Need Help Choosing Cell Phone & Plan (1 Viewer)

Anthony Martino

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I just accepted a job offer and my new employer is giving me a $100/month stipend for a cell phone. A lot of my work will be off the cell phone (receiving customer calls, emails, texts)

Currently my situation with my present employer is:

1. I have a Samsung Galaxy S III provided free of charge, but it's their property and goes back to them.

2. I have my own personal tracfone that I mostly use when in Wi-Fi so it doesn't eat up my data and minutes, which won't really cut it for the new job.



I'm leaning towards a Verizon plan because of their coverage, probably the 3GB data plan for $45/month plus unlimited talk and text. Then I'm not sure what phone to go with. I haven't tried IOS before so not sure on the learning curve, I'm pretty comfortable with Android.

Should I try to buy a used phone outright via Craigslist or eBay or just get a new one through Verizon since it'll still be within my monthly allowance to get even their most expensive models that are another $28-33/month on top of the data plan?

Any recommendations for specific phone models is appreciated!
 
In my opinion Android is always the way to go. I have had the Samsung Note 4 for 2 yrs. Best phone I've ever owned. Pretty sure you can buy one new on eBay for a little over $300. Best screen on the market still, removable battery (big plus), expandable memory. Has S-pen will come in handy for work!
 
I love my Samsung Note 4 for all of the reasons mentioned by @SuckoutKing, plus the camera is fantastic. I got a great deal on the phone from Verizon. In fact, I like the Note 4 so much that I also bought a Samsung tablet.
 
I use the Samsung 6 edge and love it. Also had a S4 as my previous phone and had an easy transition between them. As far as plans I can't speak to that as I've been grandfathered into my current contract from forever ago and it's a good deal.
 
I prefer iOS, but I'm not gonna try to convert you.

I will say I strongly prefer AT&T over Verizon. A couple reasons:

The voice sound quality on AT&T is dramatically better.
Verizon does not allow data access and voice acces simultaneously (at least at the last time I had Verizon).

I switched from AT&T to Verizon, regretted it for 2 years and then went back. I'm much happier.
 
I prefer iOS, but I'm not gonna try to convert you.

Haha this was my exact thought, I was tempted to post IOS and a myriad of reasons, but ehh, I dont give two shits what phone type you prefer. Android people who have used it for the past 4+ years arent changing, same is said for those who have been using IOS for the past handful of years.
 
I sell both prepaid and postpaid phones for a living. With the Verizon $45 for 3 GBs you also have to pay line acess fee of $20 every month as well as possibly the $28-$33 for the phone that puts you at $93-$98 plus taxes and 911 fees likely makes it that you are paying out of your own pocket for the extra. You might try looking into Straight Talk. They offer a $45(cheaper if you enroll in autopay) plan with unlimited talk, text and data(you get your first 5GB of data at high speed then its 2G). They dont own their own towers to they make several carriers compatable with them. They can utilize verizons network(about 95% of it anyway). You can get a Straight talk branded phone but you will have to make sure the model number ends in the letter C as in L16C. If you are looking at the actually box try to find one marked CDMA-V then you know for sure it uses verizons network. If you want a nicer phone they can run you several hundred dollars up front but you are going to be saving $45 plus every month so that pays for itself pretty quickly. They also sell a Bring your own phone kit for $60 that lets convert a old Verizon postpaid phone to their service. $60 BYOP kit include a $45 service cards so it basically costs you $15(plus the cost of the phone) to convert it over. They exclusively sold at straighttalk.com walmart.com and in walmart stores. Hope this wasnt to confussing.
 
With the current $150 discount, you can get a 32 Gb Nexus 5X from Google for $250. Project Fi runs you $20/mo + $10 each gb. If you mostly use wifi, you should be able to get away with ~$30/mo bill.

It's a heck of a phone for that price.
 
I have both iOS and Android phones, and I don't see any major advantages or shortcomings to either one. Both learning curves are short. IMO, it's more of a business decision than a technical competition. And of course, if you plan to use your phone during international travel, you want GSM capability.

The one thing I wish is that devices like the ipad with cellular capability could also function (with a headset) as a telephone. They already have a telephone number and handle data and sms text, so there's no reason why they can't have voice capability.

Sometimes, like where we are in Florida, your choices are dictated by the carrier who has the best coverage in your area, mostly due to developer control of cell tower construction. Where our home is, only Verizon has solid coverage. And even with Verizon, my phone gets very hot in my pocket in certain rooms of the house. I would expect that to not be a factor where you're living, Anthony...
 
I've had my Android Galaxy 4 for going on 4 years I think. I love it. Prior to this I had the Iphone 3. One of the things I like about the Android is that I was able to add a sim card and take my memory storage up to 70+ gigs (I think, Jake handled it, lol). I download movies and music so the extra memory was desired.

I also think the Androids, or at least the G4 has more customization with the widgets and shit than what I could do with the Iphone.
 
From what I can find regarding coverage in Tampa/Odessa FL, Verizon is going to be my best bet. I had considered the Project Fi since it does look like a pretty sweet deal, but since the phone will be kinda mission-critical I can't risk dropped calls and I've seen some recent reports of issues with project fi coverage since they're on the Sprint and T-Mobile networks.
 
I prefer iOS, but I'm not gonna try to convert you.

I will say I strongly prefer AT&T over Verizon. A couple reasons:

The voice sound quality on AT&T is dramatically better.
Verizon does not allow data access and voice acces simultaneously (at least at the last time I had Verizon).

I switched from AT&T to Verizon, regretted it for 2 years and then went back. I'm much happier.

With HD (VoIP) being a industry standard these days voice quality isnt as big of an issue as it once was.

Also you can surf the web while talking on the phone. This is also pretty standard across the board.

I work for a Verizon dealer to be fully transparent. @Anthony Martino my company has a few stores in the Tampa area and I am more than willing to get you a good deal. Hit me up if you're interested.
 
Was going to snag the BOGO on the Samsung S7 Edge that was running, put my wife on the 2nd phone, but missed the promo cutoff. So wound up finding $100 off a Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and it's on the truck for delivery today, can't wait to get this baby, going to be a BIG upgrade from my tracfone!
 
My wife found a deal on Best Buy for an S6 Edge with 128MB for $1 with 2-year contract, so just added that to my plan so she'll have an upgrade too
 

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