my provider for my phone is: £99 upfront cost. £51 a month (over 24 months). so, I'd be paying £5 for the privilege of _not_ having cash in hand for my phone. there are other downsides; like requiring carrier support instead of apple support, which, honestly makes a large difference to how you're treated. although the UK is under EU jurisdiction about the locking of mobile phones so, it's now prohibited.
knodi 13y ago
I'm in the process of moving from ATT to Tmobile.
- sourc3 13y ago
  I just made the switch myself. The only thing is; it cost me the iPhone. Only Android phones have the WiFi calling on them. As a result, I had to give up my iPhone and switch to an S4. I have to say though it has been useful as I made crystal clear calls in the middle of nowhere (through hotel wifi) where att nor tmobile get good reception. In the process with the cost of the new device included in the monthly payments I ended up saving about $80/month for a family plan of 3 phones. I wish iPhone supported the WiFi calling! Maybe a google voice solution is under way. If you travel internationally the fact that you can use your data connection (albeit on 2g) internationally without any roaming fees is superb. I would say make sure to get the right phone based on your needs but switch soon!
toddmorey 13y ago
Another advantage: an unlocked phone can really help for international travel. I'm heading from the US to Hong Kong and my friends with unlocked phones can get local, prepaid SIM cards for very good voice + data rates. AT&T has told me that "standard" rates for international roaming in Asia is $2.50/minute (!!) and even the biggest package they have only brings it down to $1.50. It's completely insane. Plus you need to purchase voice roaming, data roaming, and text roaming all separately. Believe it or not, it will actually be slightly cheaper to cancel my AT&T plan, pay the cancellation fee, and switch to TMobile than it would be to purchase all of their punitive roaming services.
- Arelius 13y ago
  To be fair, Verizon at least, will unlock your phone for international SIM cards if you call them before traveling abroad. Thus allowing you the same advantages. I'd be surprised if AT&T wouldn't do the same.
  - vvhn 13y ago
    With newer LTE phones, Verizon "world phones" (i.e. phones with a GSM SIM slot alongwith the CDMA stuff - For eg. iPhone 5, 5c and 5s) already come GSM "unlocked". This is apparently not out of the goodness of their hearts but because of some LTE spectrum agreements with the FCC. The kicker though is that the phones will favor the Verizon network while in the US.
    - Arelius 13y ago
      Oh, so this really is a Verizon specific thing, huh?
  - toddmorey 13y ago
    The rep I chatted with said that AT&T phones "cannot work with other SIMs." The implication was that they cannot be unlocked. Seems fishy, though, so I'm going to confirm. Anyone have experience here?
    - 13y ago
scragg 13y ago
I've done this and the math already. We had 3 of us on a shared family plan on contract with Sprint at around $200/month. We broke contract and ate some large fees and sold our Sprint phones. We bought 3 nexus4 phones and switched to T-mobile that came around $100/month. Even after paying for breaking our contract with Sprint it was cheaper than to wait the contract out. As a bonus, we all got unlocked phones with Wifi tethering (free) and better data service. Keep in mind though, T-mobile signal might suck for your location.
programminggeek 13y ago
I have tried lots of different prepaid and no contract services and here's where I landed. Virgin Mobile is ok if you like the Sprint network. Net10/Tracfone are both fantastic if you don't want/need a smartphone and just want voice and text. Straight Talk is awesome if you want a smartphone. I do Straight Talk SIM with an iPhone 4 on AT&T's network and the only problem I've had is no media messaging, which is not a huge deal. Also, iMessage is great for that. If you care about MMS, buy a phone from Straight Talk directly. The iPhone on Straight Talk is on the Verizon network, but since it's a VZW phone, you can use SIM as well. Straight Talk SIM now supports LTE on AT&T if you want to go that route. The point is, for phone service, you don't need to spend more than $45 a month and off contract phones can be had for $400 or less for top end phones (like iPhone 5 or Galaxy S3). If you don't want data, you can drop down to $25 a month or less. There is no reason to be on contract, it no longer makes financial sense.
- freehunter 13y ago
  I'm still trying to find my pre-paid provider. I have two AT&T phones, a Lumia 920 and a Nexus 4. On both phones with Net10/AT&T, I ran into an issue where, like you had mentioned, MMS was flaky to non-existent. Also, a 1.5GB cap on data for AT&T. I switched to T-Mobile prepaid on their 5GB "unlimited" plan, but there are even worse drawbacks there. For one, I struggle to get service. My apartment is half underground, and neither VZW or TMo have coverage, even though I'm in the city. AT&T does, but they don't deserve my money. The second issue is that it only comes with 100 minutes, and I can't figure out how to activate the 10c per minute overage (my phone just tells me I'm out of minutes and I should upgrade the plan). My SO gets frustrated when I'm out of contact, and is seriously pushing for me to get back on a contract. Maybe Google Voice and a SIP gateway would be a better option? I really don't know.
  - ilostmyoldpass 13y ago
    T-Mobile has calls over wifi. It's active on the my touch line and there are packages for the CyanogenMod versions I've installed. It might still not be up to par for you but T-Mobile is good in my area so I really like it.
  - 13y ago
zellyn 13y ago
One thing none of these articles mention: on AT&T, you don't use minutes to call other AT&T customers. If your entire extended family is on AT&T (as mine is), this provides a horribly effective incentive to stay.
- bradleyland 13y ago
  If you're in a family of 2 or more, AT&T's new MobileShare plans don't charge you for minutes, period. On-net or off-net, it doesn't matter. Data is the new metering point. Reference (you have to provide your zip code, boo!): http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/mobileshare.html http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/mobileshare.html
tesmar2 13y ago
Anyone here use pay as you go services like AirVoice?
- colanderman 13y ago
  Yup. I feel like they could go belly-up at any point they're so tiny, but you can't beat $10/mo for voice + text on an unlocked phone in the US.
  - tesmar2 13y ago
    Right. And on the ATT network. And only 6cents per MB. Just flip on your phone's data when you need a map or to check your email in an emergency and you could pay < $15/month. Also they have $10 for 100min for 90 days. So if you get a Voip service at home and make all your long calls there + over wifi on your smartphone, you could even pay less for cell minutes, perhaps only $3/month. I do not work for them, just checking out the options.
pwthornton 13y ago
One of the things about going with an unlocked phone in the U.S. that often doesn't get discussed is that you can realistically own multiple phones. We miss out on this experience because we are so tied to contracts and only using one phone with a sim card. The biggest regret I have as someone who has been on phone contracts for years is that it is very prohibitive to experiment with different phones. If we treated phones more like computers, we could have more than one phone at a time. When you're on a contract with a locked phone, it's really difficult to experiment with different phones in any meaningful way. That doesn't mean I would be buying new phones all the time. Perhaps I get used ones off of Ebay, and I probably only buy a new phone every two years or so. Phones are starting to hit an inflection point where they will run well beyond two years. If we can get better unlocked options in this country with data and voice plans that are priced better, geeks like us can experiment with different phones and OSes. I use OS X and Windows every week (and Chrome OS, but that depends on the week). I hardly ever use Android, Windows Phone or Blackberry OS. And I think that's a shame.
- mildtrepidation 13y ago
  Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but long before T-Mobile did away with their contracts, I was SIM swapping between Android devices (and even flip phones) with no problems. I still do this occasionally since I keep hoarding my old phones as development devices, and even with phones T-Mobile doesn't actually support (i.e. you can't select it as your current device if you use their web portal), I have not had problems. Perhaps this is different between providers?
  - vvhn 13y ago
    >Perhaps this is different between providers? On the CDMA side (i.e. Verizon, Sprint), yes. On the GSM side (T-mobile and AT&T), if your phone is locked to a carrier it will still accept any SIM from that carrier and your carrier provided SIM will work on any GSM unlocked phone with compatible frequencies.
mikro 13y ago
I just switched from Sprint to T-mobile. I financed my T-mobile 5S through the Apple store, then activated a T-mobile SIM card online, and got the $30 per month deal for 5GB 4g data and 100 minutes per month, with 10 cents per minute beyond that (prepaid). $30 per month is by far the least I've ever paid for an iPhone.
at-fates-hands 13y ago
I don't even upgrade my phone through my carrier anymore. I just go on ebay and get a used phone for around $200. Case in point: The new Nokia 928 which was released in May of 2013 is selling on ebay for $250.00. To upgrade its $99 and I get my unlimited data plan yanked and re-up for another two years? No thank you. Also, the only company to actually reduce their price plans to account for not subsidizing their phones is T-Mobile and I figure they're going to get more customers as people start to realize the upgrades from AT&T and Verizon are a total crime.
- Domenic_S 13y ago
  > reduce their price plans to account for not subsidizing their phones When I brought my own phone to sprint and they forced me to sign a 2 year agreement, I knew that business was on the way out. I'm on straight talk now.
lnanek2 13y ago
Kind of bizarre he goes to such lengths to save a little money and then still buys upgrades regularly. If he cares about money so much, he should be skipping upgrades as well. His plan is not reasonable for me since AT&T and Verizon are the only decent LTE carriers here in the US, so he's permanently crippled his bandwidth. LTE means I don't need a home internet connection any more, so it saves much more than he does by going T-mobile. So anyway, he's sacrificing network speed to save money, but won't sacrifice upgrades, which seems illogical. Also he writes off skipping upgrades while on a decent network, because he says that is costing him money for free, but it still saves him the cost of the upgrade handset itself, typically $200 for a premium phone. He would be stuck paying the increased amount no matter what on the only good network options there are right now, so it doesn't matter. Saving 200 is saving 200.
seivan 13y ago
Confirms what I thought. I was once locked, it was hell. Now I am free. I can switch or haggle the bastards for the things I want. And it's way cheaper. I rather pay up front and pick what provider I want every 6 months pay a fee for a card that renews itself ever 6 month without CC or bank account involved so they can't overcharge as they are used to.
pinder 13y ago
I don't think this applies in Canada. For example on Telus, as soon as your contract expires, all the free bundled stuff you got like voicemail or texting plans are now $6 or so a month, so your usual $60 bill jumps to $75.
ST4Y_G0LD 13y ago
The cost-benefit analysis is elementary. Given: -A phone is designed to physically break in 2 years (with or without contract) -A cellular contract last 2 years -Purchase cost of a new unlocked, contract-free iPhone 16g 5c is $600 after taxes -Purchase cost of a new locked, contractual iPhone 16g 5c is $120 after taxes -Monthly bill for iPhone contract is around $100 after taxes(unlimited everything) -Monthly bill for iPhone without contract is $60 after taxes(unlimited everything) Total cost of contractual iPhone over 2 Year period: 100+10024=2500 600+5024=1800 ((2500-1800)/2500)*100 = 28% more for contract. Factor in the cost-benefit of peripherals you receive with a contract or non-contract phone and make your decision. Done.
pouzy 13y ago
That's a lot of math, and it might work for most of the top-notch phones. I go google.com/nexus all the way because I know that I'll be able to use my phone anywhere (I'm french and live in the US). I've got a $30 no-contract sim-card only plan on T-mobile, with unlimited data and use Google voice for my calls. I don't think it's beatable (price wise. Quality wise it is.) it you want a last-gen smartphone.
reiichiroh 13y ago
In Canada, one of the big 3 telcos, TELUS unlocks your phone for $35 if your account is in good standing after 90 days without having to finish your contract. So you can maintain your contract and have it unlocked for travel.

46 points by pwthornton 13y ago

My family is definitely going to be doing this next month when our Sprint contract is over. I'm also going to port our phone numbers over to Google Voice to avoid any future porting fees. The abysmal world of mobile phone carriers seems to be making some good improvements.

colanderman 13y ago
I've never had to pay a porting fee? (Beside my time arguing with AT&T to move a number from one prepaid MVNO to another.)
pa5tabear 13y ago
How does porting to Google Voice work? Can you set your Google Voice number to be the same as your number through your wireless provider? Currently I have a Google Voice account but it is a different number than my phone service.
colinbartlett 13y ago
Be careful with Google voice as your mobile number. Your texts won't be texts but will come in via an app. And it doesn't support MMS. You may not care about receiving photos but MMS is used to send multi-recipient text messages as well. The net effect is that if anyone, ever tried to send a text message to you and several other people at the same time you will not receive it. You will not receive a notice or anything, it will just silently fail and the sender will assume you are ignore them.
- gagege 13y ago
  Ah, good to know. That's bummer though. I guess I'll have to live with the fees.
- kjell 13y ago
  I've used GV as my only number for a few years now. > The net effect is that if anyone, ever tried to send a text message to you and several other people at the same time you will not receive it. I do receive these. I haven't ever heard from anyone "Hey, you didn't come to my <birthday party, other event>!?!?! I cannot send them. YMMV?

tootie 13y ago

This is the equivalent to buying a house or car with cash to save on interest. Of course you save money by paying full-price up front instead of financing. It only works if you have that much cash available though.

nicksergeant 13y ago
Except in some cases unlocked phones cost almost the same as locked phones (Nexus vs. iPhone, etc).
- vvhn 13y ago
  > (Nexus vs. iPhone, etc). To be completely accurate - Nexus phones are an exception. Even the manufacturer of Nexus phones sells their non Google branded Nexus equivalent models at significantly higher cost. There is nothing else in the market priced like a Nexus phone (probably because no one can sell these devices at cost because they don't have the cushion of massive ad revenues).
joewrong 13y ago
Seems easier to save $300-$800 than the cost of a house or car.
scrrr 13y ago
Common sense dictates that if you can't afford a $800 phone, you shouldn't buy one, doesn't it? Consumers have forgotten.
- bradleyland 13y ago
  No, it doesn't dictate that. Common sense dictates that: A) Your expenses shouldn't exceed your income. B) You should carefully evaluate the price you pay for financing. There is nothing wrong with amortizing an expense, provided it doesn't break your income/expense ratio and you aren't overpaying on the financing.
  - 13y ago

jdmitch 13y ago

* I can tell you we just switched from AT&T to T-Mobile and it’s been flawless.* That's because you haven't actually had to start using T-Mobile's horrendous service. When I tried to do this (admittedly a couple years ago) they told me with a straight face, after I had gone through all the effort of changing "You can't use data on your smartphone because you didn't get it from us." Why would I have changed over if I couldn't use data!?!? (It would have been edge or something ridiculous as well, as only people on certain contracts could use 3g!)

toomuchtodo 13y ago
I've used T-Mobile for over 13 years. Can you tell me what this horrendous service is? Its worked fine for me in Chicago, Tampa, Miami, Key West, New York, San Francisco, LA, and last but not least, on the playa at Burning Man (in the middle of the desert).
- bluedino 13y ago
  Non-major cities can have terrible coverage. You might only get 2G speeds or have trouble using the phone indoors. It seems the more remote you are, the more you are forced to go with Verizon.
  - toomuchtodo 13y ago
    I admit, yes, if you are in the middle of nowhere, you may have a problem. I myself encountered some blackholes between Chicago and middle of nowhere Nevada, and on my way back through Yellowstone to Chicago. No carrier is going to have perfect coverage. This is something I'm willing to live with for unlimited connectivity @ $50/month. I mean, seriously! I get coverage in the Virgin Islands! Included! And with their new rates for International travel, I'm willing to let A LOT slide.
Symmetry 13y ago
Are you sure that they didn't tell you that because your phone's hardware was incompatible with their network? No CDMA phone is going to work with T-Mobile and you might not get the more advanced sorts of data service if the frequencies your phone supports aren't the same as the ones that T-Mobile uses. I certainly haven't had any trouble using 3G with phone's I've bought from Amazon or Google.

dijit 13y ago

Hm, I always assumed this stuff was transparent. In the UK you have the well-known "Sim-Only" and "Rolling Month" contracts, which are almost, not like contracts in the traditional sense given you can cancel any time. my Sim-Only contract that last's for 12 months is £15/m I paid £750 or so for the iPhone 5s with 64GB of space which is: £31 (over 2 years) £46 total a month for two years. a contract with my provider for my phone is: £99 upfront cost. £51 a month (over 24 months). so, I'd be paying £5 for the privilege of _not_ having cash in hand for my phone. there are other downsides; like requiring carrier support instead of apple support, which, honestly makes a large difference to how you're treated. although the UK is under EU jurisdiction about the locking of mobile phones so, it's now prohibited.

knodi 13y ago

I'm in the process of moving from ATT to Tmobile.

sourc3 13y ago
I just made the switch myself. The only thing is; it cost me the iPhone. Only Android phones have the WiFi calling on them. As a result, I had to give up my iPhone and switch to an S4. I have to say though it has been useful as I made crystal clear calls in the middle of nowhere (through hotel wifi) where att nor tmobile get good reception. In the process with the cost of the new device included in the monthly payments I ended up saving about $80/month for a family plan of 3 phones. I wish iPhone supported the WiFi calling! Maybe a google voice solution is under way. If you travel internationally the fact that you can use your data connection (albeit on 2g) internationally without any roaming fees is superb. I would say make sure to get the right phone based on your needs but switch soon!

toddmorey 13y ago

Another advantage: an unlocked phone can really help for international travel. I'm heading from the US to Hong Kong and my friends with unlocked phones can get local, prepaid SIM cards for very good voice + data rates. AT&T has told me that "standard" rates for international roaming in Asia is $2.50/minute (!!) and even the biggest package they have only brings it down to $1.50. It's completely insane. Plus you need to purchase voice roaming, data roaming, and text roaming all separately. Believe it or not, it will actually be slightly cheaper to cancel my AT&T plan, pay the cancellation fee, and switch to TMobile than it would be to purchase all of their punitive roaming services.

Arelius 13y ago
To be fair, Verizon at least, will unlock your phone for international SIM cards if you call them before traveling abroad. Thus allowing you the same advantages. I'd be surprised if AT&T wouldn't do the same.
- vvhn 13y ago
  With newer LTE phones, Verizon "world phones" (i.e. phones with a GSM SIM slot alongwith the CDMA stuff - For eg. iPhone 5, 5c and 5s) already come GSM "unlocked". This is apparently not out of the goodness of their hearts but because of some LTE spectrum agreements with the FCC. The kicker though is that the phones will favor the Verizon network while in the US.
  - Arelius 13y ago
    Oh, so this really is a Verizon specific thing, huh?
- toddmorey 13y ago
  The rep I chatted with said that AT&T phones "cannot work with other SIMs." The implication was that they cannot be unlocked. Seems fishy, though, so I'm going to confirm. Anyone have experience here?
  - 13y ago

scragg 13y ago

I've done this and the math already. We had 3 of us on a shared family plan on contract with Sprint at around $200/month. We broke contract and ate some large fees and sold our Sprint phones. We bought 3 nexus4 phones and switched to T-mobile that came around $100/month. Even after paying for breaking our contract with Sprint it was cheaper than to wait the contract out. As a bonus, we all got unlocked phones with Wifi tethering (free) and better data service. Keep in mind though, T-mobile signal might suck for your location.

programminggeek 13y ago

I have tried lots of different prepaid and no contract services and here's where I landed. Virgin Mobile is ok if you like the Sprint network. Net10/Tracfone are both fantastic if you don't want/need a smartphone and just want voice and text. Straight Talk is awesome if you want a smartphone. I do Straight Talk SIM with an iPhone 4 on AT&T's network and the only problem I've had is no media messaging, which is not a huge deal. Also, iMessage is great for that. If you care about MMS, buy a phone from Straight Talk directly. The iPhone on Straight Talk is on the Verizon network, but since it's a VZW phone, you can use SIM as well. Straight Talk SIM now supports LTE on AT&T if you want to go that route. The point is, for phone service, you don't need to spend more than $45 a month and off contract phones can be had for $400 or less for top end phones (like iPhone 5 or Galaxy S3). If you don't want data, you can drop down to $25 a month or less. There is no reason to be on contract, it no longer makes financial sense.

freehunter 13y ago
I'm still trying to find my pre-paid provider. I have two AT&T phones, a Lumia 920 and a Nexus 4. On both phones with Net10/AT&T, I ran into an issue where, like you had mentioned, MMS was flaky to non-existent. Also, a 1.5GB cap on data for AT&T. I switched to T-Mobile prepaid on their 5GB "unlimited" plan, but there are even worse drawbacks there. For one, I struggle to get service. My apartment is half underground, and neither VZW or TMo have coverage, even though I'm in the city. AT&T does, but they don't deserve my money. The second issue is that it only comes with 100 minutes, and I can't figure out how to activate the 10c per minute overage (my phone just tells me I'm out of minutes and I should upgrade the plan). My SO gets frustrated when I'm out of contact, and is seriously pushing for me to get back on a contract. Maybe Google Voice and a SIP gateway would be a better option? I really don't know.
- ilostmyoldpass 13y ago
  T-Mobile has calls over wifi. It's active on the my touch line and there are packages for the CyanogenMod versions I've installed. It might still not be up to par for you but T-Mobile is good in my area so I really like it.
- 13y ago

zellyn 13y ago

One thing none of these articles mention: on AT&T, you don't use minutes to call other AT&T customers. If your entire extended family is on AT&T (as mine is), this provides a horribly effective incentive to stay.

bradleyland 13y ago
If you're in a family of 2 or more, AT&T's new MobileShare plans don't charge you for minutes, period. On-net or off-net, it doesn't matter. Data is the new metering point. Reference (you have to provide your zip code, boo!): http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/mobileshare.html http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/mobileshare.html

tesmar2 13y ago

Anyone here use pay as you go services like AirVoice?

colanderman 13y ago
Yup. I feel like they could go belly-up at any point they're so tiny, but you can't beat $10/mo for voice + text on an unlocked phone in the US.
- tesmar2 13y ago
  Right. And on the ATT network. And only 6cents per MB. Just flip on your phone's data when you need a map or to check your email in an emergency and you could pay < $15/month. Also they have $10 for 100min for 90 days. So if you get a Voip service at home and make all your long calls there + over wifi on your smartphone, you could even pay less for cell minutes, perhaps only $3/month. I do not work for them, just checking out the options.

pwthornton 13y ago

One of the things about going with an unlocked phone in the U.S. that often doesn't get discussed is that you can realistically own multiple phones. We miss out on this experience because we are so tied to contracts and only using one phone with a sim card. The biggest regret I have as someone who has been on phone contracts for years is that it is very prohibitive to experiment with different phones. If we treated phones more like computers, we could have more than one phone at a time. When you're on a contract with a locked phone, it's really difficult to experiment with different phones in any meaningful way. That doesn't mean I would be buying new phones all the time. Perhaps I get used ones off of Ebay, and I probably only buy a new phone every two years or so. Phones are starting to hit an inflection point where they will run well beyond two years. If we can get better unlocked options in this country with data and voice plans that are priced better, geeks like us can experiment with different phones and OSes. I use OS X and Windows every week (and Chrome OS, but that depends on the week). I hardly ever use Android, Windows Phone or Blackberry OS. And I think that's a shame.

mildtrepidation 13y ago
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but long before T-Mobile did away with their contracts, I was SIM swapping between Android devices (and even flip phones) with no problems. I still do this occasionally since I keep hoarding my old phones as development devices, and even with phones T-Mobile doesn't actually support (i.e. you can't select it as your current device if you use their web portal), I have not had problems. Perhaps this is different between providers?
- vvhn 13y ago
  >Perhaps this is different between providers? On the CDMA side (i.e. Verizon, Sprint), yes. On the GSM side (T-mobile and AT&T), if your phone is locked to a carrier it will still accept any SIM from that carrier and your carrier provided SIM will work on any GSM unlocked phone with compatible frequencies.

mikro 13y ago

I just switched from Sprint to T-mobile. I financed my T-mobile 5S through the Apple store, then activated a T-mobile SIM card online, and got the $30 per month deal for 5GB 4g data and 100 minutes per month, with 10 cents per minute beyond that (prepaid). $30 per month is by far the least I've ever paid for an iPhone.

at-fates-hands 13y ago

I don't even upgrade my phone through my carrier anymore. I just go on ebay and get a used phone for around $200. Case in point: The new Nokia 928 which was released in May of 2013 is selling on ebay for $250.00. To upgrade its $99 and I get my unlimited data plan yanked and re-up for another two years? No thank you. Also, the only company to actually reduce their price plans to account for not subsidizing their phones is T-Mobile and I figure they're going to get more customers as people start to realize the upgrades from AT&T and Verizon are a total crime.

Domenic_S 13y ago
> reduce their price plans to account for not subsidizing their phones When I brought my own phone to sprint and they forced me to sign a 2 year agreement, I knew that business was on the way out. I'm on straight talk now.

lnanek2 13y ago

Kind of bizarre he goes to such lengths to save a little money and then still buys upgrades regularly. If he cares about money so much, he should be skipping upgrades as well. His plan is not reasonable for me since AT&T and Verizon are the only decent LTE carriers here in the US, so he's permanently crippled his bandwidth. LTE means I don't need a home internet connection any more, so it saves much more than he does by going T-mobile. So anyway, he's sacrificing network speed to save money, but won't sacrifice upgrades, which seems illogical. Also he writes off skipping upgrades while on a decent network, because he says that is costing him money for free, but it still saves him the cost of the upgrade handset itself, typically $200 for a premium phone. He would be stuck paying the increased amount no matter what on the only good network options there are right now, so it doesn't matter. Saving 200 is saving 200.

seivan 13y ago

Confirms what I thought. I was once locked, it was hell. Now I am free. I can switch or haggle the bastards for the things I want. And it's way cheaper. I rather pay up front and pick what provider I want every 6 months pay a fee for a card that renews itself ever 6 month without CC or bank account involved so they can't overcharge as they are used to.

pinder 13y ago

I don't think this applies in Canada. For example on Telus, as soon as your contract expires, all the free bundled stuff you got like voicemail or texting plans are now $6 or so a month, so your usual $60 bill jumps to $75.

ST4Y_G0LD 13y ago

The cost-benefit analysis is elementary. Given: -A phone is designed to physically break in 2 years (with or without contract) -A cellular contract last 2 years -Purchase cost of a new unlocked, contract-free iPhone 16g 5c is $600 after taxes -Purchase cost of a new locked, contractual iPhone 16g 5c is $120 after taxes -Monthly bill for iPhone contract is around $100 after taxes(unlimited everything) -Monthly bill for iPhone without contract is $60 after taxes(unlimited everything) Total cost of contractual iPhone over 2 Year period: 100+10024=2500 600+5024=1800 ((2500-1800)/2500)*100 = 28% more for contract. Factor in the cost-benefit of peripherals you receive with a contract or non-contract phone and make your decision. Done.

pouzy 13y ago

That's a lot of math, and it might work for most of the top-notch phones. I go google.com/nexus all the way because I know that I'll be able to use my phone anywhere (I'm french and live in the US). I've got a $30 no-contract sim-card only plan on T-mobile, with unlimited data and use Google voice for my calls. I don't think it's beatable (price wise. Quality wise it is.) it you want a last-gen smartphone.

reiichiroh 13y ago

In Canada, one of the big 3 telcos, TELUS unlocks your phone for $35 if your account is in good standing after 90 days without having to finish your contract. So you can maintain your contract and have it unlocked for travel.