Tips for Purchasing a Smartphone and Cellular Plan Orv Jordahl UWRA ETC Member Nov 14, 2017 Topics for today Ø Smartphones: Important features Narrowing down the choices How to buy ØCellular Services Providers Consumer Reports Ratings How to choose 11/14/2017 2 Smartphones Important Features Get an UNLOCKED phone!! Ø Screen size Ø Screen quality Ø Touch sensitivity Ø Responsive Ø Easy to hold in hand Ø Call audio Noise cancelling mic Speaker volume & clarity Ø Camera quality Photos & Video Ø Support How, where, who Ø Locked vs Unlocked Ø System upgrades Ø Security updates Ø No Bloatware Ø Unlocked phones are aka Sim free phones Ø Phones purchased from carrier stores are often locked to that carrier (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, ) Ø Best Buy, Costco, etc., sell locked phones Ø Unlocked phones operate with any cellular company Ø Don t be hostage to a cellular company Ø Europeans have done this for years Ø US is slowly trending to unlocked phones 11/14/2017 3 11/14/2017 4
Choosing a Brand Ø Key Differentiators: System software upgrades and updates Customer support Ø Only Apple and Google provide them reliably Ø Most all others are generally terrible at this Some mfgrs provide a few updates in 1 st year Most not at all! 11/14/2017 5 So the field narrows down to ØApple phones iphone X iphone 8 iphone 8 Plus ØGoogle phones Pixel 2 Pixel 2 XL Original Pixel Only Apple & Google reliably provide SOFTWARE upgrades and timely security and performance updates for several years after your purchase. 11/14/2017 6 How do I choose - Apple or Google? ØDepends on your eco system choice ØInfluence of friends and family People who provide help when needed People you associate with (call, text, video) ØApple support Stores & telephone (24/7) ØGoogle live support (24/7) Voice call (or chat) w/ screen sharing but not remote control 11/14/2017 7 Apple Phones $999 $50/mo $799 $40/mo $699 $35/mo www.apple.com/iphone 11/14/2017 8
Google Phones What about all the other cheaper phones? Pixel 2 XL Pixel 2 Pixel Pixel XL ØThere are lots of cheaper phones on the market ØWhat s wrong with them? No or very little support No guaranteed upgrades and security updates Bloatware and duplicative OEM apps in the firmware Higher chances these phones get hacked $849 $35/mo $649 $27/mo $549 $23/mo $669 $28/mo store.google.com/product/pixel_2 11/14/2017 9 11/14/2017 10 Major Cellular Service Providers End of Smartphones Section Now on to Cellular Service Providers & Plans. ØVerizon ØAT&T ØT-Mobile ØSprint ØUS Cellular 11/14/2017 11 11/14/2017 12
MVNO Cellular Service Providers Ø MVNO == Mobile Virtual Network Operators Ø They use other (one or more) of the big 4 cellular providers Ø Best: Google s Project Fi (T-Mobile, Sprint, US Cell. & Wi-Fi) Ø Next best: Consumer Cellular (AT&T) Ø Others: TracFone Wireless (aka Straight Talk), Ting, Republic Wireless, Boost Mobile, Cricket Wireless, MetroPCS, Virgin Mobile (USA), and 80 more. Ø Makes your head spin trying to sort through them all Ø (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/list_of_united_states_mobile_virtual_network_operators ) 11/14/2017 13 Consider an Example Postpaid Plan 2 phone lines with monthly usage of: Unlimited calling Unlimited text messages 2 GB cellular data (combined usage) 11/14/2017 14 Major Cellular Service Providers Estimated Monthly Cost for Example Plan ØVerizon - $75/mo + T&F ØAT&T - $80/mo + T&F ØT-Mobile - $60 (Unlimited 55+, includes T&F) ØSprint - $80/mo + T&F ØUS Cellular - $110/mo + T&F Pricing for a few MVNO s ØConsumer Cellular - $52/mo + T&F ØProject Fi - $55/mo + T&F (+++ works in 135 countries) ØTing - $78/mo + T&F ØTracFone/Net10 - $35/mo + T&F ØRepublic Wireless - $60/mo + T&F 11/14/2017 15 11/14/2017 16
Consumer Reports Ratings of Cellular Providers Scores are based on ratings from 100,173 Consumer Reports subscribers reporting on experiences with their current cell phone service provider as of Summer 2016. 11/14/2017 17
Consumer Cellular Ting Great Call/Jitterbug Cellcom Virgin Mobile Credo Mobile U.S. Cellular Verizon Wireless Sprint AT&T T-Mobile Consumer Reports Customer Ratings of Post Paid Plans as of summer 2016 11/14/2017 18
Project Fi (Google) Boost Mobile Page Plus Cellular Net10 Republic Wireless T-Mobile Cricket Virgin Mobile MetroPCS Verizon Wireless Straight Talk AT&T TracFone Consumer Reports Customer Ratings, Post Sprint Paid Plans, as of summer 2016 11/14/2017 19 Prepaid Providers
So, which Cellular Provider for you? ØFor iphones, go with Consumer Cellular CR s top rated postpaid cell provider AARP members get 5% discount ØFor Pixel phones, either Cons. Cell. or Project Fi (Proj. Fi especially if traveling outside the US) Proj Fi is the top rated plan of all Pay for actual cellular data GB s you use ($10/GB) Questions & Discussion 11/14/2017 20 11/14/2017 21 End of Presentation 11/14/2017 22