Sprint or Verizon?

[Maverick2002]

My family is relocating and we're thinking of switching providers from Sprint to Verizon. I checked coverage maps and Verizon doesn't differentiate coverage levels (they just say coverage or no coverage), but Sprint does show best/good/fair/etc coverage breakdowns. I heard Verizon in general has the best coverage. Also, we're all due for smart phones and I'm liking Verizon's selection a lot more (what's better Droid 2 Incredible or Thunderbolt?). Right now we only have a contract on one line with Sprint, which would be about $100 to cancel so it's not a big deal to switch.

We're going to do this within the next couple weeks, so I can't really wait for a summer phone refresh. What are your thoughts on Sprint vs. Verizon along with the different phone choices/plans/etc?

 

[Chess]

Would help if you said where you are moving too

 

[ImDonly1]

Would help if you said where you are moving too

If price is an issue then sprint with corporate discount or the $10 off employee plan thing using the publicly posted employee number online. Evo 3d is coming out on sprint probably June. They are secretly taking pre-orders at best buy already. Or get the nexus s 4g, out this week I think.

If verizon, then thunderbolt, but terrible battery life. Otherwise, not sure what good phones they have as I don't keep up with them.

Again all depends on where you are moving. If where you are moving has good sprint coverage, not sure why you would pay more to leave.

 

[Oyeve]

Verizon "may" claim best coverage but in my experience is not fast. I live in NYC and I would get 2 bars on average and all my VZW phones would be slow. My TMO phone are always on the 3-4 bars and my TMO phones are always faster. When I go upstate TMO tends to be slower. So it depends on where you will be.

 

[JS80]

If you want to save money, go with Sprint. If you want to waste money, go with Verizon.

Sprint roams on Verizon so you will get at least the same voice coverage with them.

 

[Chess]

I live in the burbs outside of DC

I have the Tbolt, and LOVE IT...yes the 4g sucks the living crap out of your battery but everyone knew that... i still love the phone and I upgraded from a Droid1

Sprint's plans are pretty cheap and you cant beat them. If you arent in a major metro area forget about using them IMO

 

[shortylickens]

Sprint has flat out ripped me off.
Verizon just has overpriced service but they are good quality.
4g is still too new to get reliable statistics on overall speed.

 

[zsdersw]

The decision matrix for this depends on a few things, in this order of importance:

1. In which city/locale are you going to be using the device the most often?
2. What specific smartphone do you like the most?
3. Which carrier has the better service plan value?

 

[rcpratt]

It really depends where you are, but in my situation I'd say Verizon, hands down. If things like network coverage, network speed, and phone selection matter to you.

 

[zerocool84]

It really depends where you are, but in my situation I'd say Verizon, hands down. If things like network coverage, network speed, and phone selection matter to you.

Network speed only if you get an LTE phone cus standard CDMA sucks for speed but coverage and phone selection is very good.

 

[smartpatrol]

Sprint has a much better deal for an unlimited data plan. On the other hand, their 4G Wimax is pretty unreliable and drains battery life like crazy.

Verizon's 4G is much better from what I've heard. You will pay more but they have the most reliable network.

If you do go with Verizon and you want a 4G phone, definitely go with the Droid Charge. Unlike the Thunderbolt, the Charge has excellent battery life according to reviews.

 

[kamikazekyle]

My girlfriend and I were going through the same thing -- I'm on Sprint and she's on Verizon. Comparing the 2-phone (with smartphone) family plans, there's only a $10 difference in monthly price. You have to factor in the $10/phone extra data charge for all smartphones on Sprint, which can quickly eat up the Sprint cost advantage. I think it was something like $159/mo with Sprint and $169/mo wiht Verizon, both with unlimited data and text.

Upsides on Sprint plans, you get 1500 vice 700 anytime minutes, and nights start at 7pm. You also get unlimited mobile to mobile on any network.

Upsides on Verizon plans, you get 10 numbers (mobile or landline) that are unlimited minutes anytime, and you get unlimited Verizon to Verizon. LTE is also faster and wider spread than Sprint's WiMax. Verizon also tends to have better coverage, and on my Evo my 3G speeds are a fair bit faster on Verizon towers than Sprint's towers in my area (using a hacked PRL). Network speeds can vary a lot by area though, so that's just a grain-of-salt statement.

In the end we decided to stick with Verizon as the price difference was minimal, and the difference in minutes/nighttime didn't matter to us. That being said, I'm trying to get out of my Sprint plan and go with Virgin Mobile for $25 a month until Tegra 3/iPhone 5.

This all ignores things like corporate/employee discounts.

 

[boomhower]

My girlfriend and I were going through the same thing -- I'm on Sprint and she's on Verizon. Comparing the 2-phone (with smartphone) family plans, there's only a $10 difference in monthly price. You have to factor in the $10/phone extra data charge for all smartphones on Sprint, which can quickly eat up the Sprint cost advantage. I think it was something like $159/mo with Sprint and $169/mo wiht Verizon, both with unlimited data and text.

Upsides on Sprint plans, you get 1500 vice 700 anytime minutes, and nights start at 7pm. You also get unlimited mobile to mobile on any network.

Upsides on Verizon plans, you get 10 numbers (mobile or landline) that are unlimited minutes anytime, and you get unlimited Verizon to Verizon. LTE is also faster and wider spread than Sprint's WiMax. Verizon also tends to have better coverage, and on my Evo my 3G speeds are a fair bit faster on Verizon towers than Sprint's towers in my area (using a hacked PRL). Network speeds can vary a lot by area though, so that's just a grain-of-salt statement.

In the end we decided to stick with Verizon as the price difference was minimal, and the difference in minutes/nighttime didn't matter to us. That being said, I'm trying to get out of my Sprint plan and go with Virgin Mobile for $25 a month until Tegra 3/iPhone 5.

This all ignores things like corporate/employee discounts.

You don't get the 10 freebie numbers with Verizon's 700 minute plan. That said, most will do fine with in network calling with their larger subscriber base. I'm moving to Verizon from Sprint very shortly.

 

[Maverick2002]

I'll be staying in Cincinnati, OH. The rest of my family will be moving to Brookfield, WI. As I mentioned both have coverage there. Spring shows spotty coverage (from great to average) and Verizon just shows "coverage" (don't specify how strong/weak it is). Cincinnati is decently urban, Brookfield is suburbia.

How long does the battery last on Tbolt?

 

[randomlinh]

You don't get the 10 freebie numbers with Verizon's 700 minute plan. That said, most will do fine with in network calling with their larger subscriber base. I'm moving to Verizon from Sprint very shortly.

heh, all my friends switched to at&t when I went to sprint... if I went back to verizon, I'd have to pay a hefty fee for minutes (family plan). Sprint has been good for me since I switch, so I'm sticking with them while there's still a 3rd provider to chose from =)

 

[shah456]

Verizon ftw!!

 

[Dulanic]

Honestly both Verizon and Sprint are pretty darn close in most things. Anywhere I go with Sprint that has a week signal (middle of freaking nowhere) and I try to roam there is a weak Verizon signal too... I find very very little difference.

I went with Sprint due to corp discount and cheaper plan. Overall Verizon does tend to have more phone selection. But as long as one of them has a phone that works for you I guess that doesn't matter.

 

[Phobic9]

Cincinatti has 4G now with Verizon, FYI.

 

[destrekor]

Cincinatti has 4G now with Verizon, FYI.

I actually think Cinci was one of the first cities in Ohio to get LTE, alongside the other major cities. By the end of the year Toledo should have it, so even if I can't get a job that gets me to move to Cinci or Cbus, at least I'll still get LTE if I do end up being stuck in Toledo for some time.

Now to decide which phone. I want a phone with an unlockable bootloader and a dual-core CortexA9-based SoC (or better). Please somebody other than Samsung build such a thing. Samsung has beautiful screens but terrible OS support... HTC has best support but I think Motorola has some of the better hardware... with OS support between that of Shitty and Highspeed.
I'm figuring mid or late summer, and I'll be in Augusta, GA at the time... here's to hoping their LTE network is turned on very soon. Of course, one of the better phones needs to be released before Q3 ends as well... I'd prefer that at least. Hoping the $30 unlimited data plan is still around so I can lock that in too.

 

[kamikazekyle]

You don't get the 10 freebie numbers with Verizon's 700 minute plan. That said, most will do fine with in network calling with their larger subscriber base. I'm moving to Verizon from Sprint very shortly.

Oops, you're right. I completely missed the 1400 minute note. Could still be useful for the $20 upgrade to the 1400 minute plan, though does increase cost discrepancy a bit between Sprint and Verizon, and you'd have to warrant more than 1400 anytime minute calls a month to non-Verizon mobiles. If it wasn't for the girlfriend, I"d use maybe 60 minutes a month. Total.

Honestly both Verizon and Sprint are pretty darn close in most things. Anywhere I go with Sprint that has a week signal (middle of freaking nowhere) and I try to roam there is a weak Verizon signal too... I find very very little difference.

Where my girlfriend currently lives, there's pretty much Verizon only. Sprint and AT&T are only in the main towns and not 3G, and T-Mobile is non-existent. Verizon has complete coverage and blazing 3G speeds there.

Around where I live, everything's pretty much a wash since I live in a major metropolitan area. Verizon tends to have the best 3G speeds of the bunch, but coverage wise everyone is pretty much equal.

I'm with Sprint right now mostly out of ire for AT&T and an old corporate discount from my last employer. My new employer doesn't have a discount with Sprint but instead with Verizon. That being said, with the places I travel (especailly once my girlfriend moves in) and my call/data habits, the only compelling reason for me to go with any major carrier would be for phone selection. 4G isn't around our neck of the woods yet. Hence why I'm going with Virgin Mobile if I can get out of my Sprint contract until my usage habits change or some drool-worthy phone comes out.

<phone selection stuff>

I have an Evo now, and had several HTC phones in the past dating back to WinMo days. I've never been happy with HTC hardware build quality, battery life, and overall hardware. My poor Evo is squeaky, the screen is coming off, bad backlight bleed, and the GPS will cut out if you're using the speakerphone due to EMI. Software support -- especially for Android -- has been pretty good, however.

I think Motorola or LG would be good bets in the near future. I seem to recall that Moto was promising unlocked bootloaders from now on (easy root and thusly custom ROM), and LG has usually made good phones, though I have no idea what their high-end lineup is.

I don't think the unlimited data plan is going to be around till late summer. I've read as early as May 15, and as late as mid July.

 

[lothar]

I think Motorola or LG would be good bets in the near future. I seem to recall that Moto was promising unlocked bootloaders from now on (easy root and thusly custom ROM), and LG has usually made good phones, though I have no idea what their high-end lineup is.

Good luck with that.

 

[lothar]

If you want to save money, go with Sprint. If you want to waste money, go with Verizon.

Sprint roams on Verizon so you will get at least the same voice coverage with them.

For me Sprint came out to be $10(actually $20 more) more expensive than Verizon.

 

[zerocool84]

For me Sprint came out to be $10(actually $20 more) more expensive than Verizon.

Well it is cheaper for what you get but if you don't care about minutes then yes it will be cheaper.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Sprint service is terrible where I am from what people tell me. I use Verizon and like it, but if sprint has good service where you are it might be good.

 

[lothar]

Well it is cheaper for what you get but if you don't care about minutes then yes it will be cheaper.

I don't care about unlimited voice or text. Unlimited data is fine.
Both come to the same base price with unlimited data using the most minimum plans. I also get an equal 20&#37; corp discount on both. After discount, $55 each for both.
-Add in the extra smartphone $10 tax for Sprint.
-Add in the extra $10 I currently get off my FiOS bill for being with both Verizon FiOS and Verizon Wireless.