cell phone: buying behind the curve

[haven]

Cell phone technology has advanced quickly over the past two years. Models that were top of the line a few months ago are moving to a lower price point. This means that the savvy shopper can locate a perfectly adequate phone at a lower price by waiting a couple of months.

For example, both Motorola and LG introduced new phones in September (the Moto X, and G2, respectively). When they first appeared, these models were sold as top of the line models. Both feature large screens, fast processors, and LTE radios. Both perform well running Android navigation apps. In Spetember, prices started at $199, plus a two year contract with a cell phone provider.

Fast forward to November. The Moto X or G2 can now be had for $99 plus contract. There's nothing wrong with the phones, no new models have been rumored. But neither phone generated much interest next to the iPhone 5s and Samsung Galaxy S4. So down go the prices.

I expect these phones to be offered for $50 plus contract during post-Thanksgiving sales.

 

[evilfij]

Saving $100 in the scope of a two year cell contract is minimal, plus, if you buy the best, you can usually recoup at resale any premium you paid at the outside. If you get the latest and greatest iphone every two years and sell it when the contract is up, it actually has a negative cost (ie a 2 year old iphone is worth more than $200).

When I got my iphone 5, my 4 was worth ~$250, for example (less now, but still probably $150).

If you want to be cheap, you buy a used phone and get a non-core provider plan. This is becoming much more popular (and keeps the value on used phones higher).

 

[abruzzi]

If you want to be cheap, you buy a used phone and get a non-core provider plan. This is becoming much more popular (and keeps the value on used phones higher).

I took my ATT iPhone 4S and moved to "Straight Talk" for $50/mo. and generally it works well. I would warn that most of the MVNO carriers (straight talk, net10, tracfone, virgin mobile) have worse coverage that the carrier whose towers they use. The reason is most of the big carriers have roaming agreements, but those roaming agreements don't apply to the MVNO. Compare the coverage map for Sprint and virgin mobile. VM uses sprint for their network, but sprint has much better coverage. You tend to get better with the prepay brands that are owned by the big network (boost mobile is owned by sprint so its coverage map looks more like sprint than VM.)

 

[SiliconTi]

I'm trying something new with my current phone (a 2 year old iPhone 4S) - I'm running it until it is useless. Well, it has been 2 years, and I hope to get 2 more from it. I'll admit it really only saves me $200, but a bucks a buck.

 

[psykokid]

I kept my last phone until it was literally on its last legs and became downright inconvenient to use. It was one of those LG slider keyboard jobbies and I had it for almost 3.5 years. I finally broke down and picked up a Moto X which has been great. I was one of the early-ish adopters and when the price of the phone on contract dropped from 199 to 99 a month later I was a little bit miffed, but what can you do.. It's a great little phone, not as huge in size as the GS4 and has a lot of nice features.

 

[gary in ohio]

I usually buy 1 back when I buy phones, Usually by then the phones are around $100 or less... Heck last year a christmas I picked up a iphone and galaxy nexus and it cost me $50 for both phones. The problem I do run into is accessories as those tend to dry up faster than the phones do.\

If you are buy current generation it does pay to look around and it will be interesting to see what happens as some provider or getting away from subsidized phone and forcing full payment. Not sure the masses are willing to pay anywhere near the real price of a phone. Sure some of the fast adopters are willing to but most of not going to plunk down $500+ for a smart phone when they have been paying 1/2 that for years.

 

[Kant27]

Cell phone accessories too

This means that the savvy shopper can locate a perfectly adequate phone at a lower price by waiting a couple of months.

This is true for cell phone accessories too. The cell phone charger/router/file server (Power2Roam P2S-100) I got was $89 a couple of months ago and now it is $35. Not from the technology being "out of date", but just more competition I think.

 

[haven]

Here's a great example of buying behind the curve:

Best Buy is expected to announce specs for its next smartphone, the Galaxy S5, in the next few weeks. So this Friday and Saturday, Best Buy is offering the Galaxy S4 for zero dollars up front, plus a two year commitment to a cell phone carrier. The S4 is Samsung's current flagship phone, and was chosen by most everyone for their "Best Phones of 2013" list. Previously, the Galaxy 4S cost $199 up front.

Also on sale for zero dollars down is the Galaxy S4 Active, the waterproof and dustproof version of the S4. The Active has an 8 Megapixel camera instead of the 13 Megapixel model in the standard S4. And the Active uses an LCD panel, rather than the AMOLED screen in the standard S4. The AMOLED screen uses power more efficiently. But you should get a day's worth of normal use with either phone.

The deal on the Galaxy S4 is available on the Best Buy website, and in Best Buy stores on Jan 3 and 4 only. I expect other retailers will follow suit with similar offers.

 

[haven]

The announcement of a new phone from Apple just hours away. Descriptions and comments about the new phone will flow like a tsunami for the next week or two. What's a company like Amazon to do to bring a little attention back to its cell phone, the Fire Phone?

Well, you can always lower the price. The Amazon Fire Phone now costs just 99 cents (for the 32 GB phone, and a two year contract with ATT). The Fire Phone comes with a year's subscription to Amazon Prime (free two day delivery on items purchased through Amazon.com, plus free access to lots of streaming movie and TV content). The Fire Phone has free access to Amazon's streaming music service. And Amazon throws in free cloud storage for all photos taken with the phone.

The Fire Phone was introduced three months ago, in June 2014. It's a competent phone with 4.7 inch screen and LTE. Fire OS is technically a version of Android, but you'll have to choose apps that are available in the Amazon app store, not the Google Store. While GMail and Google browser are not available, Amazon has fully functioning alternatives. And a year of Amazon Prime is a nice bonus.

In other words, if you read geeky websites about Android, you won't like the Fire Phone. The rest of us, who use the phone to make calls, send texts, use social media sites, view ExPo and other web blogs, and view downloaded movie content, will find the Fire Phone to work fine.

 

[Herbie]

In a similar vein, one of the best deals in the Android market has been dropped to a lower price point as well. 16GB Nexus 5's have started offering at lower prices and the 32GB models are expected to follow soon, in anticipation of a Nexus6 or Nexus5-2014 announcement in the next month or two.

A contract-free superphone with timely (i.e. release day) updates to the latest Android software is a wonderful thing. We're still using our 2nd (N7 tab), 3rd (N4), and 4th (N5) devices, and I sold the 1st (GNex) for a tidy sum back when I last upgraded hardware. That phone is still humming along for the current owner.

The cost-savings of a contract-free phone really can't be overstated. Even the expensive carriers have less-advertised plans where they will charge you significantly less for not taking a subsidized device. Considering I've bought TWO Nexus devices for the price of a single unlocked iPhone, I think we've made a choice we can live with.

 

[stioc]

I recently purchased a brand new no-contract, Windows 8 phone for my kid- it's a Nokia Lumia 521 for $50 from T-Mobil/Microsoft store. Cost is amazing for the technology it packs. Considering an iPhone costs about $600 (unless you buy a 3yr contract). The phone itself is nice too with tons of customization, games, flexibility and fairly peppy compared to my iphone 5 (I've had BlackBerrys, ipads and iPhones since the cave-man time. I'm looking to get the iPhone 6 now for myself). The only drawback on the Lumia is a single camera and no flash; so doing video chats on Skype isn't as convenient nor is taking pics in low lighting.

I plan to buy the pay-as-you go basic talk/txt refill card for my kid and expect to only spend no more than $200 for the whole year, if that.

 

[craig333]

My phone is three years old and still suits my needs. My plan is even older than that and no longer offered. Yet they still offer me free phones. I have no need or desire to own the latest phone. It would be nice to have one thats waterproof. Took a couple weeks to get my phone to recover from its last dunking.

 

[peneumbra]

Will any of these things run on propane? Just asking...

 

[fourstringfletch]

Will any of these things run on propane? Just asking...

Yes.

 

[AlbanyTom]

I couldn't agree more with the premise of this thread, and will pile on a bit, just my 2 cents as a cheap/frugal guy:

Smart phones should be commodities. Android's pretty much are...the OS is free. I bought 2 android phones in the past year, both new, both unlocked, each was under $100. One's an LG, the other a "Blu" - designed in US, made in china. With microsoft, you're paying for an OS...a slow os, with expensive slow apps - just my opinion here. I've worked supporting microsoft os's for 20+ years...they get worse every year...and should be paying US to use their products. 3rd worst price/performance in the industry, behind EMC and IBM. With apple, you're paying extra for a phone that you have to pay extra for accessories for. I see it as a premium so that you can support a corporation. I suppose w/ apple you're getting something extra for your money, but to me, a phone isn't just a commodity, it's a disposable commodity. You aren't going to be passing *any* of these phones down to your grandchildren. Think of them as more like kleenex than priceless violins, 'cause they are.

Second thought is that I agree that if you have a contract w/ a phone, and you're not making money with your phone - in other words using it for your job - you're probably being ripped off. They're not giving you free phones for free. I use h2o, they don't have any customer service at all, but they have 2 flavors of cheap plan. One is like $30/month unlimited voice/text and a bit of data, the other is pay as you go voice/text/data at .05/min and as low as $30/3 months I think. People talk about coverage, but I carry two phones, one contract verizon for work, one h2o which is att. Here in ny the h2o has consistently better coverage.

Some people do like having brand new, and I can relate to that...I do it with other things. But if money is tight it's easier to have more fun with cheaper new toys than phones...or with toys that will actually hold their value and be of use 10 years down the road.

Tom