Are There Any Good and Cheap Smartphones?
PC Magazine’s Smart Device Central offers thoughts on the best, “cheap” smartphones available today. This is a timely read to me for two reasons: it’s the most oft-asked question I’m seeing these days and because I came within an inch of bagging a NAM Nokia E71 over the weekend. The unlocked S60 smartphone was available on a one-day sale for $289. I passed at the last second because my current AT&T contract is up in July. I could stay with the carrier, but I might also move to a CDMA network, which would render my $289 investment fairly useless without a usable SIM card!
Smart Device Central’s list is done by carrier and moves from least expensive overall package (data plan included) to more expensive. Here’s what they suggest, along with an addition idea or two from me:
- T-Mobile folks should consider a BlackBerry; Either the Pearl 8100 or Curve 8300. I like their suggestion of considering a UMA-capable phone because that allows for calls over Wi-Fi without using plan minutes.
- Sprint customers not interesting in the Palm Pre can go old school with a $49 Palm Centro. Other considerations from SDC are the Pearl 8130 and Curve 8330. I’d through the fairly capable Palm Treo 800w in the mix at $99 as well.
- AT&T peeps should bypass anything Apple, says SDC. Instead, the GSM Centro can be had for $29, or less than three iTunes albums. Samsung’s BlackJack II is $49 and worth the look if you’re using Microsoft Exchange. I should point out that if do want to go with an iPhone, AT&T often sells refurbished 8GB units for $99.
- Verizon Wireless subscribers should stick with the recurring BlackBerry theme and grab the Curve 8330 at under a hundred bucks. I also see a CDMA Centro available online for $49, not to mention the XV6900 made by HTC for $99.
Of course, this pricing requires a two-year plan commitment. While saving money up front is nice, I always ask myself what the likelihood is that I’ll be happy with a given device for 24 months. If you’re going to be miserable in three to six months with your hardware, it’s probably best to just pony up some dough up front if you can. Also keep in mind that many of the recommendations are cheap for a reason: They’ve been around the block for a year or so and fresh new models have taken, or are about to take, their place.
The potential of getting tired of a phone is no reason to not let a contract subsidize it, on GSM carriers at least. If you decide you want to switch phones, just get the new one and pop your SIM in. The contract covers the wireless plan, not the phone, and chances are you’ll be able to find something to your liking in an unlocked form whenever you decide an upgrade is necessary.
And really, why would anyone be on a carrier where you can’t have 3G data and voice simultaneously?
Here in the U.S. where it’s generally a subsidized business model with two-year contracts, it gets pricey very quickly. It might be more cost effective elsewhere, but I wouldn’t say that’s the case here.
Well, maybe because Sprint and Verizon each have a better data network than AT&T and T-Mobile combined (rough unscientific estimate of mine)? Maybe because not everyone cares about being table to talk and access data at the same time?
Amazon.com and LetsTalk.com have even better prices that the source article quotes. For example, free Centro (Sprint or Verizon) and *make* $75 to $100 on a Blackberry Curve (AT&T or T-Mobile).
Blackberry 7290. Color. Backlit. Indestructible. Great browsing on GPRS anywhere in the world with Opera Mini. $20 on eBay. This is the poor man’s Nokia N95, anywhere in the world. You can use Google Sync or Funambol for push e-mail, even if you don’t pay for BlackBerry service.
You can get the HTC touch for $0 on a contract now
While they’re usually last season’s phones, they often have similar or better specs to this season’s models. Nokia’s done little to differentiate the new N-series sliders from the N95, for example, and the E71 doesn’t really have any equivalent in Nokia’s catalogue at the moment.
Buying SIM-free really is the way to go though, assuming you’re in a market where sim-only plans are a viable option. This is particularly true if you want a particular phone and you don’t want to arbitrarily change every 18 months. Usually the “subsidy” is nothing of the sort when you do the maths. I got an N95 8GB for free on T-Mobile because they were clearing out, but they wanted £150 for it the week before. Seeing as I’m paying £10 more per month than the equivalent SIM-only plan, over the 18 months I would’ve been paying £180 + the one-off £150 = £330. The generic SIM-free version is £335 plus shipping, direct from Nokia.
Of course in some markets you’re stuck, so just choose the free phone with the highest resale value when you’re asked to upgrade, and cash in.
I wish governments would use competition law to make these bundling strategies illegal. Phones and contracts are separate products and bundling decreases competition and transparency.