Which Verizon phone?

[ghost recon88]

My friend is looking at getting a new Android smartphone when Verizon opens up the double data plans starting tomorrow. Currently he is on a family plan with a conventional flip phone. The main purpose of the phone will be to teather (he'll have to root and install wi-fi teather) as the place he'll be living doesn't have DSL or cable service. Which phone is the best one for $100 or less. It doesn't need 4G as the main place he'd be teather doesn't have 4G service. I was looking at the Droid X2 as it's a dual core, but I'm not sure but I'm not sure why Verizon would charge $100 for the Incredible 2 considering it's only a single core.

Also if he gets this phone on a family plan, will that phone start a new 2 year contract or how will it just continue in his families current plan? Will he be able to buy it for a discounted price since he's in the middle of a family plan? Anyone know if he buys from amazon if he'll get double data? The Droid X2 is only $0.01 there

 

[hans007]

Double data is only on lte phones . For $100 I would not bother . Closest in an upgrade is the spectrum on Amazon for $129. If he's a new customer just get the nexus for $100 online and call customer service to get double data

 

[ghost recon88]

Double data is only on lte phones . For $100 I would not bother . Closest in an upgrade is the spectrum on Amazon for $129. If he's a new customer just get the nexus for $100 online and call customer service to get double data

Well at least if it's only on LTE phones he'd be covered on 4G then Since he's part of a family plan, could he just upgrade to the Spectrum from his flip phone for $130, and stay on the family plan? Amazon appears to allow that

Edit: You think the Rezound is better than the Spectrum?

 

[hans007]

Well at least if it's only on LTE phones he'd be covered on 4G then Since he's part of a family plan, could he just upgrade to the Spectrum from his flip phone for $130, and stay on the family plan? Amazon appears to allow that

Edit: You think the Rezound is better than the Spectrum?

I think the rezound is better because its got better community support and HTC sense is a lot better than the lg skin. Its another $40 but you do get the free headphones which you can sell. They have pretty similar specs. Just depends if he wants to spend a bit more

 

[trmiv]

The Rezound is a very nice phone. Sense, while a little busy, is better than that LG skin. Also the Rezound has more internal memory than the Spectrum, a very nice camera, and you get the Beats headphones. If you're not into the headphones they can easily be sold on ebay for $50-60.

 

[RavenSEAL]

Galaxy Nexus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Red Storm]

Galaxy Nexus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This, also there is an app in the market that let's you do hotspot without needing root (it isn't free though). I've used it and it works well.

It's called Wifi Hotspot and USB Tether. There is a lite version that let's you use it for 2 days.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

GNEX

 

[Chess]

i love the Gnex so far.... pretty solid phone....

 

[Spoooon]

Galaxy Nexus if you're going Android. If committing to a 2 year contract, they're is basically no difference in price between a free phone and a $200 or $300 phone.

 

[hans007]

I do have to say I've had both the nexus and the rezound (i've actually have 4 Gnexes and 2 rezounds.... I buy and sell things on ebay... uh yeah).

The rezound gets better reception too. I am a geek so I kept the nexus, but the rezound is a totally great phone. Some of my friends have chosen it over the nexus just because it has an SD card slot and the camera is better too (the slot does support SDXC so it can support 64-128gb cards even)

 

[trmiv]

Yea my parents have Rezounds, I think it's a great device. Not a big fan of Sense though, but some like it. My wife has a RAZR, and while I think the build quality on it is excellent, I'm not a fan of the screen or Motoblur. I do prefer my Nexus over both though, but those are still really good devices.

 

[Oyeve]

I am having a tough time choosing too. My job gave me the go ahead to get a company cellphone. I already have a SGs2 (tmo) and an iphone (att) but they are on verizon. I am toying with a BB 9930 or a win7 phone just to mix it up a bit. But the purple razr looks sweet, and the rezound, and the gnex. Tough call.

 

[MDE]

I've had a Rezound for a week now, and I'm happy with it. Of course, it's been unlocked, rooted, and I have an ICS ROM on it. However, it was still very good beforehand.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

Galaxy Nexus if you're going Android. If committing to a 2 year contract, they're is basically no difference in price between a free phone and a $200 or $300 phone.

If you mean other than the two or three hundred dollars you'd spend on the one phone compared to a free phone, then you're right, there's no difference. You pay the same for the contract either way, unless you can manage to get no (or a cheaper) data plan. So umm, there's a $200 or $300 difference...

Also if he gets this phone on a family plan, will that phone start a new 2 year contract or how will it just continue in his families current plan? Will he be able to buy it for a discounted price since he's in the middle of a family plan? Anyone know if he buys from amazon if he'll get double data? The Droid X2 is only $0.01 there

Contracts are per-line so if he upgrades on his current line, or he adds a new line to the family plan, the new contract is for him and his line only.

 

[dagamer34]

If you mean other than the two or three hundred dollars you'd spend on the one phone compared to a free phone, then you're right, there's no difference. You pay the same for the contract either way, unless you can manage to get no (or a cheaper) data plan. So umm, there's a $200 or $300 difference...



Contracts are per-line so if he upgrades on his current line, or he adds a new line to the family plan, the new contract is for him and his line only.

There's little difference compared to the overall cost of the plan, which is in the $2000-2500 range.

 

[Spoooon]

There's little difference compared to the overall cost of the plan, which is in the $2000-2500 range.

This. I could pay 2160 over 2 years to renew my contract with a free phone or pay $300 now and 2160 over 2 years and have a phone worth having.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

You guys have a funny way of looking at money. Either that, or you're stretching things to make your argument.

Yes, if you get a crappy phone for free, then you have to "suffer" with that phone for two years on contract. But if a person is perfectly served by an Incredible2, for instance, then it's idiotic to say that spending two or three hundred on a "better" phone is the same as not spending that money. Again, you spend the same for the contract over the two years regardless.

You have a point about getting a phone worth getting since you're tying yourself to a two year contract, but saying there's no difference in spending two or three hundred dollars compared to not spending two or three hundred dollars is just naive.

 

[Spoooon]

Yes, there is a difference.

But the difference is relatively insignificant if you are just thinking "I should get the cheap phone because that's the only one I can afford." You'd be better off saving for another month and get the phone you want rather than settle, especially if you are committing to a 2 year contract.

If, however, you think "all I really need is an LG Englighten, I can get that one for free," than fine, save the money.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

You guys have a funny way of looking at money. Either that, or you're stretching things to make your argument.

Yes, if you get a crappy phone for free, then you have to "suffer" with that phone for two years on contract. But if a person is perfectly served by an Incredible2, for instance, then it's idiotic to say that spending two or three hundred on a "better" phone is the same as not spending that money. Again, you spend the same for the contract over the two years regardless.

You have a point about getting a phone worth getting since you're tying yourself to a two year contract, but saying there's no difference in spending two or three hundred dollars compared to not spending two or three hundred dollars is just naive.

i agree, there is a psychological technique that some marketing/advertising people use to catch people with that. i forget the term, but more people will be willing to spend $200 more on a $10,000 car but won't spend an extra $50 on a $100 item. even though the amount is more, it's easier to 'hide' it within larger amounts. fuck that noise tho, i'm not falling for it. $200 is still $200.

 

[YoungGun21]

i agree, there is a psychological technique that some marketing/advertising people use to catch people with that. i forget the term, but more people will be willing to spend $200 more on a $10,000 car but won't spend an extra $50 on a $100 item. even though the amount is more, it's easier to 'hide' it within larger amounts. fuck that noise tho, i'm not falling for it. $200 is still $200.

Ummm... percentages?

I mean 150 compared to 100 is quite a lot. 10,200 compared to 10,000 isn't bad at all.

 

[dagamer34]

You guys have a funny way of looking at money. Either that, or you're stretching things to make your argument.

Yes, if you get a crappy phone for free, then you have to "suffer" with that phone for two years on contract. But if a person is perfectly served by an Incredible2, for instance, then it's idiotic to say that spending two or three hundred on a "better" phone is the same as not spending that money. Again, you spend the same for the contract over the two years regardless.

You have a point about getting a phone worth getting since you're tying yourself to a two year contract, but saying there's no difference in spending two or three hundred dollars compared to not spending two or three hundred dollars is just naive.

Perhaps if the $50 or $100 phone was going to get supported as long as the $200 or $300 was, I'd buy your argument, but these days, I don't feel that's the case. And two years is an extremely long time to have a phone. If you bought the original Droid when it came out in 2009, it ceased getting updates in October 2010, which means you were stuck on Froyo. And there were plenty of important OS fixes in Gingerbread.

But this is all the more reason to spend more to get a Galaxy Nexus. Based on previous Nexus phones, it will be fully supported for 1.5-2 years, which is rather generous compared to other Android phones which get usually a year, at most.

 

[LokutusofBorg]

You're in a fairly small portion of the population that thinks spending multiple hundreds of dollars to get a "supported" phone is such a good idea that you would call it "no difference" compared to not spending the hundreds of dollars. Making an argument about whether it's worth it to spend the money is one thing. You made a blanket statement that there is "no difference", which is just plainly an ignorant statement. Sorry to be harsh.

But you know what? People like you buy phones for hundreds of dollars when they're first released, while people like me wait a month or two and get a Nexus for $100 because people like you have already helped the phone companies make their profit margins, so I have to thank you in some small way. However, if you're simply the kind of person that comes onto forums and encourages everyone *else* to pay full price for phones, then I have zero respect for you. Regardless of which one you are, blanket statements are annoying.