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Killer_B posted:I am going to guess probably not, I am on a grandfathered (no longer available) plan, "The new Verizon Plan Single Smartphone 5 GB" plan, that's 5GB/month for $47 before fees/taxes - Ends up being just under $60/month. If you're not using much data then I wouldn't think so. My main phone is on a grandfathered Verizon Prepaid plan that also has 5GB per month and, after loyalty discounts, I pay $26.25 per month. I've been kind of half-assedly looking at postpaid plans, but with my usage they just don't sense. I miss out on visual voicemail, and maybe another feature or two they gate behind postpaid plans, but it's hard for me to justify spending at least twice as much as I do now for very little benefit. That said, I got into the habit of buying unlocked phones outright, so the only thing I pay for is my service.
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Jul 16, 2023 08:14
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The Demilich posted:It's this a good thread to ask for information about phone accessories such as chargers? Or is there a more apt thread? The general Android thread might be better-suited? https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3689060
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Jul 21, 2023 23:33
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Kild posted:Is the Pixel 6a for like $300 the best deal I can get for around that price range? Pretty much - it's going to be hard to beat in terms of power and features. Personal preferences (like if you want a bigger screen, stuff like that) are going to make a difference, but in terms of the hardware it's hard to beat Pixels dollar for dollar.
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Jul 29, 2023 07:20
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One problem with the 5a is that the support window is closing on it - Google only guarantees security updates until August 2024. The 6a is guaranteed to receive them up to July 2027. https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4457705?hl=en-GB
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Jul 29, 2023 07:41
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The 6a I got for my dad was so nice I almost gave him my 6 and kept the 6a for myself. The better cameras on the 6 were pretty much the only reason I kept it. From what I understand the 7a is similarly nice.
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Sep 12, 2023 08:23
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I didn't realize the OP of the thread is from 2008.  I wonder if a brief primer on the basics of the US cellular market might be helpful, or at least a link to same? I feel like a lot of people don't realize how weird and artificial the market is here, and don't realize we're down to 3 carriers (well, 3.5 if you count Dish, maybe) and that every other service is an MVNO. Or how few phone options we get compared to the rest of the world because of carrier subsidies and agreements. Or the difference between carrier models and unlocked phones. Stuff like that.
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Sep 16, 2023 21:56
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Mr. Mercury posted:It's a good OP, actually! Really, the only thing I'd change outside of the formatting to make the instructions more explicit is context of the market RE: features/the disappearance of ports/the end of performance stratification That's a good point - frontloading the fact that SD cards and 3.5mm jacks are almost gone, and that SIM cards might be next, could be useful.
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Sep 16, 2023 22:48
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Duckman2008 posted:Edited in 2012 ! By it's nature I think the thread works okay as it is, so I'm also inclined to think it's a lower priority. I do think having some educational/explanatory resources in the OP could be good, but they could always be edited in to the existing OP. I do have some personal bias because the last few years have been a crash course in phones and carriers for me, and I feel like a lot of people are in the same boat I was before that rude awakening.
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Sep 17, 2023 00:05
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GreenBuckanneer posted:I have a Pixel 4XL Both the Pixel 6a and 7a are slightly smaller than the 4XL, and will have better cameras while still being way cheaper than other options.
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Sep 18, 2023 18:51
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Shine posted:Alrighty, same as before except now the G Power is the one feeling slow. Specifically, it slows to a crawl when connected to Android Auto, which is annoying because I usually mess with my phone for a minute or two before I start driving, and having my phone bog down and freeze up makes that frustrating. It also sometimes hitches while both navigating Gmaps and playing music, which annoys me while I'm driving. In terms of bang for your buck it is going to be hard to beat a Pixel. A Pixel 6a will have a slightly smaller screen but a lot more horsepower than the Motorola, and it's currently $349 from Google. A Pixel 7 is closer in screen size to the Motorola, and is currently $599. Sales might be coming up soon, too, as the Pixel 8 is coming out next month.
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Sep 29, 2023 06:51
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Shine posted:Update: I just picked up the Pixel 7a, and this thing loads Slay the Spire almost instantly! Good poo poo; thank you for the recommendation. Glad to help!
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Oct 15, 2023 07:56
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Glorified Scrivener posted:Thank you! I double checked and we're still getting a discount from a job I left a few months ago, so that will go away sometime. If you own your phones, or plan to buy unlocked phones, then have you considered prepaid? I'm on a grandfathered Verizon prepaid 5GB plan that now, after loyalty discounts, costs me $26.25 per month. With your usage and current plans you could be spending $70 for 2 lines with 15GB of data each: https://www.verizon.com/plans/prepaid/
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Oct 28, 2023 10:32
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Outrail posted:I really liked the pixel 5a but the screen has died twice now when it was dropped less than two feet in a decent case. Like black screen of death. I need it for backcountry work so the weak rear end screen isn't acceptable. I can't speak to it directly yet, but apparently my next work phone is going to be a Samsung Xcover6 and from a glance at the specs it looks okay: https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_xcover6_pro-11600.php I lobbied for a Pixel but I guess we standardized on these because other people are clumsy. 
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Nov 10, 2023 22:41
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Outrail posted:Gonna buy Bluetooth-3.5 adapter and glue it to the back of my phone. Just attach it using the grip tape. 
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Nov 13, 2023 11:38
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Trauts posted:Looking to upgrade my POS Samsung A01. Not looking for flagship or current gen, and am mostly looking for bang for buck. I don't need 5G, 4G is fine and actually has decent coverage where i am. A midrange camera would be fine. SD card is a must. Mostly concerned with speed and battery life. Being able to see the screen outside is a big pro too since I work in the field a lot. On straight talk right now, prefer to stay with prepaid but might be willing to sign a contract if it's a really good deal. What price range are you looking for?
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Nov 18, 2023 22:09
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Tricky Ed posted:Yeah, I know you used to be able to just bank minutes on T-Mobile as long as you topped up every 12 months, but they retired that plan and I haven't been able to find anything similar. Tracfone still has rollover data, although I believe they are now only using Verizon towers or soon will be if they haven't switched over already.
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Nov 28, 2023 10:11
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Duckman2008 posted:One part of this answer is simple: Motorola is terrible dear god do not exchange for a Motorola.  Seriously agreed - it is hard to overstate how bad Motorola is.
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Dec 5, 2023 05:30
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Fozzy The Bear posted:I pay $70/month for two lines, 10 GB per line, I never use more than 1GB, so we could probably just use 10GB total. Pre-paid MetroPCS, not the best coverage around town, we've always just bought our phones unlocked and connected them. My main phone is on Verizon Prepaid (grandfathered plan that with autopay and loyalty discounts is down to $26.25 per month with 5GB of data) and it's been great. My secondary phone is on a Tracfone plan (using Verizon towers) and I pay around $20 per month for I think 3GB of data that rolls over, and since I never use that phone it has over 41GB of data banked. I also have my dad's phone on Tracfone on a similar plan, and as far as I can tell it's been just fine, though he barely uses any data and also has an absurd amount of data saved up. One thing I would say is that Verizon Prepaid has a better website and autopay. Tracfone is workable, but their site is kind of inscrutable and as far as I can tell I have accidentally paid both lines on my account way the hell into the future because autopay chokes on my dad's line (I think because he is in a different ZIP code from me) and I get paranoid about it accidentally getting shut off and him not noticing or telling me.
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Dec 6, 2023 05:28
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Have you looked at prepaid plans? Verizon Prepaid has decent deals, and you can use a credit card to get the autopay discount - you don't have to give your bank account info. I mostly use credit cards for autopay for that very reason - I hate having my bank account info out there anywhere.
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Dec 14, 2023 09:10
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Fozzy The Bear posted:Recently bought a Pixel 7a, its wonderful, more than enough for my needs. Going used would probably the cheapest option. Your description of what you want is so vague it's hard to be really specific. If this is going to be treated as a disposable device then I'd say avoid anything new with less than 64GB of storage, and check the radio bands to make sure it will work in your destination country. This is about the only situation I might consider Motorola to be a semi-reasonable option, because you definitely don't want one of those as a long-term device, but as a temporary throwaway it might be worth it. Maybe. Motorola really, really sucks when it comes to software support and updates, so I generally recommend people avoid them like the plague.
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Dec 16, 2023 23:42
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Banzai 3 posted:I think I know my path forward, but wanted to solicit feedback generally and on the order of operations for the plan I'm hoping to execute. Please let me know if I'm missing anything obvious or miscalculating here. Personally, I would avoid AT&T prepaid. I briefly used them while I was navigating the shutdown of the Sprint towers following the T-Mobile/Sprint merger, since my provider at the time was Boost (which used the Sprint towers at the time). AT&T prepaid had the worst customer service of any carrier I had dealt with, and porting my number in and out was a massive pain in my rear end. I went from them to Verizon prepaid and it was a vastly better experience. Edit: While on the phone with AT&T prepaid customer service the agent had an accent I couldn't quite place but sounded Eastern European, and clearly had no idea how US addresses worked. I have never had just giving my physical address be that difficult or oddly disconcerting. CaptainSarcastic fucked around with this message at 07:55 on Dec 27, 2023 |
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Dec 27, 2023 07:50
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uguu posted:What's wrong with motorola? I've been using their phones for ten years and back then they were touted for their lack of bloat, good update policy and great price/quality ratio. Since they were acquired by Lenovo they have consistently had worst-in-class support. Their phones often release an Android version behind where they should be, and they almost never catch up. They only do security updates every two months, and are often behind on those. They lie about Android version updates coming to a phone, and will string people along until the phones drop out of support, which is generally only 2 years. They are perhaps the worst company when it comes to actually providing information about when to expect any updates they actually do roll out, and there's also the aforementioned problem with outright lying. If you want a jumping off point to find out more, this Android report card is a good place to start - go back to previous report cards to see the pattern that emerges: https://www.computerworld.com/article/3687640/android-13-upgrade-report-card.html
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Jan 15, 2024 22:54
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Yeah, Boost is why I tell people there are only really 3.5 phone carriers in the US, with Boost being the fraction. Boost was acquired by Dish as part of the Sprint/T-Mobile merger deal, and they were required to build out their network to certain milestones of coverage area, and I believe they've been struggling with that. Also, T-Mobile was supposed to carry them as an MVNO for a while, but reneged on that promise pretty quickly, if I recall correctly. In some cities they might be okay, but I would look sideways at them as a carrier in general.
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Jan 19, 2024 04:13
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loquacius posted:Not sure where to ask about this, but we're trying to cut recurring expenses while getting our kids through preschool and our phone plan is a big one. I keep seeing/hearing ads for cheaper plans like Mint Mobile etc which use bigger carriers' networks but cost less. What is the general experience with them? You can't really use searches for this stuff these days because it's all sponsored content The main things are which carrier they use, what area you live in, what their customer service is like, and how data deprioritization might affect you. If you own your phones and they;re unlocked, then it's just a matter of deciding if a cheaper provider works for you. My main phone is on Verizon Prepaid, because here in the Pacific Northwest they have the best coverage. I get unlimited talk and text with 5GB high speed data per month for $26.25, including fees. I have two phone on Tracfone, also using the Verizon towers, and I pay $20 per month on each with unlimited talk and text, and like 3GB of rollover data (so they both have huge banks of unused data). I have yet to experience a time when I could look at my phone and tell my data was being deprioritized - with my usage in my area it just doesn't seem to come into play.
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Jan 24, 2024 19:16
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This is one of the reasons I started to favor getting unlocked phones and putting them on prepaid plans in the first place. Not having to deal with uninstallable bloatware is another.
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Jan 25, 2024 19:48
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Ham Equity posted:Not exactly a phone question, but our internet is currently out. For the future, if I wanted to buy a hotspot to use as a backup internet connection for my housemates who work from home, would that be a good way to go? Is there one you can buy and then just turn on for a handful of days when you need it, then just not have service the rest of the time? Why not just do it with a phone? I keep a secondary phone that gets rollover data on a Tracfone plan in case I need to hotspot for any period of time.
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Jan 26, 2024 07:14
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BONESAWWWWWW posted:Apologies if this is a super common question, I try to stay out of the phone game as much as possible so I really just don't know anything. The under-screen fingerprint sensor on my Pixel 6 has been great, and my partner has had no problems with the one on her Pixel 8 Pro. The under-screen sensor on my 6 outperforms the rear sensor on my Motorola back-up phone and the power-button sensor on my work Galaxy phone by a mile, too.
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Mar 8, 2024 06:42
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Spagghentleman posted:My iPhone 11 is toast after letting my toddler learn how to plug the charger into it. She apparently thought it was a twist lock. I’m currently only able to use wireless charging on it which absolutely sucks. As long as you don't rely on an app that exists on iOS but not on Android then I think you should be fine - the Pixels are good phones, and hard to beat dollar-for-dollar.
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Mar 13, 2024 06:21
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Maldraedior posted:after years of abuse and several major surgeries my S8 Active has decided to die and I think instead of resuscitating it I should probably let it go. The main selling point when I got it was the smaller size and the fact that my coworker dropped his 20 feet off a ladder onto a sidewalk and it lived. The Pixel looks like it might be what I want to go with but how sturdy are phones now? Can I grab one off the internet and just move the SIM or do I need to let AT&T know? I rarely use it for games anymore it's mostly for music and youtubes. The main thing that might require a new SIM card is 5G. AT&T is pretty obnoxious about maintaining a whitelist of phones, but something standard like a Pixel should be fine. Pixels are relatively sturdy, and finding a ruggedized phone in a smaller form factor is probably going to be difficult. My work phone is a Galaxy Xcover 6 Pro, which is mildly ruggedized, but it's also bigger than I would like - it is way bulkier than my personal Pixel 6. Swapping a SIM between phones isn't usually a big deal, but like I said above about AT&T and some of their obnoxious policies, I can't swear to that. Aside from the possible need for a 5G SIM, though, I doubt you'll see a hassle unless you somehow manage to get a phone they don't have on their whitelist.
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Mar 16, 2024 21:58
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CommonShore posted:Phone rec please. Ideally under ca$300 but I could grumble and go up to $400 if it meant a boost in how long I can expect the phone to last me. It looks like right now Best Buy Canada has the Pixel 7a on sale for $400. It's unlocked, and while I am not familiar with Rogers it would have to be fairly odd to not work with a Pixel.
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Mar 20, 2024 06:32
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zenguitarman posted:This thread is very helpful, but I'm still kind of a luddite when it comes to some things. Please help me understand. 1. Pretty much, although you will be unable to change carriers for some period of time until the prepaid carrier unlocks the phone. In the long run, yes, prepaid usually works out cheaper but depending on the carrier you can miss out on some features, like wifi calling or visual voicemail. Note that this varies from phone to phone on the same carrier, so one phone on Megacorp Prepaid might have wifi calling but another phone might not have the option. This is pretty arbitrary. 2. Yes, an unlocked phone doesn't come with any carrier apps. You don't generally need to do anything special to activate them aside from buying an appropriate SIM card and going through whatever process the carrier has set up. It also makes changing carriers easier, although getting your number ported can be a pain (I'm looking at you, AT&T Prepaid...). 3. I'd consider 128MB a good floor, especially since SD cards are becoming more and more rare on modern phones. The Pixel 8a should be coming out soon, so you might want to check it out, or the 7a, which I believe are going to smaller than the base models.
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Apr 3, 2024 04:40
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Roxors posted:So my current phone is running Android version 9 which I recently realized has been dead for 2 years. Probably a sign I should look into a new phone. My current phone is a cheap android, a Blu G5. I do a little bit of gaming and web browsing, but nothing particularly intense. I have seen a lot of recommendations for the Pixel 7a which is $350 new. Any other solid options for a mid range android worth looking at? My phone still works fine, so I am not in a particular rush to replace it if there is a reason to wait. The 8a should be out pretty soon, projected at $450 IIRC, but a 7a should be just dandy. I got my Dad a 6a, converted it to wireless charging, and he loves it.
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May 2, 2024 07:34
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