Sprint SERO users...questions about upgrading to newest smartphone

[Svnla]

I have been using Spring SERO $30/month for the last few years and no problem. The Motorola Q9C is getting old. There are a few smartphones that I like: 1) HTC EVO 4G, 2) Iphone 4S 16GB, 3) Nexus.

All 3 of them are $200 each. Which one do you think is the best? I use phone to make call, search the web, and text a bit.

From what I understand, if I want to move from the old SERO plan with old phone to newest smartphones, I have to pay $10 extra per month for the new SERO Plus plan and then $10 for smartphone for a total of $50/month.

Is that correct and is there any other way to get upgrade cheaper than $50/month? TIA.

 

[JoeMcJoe]

Yes, $50 is the monthly fee, cheap as it gets.
I use the Nexus, a very disappointing phone, eats through the battery in areas of no Sprint signal.

The HTC EVO LTE is the one to get it seems.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

As noted above, no way to get lower than $50/month. The phone to get this instant is the Evo LTE. The Galaxy S3 should be out in the month. May be a toss up between the two. I'm personally waiting on a hands on comparison of the Evo and S3.

 

[AstroManLuca]

The EVO LTE is an upgraded HTC One X, which is currently the best phone available in the US (no SGS3 here yet). The EVO LTE is the same except it also has an SD slot.

The Galaxy Nexus is not a bad phone but it's a bit outdated, with the same GPU as the Nexus S/Galaxy S. Definitely not worth as much as the Evo.

iPhone is an iPhone, you should know whether you like it or not. But I wouldn't get a 4S with the 5 right around the corner. Plus the iPhone is limited to 3G on Sprint; at least the EVO LTE might eventually get high speed internet if you live in the right city but Sprint's 3G sucks.

 

[bearxor]

Yeah, you should probably know wether or not you want an iPhone. COming from WinMo Standard, anything will be a significant upgrade.

Best advice, watch a bunch of YouTube reviews of the way Android (on the OneX) and iOS (on the 4S work), go to the Sprint store and play around with both of them for extended periods of time.

If you decide on an iPhone, you may want to wait a few months for the LTE iPhone. I'd be hard pressed to recommend a 4S at this point in the lifecycle.

And yes, $50 is as cheap as it gets on SERO.

 

[AstroManLuca]

If you decide on an iPhone, you may want to wait a few months for the LTE iPhone. I'd be hard pressed to recommend a 4S at this point in the lifecycle.

I'd probably be okay with an iPhone 4S but only on AT&T since their 3G is pretty fast. Verizon's 3G is just serviceable and Sprint's is barely usable. I would NEVER own a phone on Verizon or Sprint without some sort of 4G service. The WiMax on my Samsung Epic has been a lifesaver; when my 3G is stuck at less than 0.5 Mbit, I can usually rely on WiMax to get me to 3-6 Mbit.

 

[bearxor]

I'd probably be okay with an iPhone 4S but only on AT&T since their 3G is pretty fast. Verizon's 3G is just serviceable and Sprint's is barely usable. I would NEVER own a phone on Verizon or Sprint without some sort of 4G service. The WiMax on my Samsung Epic has been a lifesaver; when my 3G is stuck at less than 0.5 Mbit, I can usually rely on WiMax to get me to 3-6 Mbit.

You're absolutely correct.

 

[wirednuts]

i thought it was $10/month extra for the 'smartphone' fee, and if you want 4g access and phones then its another $10 on top to make it $50. but if you get something like the htc arrive then you can do it for $40 a month total.. just no 4g speed

OR you can do what i did, and use your sero phone to tether its data access to a new inactivated android phone. set google voice to use the same sero number you have (google has contracts with sprint to allow this), and let it send calls and texts to the new phone.

the only thing is you gotta keep the old sero phone in your car, its not totally convenient.

 

[finbarqs]

I lost my Sero plan when i moved to the EVO 4G.

 

[blackangst1]

I lost my Sero plan when i moved to the EVO 4G.

You didnt transfer to to the employee referral plan?

 

[Gills]

If you want to stick with a SERO contract, I'd wait for the Galaxy S III or the iPhone 5 depending on which OS flavor you prefer. $200 is far too high for a subsidized Galaxy Nexus at this point considering that 1. the phone is last year's tech and 2. the GSM version is now going for $400 off contract. The Galaxy S III will be $200 on contract but will be worth at least $550 upon release.

I ended up dumping SERO/Sprint for off contract GSM service. Even with the SERO discounts my bill still totalled around $54/mo after taxes and other fees. Though cheap, that price wasn't worth the horrid EVDO speeds I was getting.

T-Mo has subsidized individual plans at around the same cost as the new SERO rates and there are various MVNOs with "bring your own phone" options like Straight Talk. You might also want to look into Virgin Mobile if you're ok with Sprint's data speeds - their $35/mo plan is almost the same as the old $30/mo SERO plan and there are far better smartphone choices available.

 

[gsaldivar]

I use the Nexus, a very disappointing phone, eats through the battery in areas of no Sprint signal.

Battery drain in low/fringe signal areas is a known issue that affects all CDMA (Sprint/Verizon) phones.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Battery drain in low/fringe signal areas is a known issue that affects all CDMA (Sprint/Verizon) phones.

Oh yeah, I used to work at Target and my old Verizon RAZR (the flip phone, not the smartphone) would give me a low battery warning after a few hours despite not using it, just because I got almost no signal inside the store. And that was from a phone that normally lasted a few days on a charge. Putting it in airplane mode fixed it.

 

[Bman123]

I can't see how anyone is happy with sprint data speeds, I would ditch the zero plan and buy a phone outright and switch to straight talk or t mobile pre paid. T mobile 4g is really fast and the pricing is good.

 

[litttlechica]

as noted, $50 total for sero upgrade & you might want to wait for the new iphone. previous android user, love the iphone and never going back. i do not have complaints about my sprint data speeds.

 

[Svnla]

Thanks to all that posted, keep them coming.

 

[JoeMcJoe]

Battery drain in low/fringe signal areas is a known issue that affects all CDMA (Sprint/Verizon) phones.

The phone makers should fix this very easily, have a setting in the menu where I can enable "Do not look for signal for 30 minutes if not found in the last 30 seconds". Then it will only look for the signal twice an hour.

A simple fix would stop my phone turning into a pocket warmer.

T-Mobile's phone don't have this problem as bad, and they are GSM and W-CDMA.

 

[gsaldivar]

The phone makers should fix this very easily, have a setting in the menu where I can enable "Do not look for signal for 30 minutes if not found in the last 30 seconds". Then it will only look for the signal twice an hour.

Unfortunately, there would be a gap of X minutes between moving the phone to an area with coverage, and the phone's next scheduled wake check. During that time, the phone wouldn't be listed in the cell area and would likely be missing calls and messages.

 

[AstroManLuca]

I can't see how anyone is happy with sprint data speeds, I would ditch the zero plan and buy a phone outright and switch to straight talk or t mobile pre paid. T mobile 4g is really fast and the pricing is good.

People are willing to put up with slow data given the price they're getting.

Besides, T-Mobile and Straight Talk have their own set of pros and cons.

T-Mobile has fast coverage in most cities but it drops off rapidly in rural areas and you'll be stuck on unusably slow EDGE data. You're likely to roam as well, and their monthly data roaming allotment is pretty low (50 MB on the 2 GB plan, 100 MB on the 5 GB plan).

Straight Talk lets you choose between the T-Mobile and AT&T networks. AT&T has pretty good coverage but Straight Talk will cut you off if they think you're using too much data, and that limit isn't specified anywhere. I've heard way too many reports of people losing service entirely (losing their ported-in numbers as well) or of having their service cut off just after they paid for another month, with no refunds given. I would never use Straight Talk. Apparently, if you go with the T-Mobile network on Straight Talk, their data limits are much more lenient, but I still wouldn't be comfortable with them.

 

[dguy6789]

T-Mobile has fast coverage in most cities but it drops off rapidly in rural areas and you'll be stuck on unusably slow EDGE data.

Just want to say that this applies to ATT too.