T-Mobile / Smartphones

Somewhere about mid-October, we'll be jumping from Verizon to T-Mobile. We currently have 4 cell phones with Verizon, and one remains on contract through November 9th. Obviously, I'll take a small hit canceling a month early, but it's not of concern at this point. My primary cell phone (the one I use) has been out of contract nearly 3 years.

I'm not willing to ever do another cell phone contract, and after considering all options we are settled on T-Mobile. We'll be purchasing 4 phones at full retail, and then using TMO's new "uncarrier" family plan. It will be a bit of an up front expense with the hardware purchase, but we're prepared for it. The family plan will give us unlimited talk/text, with "x" amount of data depending on the plan we pick. We may start out with the basic plan and adjust later to our needs.

3 of the phones that we purchase will be top tier Androids. I am considering an HTC One for myself, and my wife and daughter are each considering a Moto X. Those phones will each be in the $600~ range. Our daughter will be paying for 1/2 on her choice, and we'll cover the other 1/2.

The 4th phone is for my father-in-law, which we'll cover at the full rate. However, he doesn't want or need a high speed smartphone. He just needs a decent phone to make phone calls, and to send/receive a small number of texts per month. I'm somewhat considering a Nokia 521 ($129) for him, which runs on Windoze. This AnandTech review paints a great phone for the money. It's more than he needs, but since the 521 is so cheap and the plan includes data anyway, then why not?

I'm aware that T-Mobile offers financing for the phones, but that's not a consideration. I've also considered Straight Talk and other 3rd party providers, but we have ruled them out for various reasons. The bottom line is that T-Mobile's plans are perfect for us, we like the plan prices, and we support their new business model.

Nothing is solid at this point, but neither my wife or I are interested in iPhone. Our daughter may ultimately pick one out for herself, but she's pretty stoked on the Moto X for now. I've looked at Samsung products, and they have decent offerings. I'm not too hot on LG or Sony, but I'm willing to poke at them. Windows phones are out, with the exception of the Nokia I mentioned.

With my commitment to the hardware purchase, accessories and the first month's rent, I'm at about $2k+ for the initial layout. I'm actually okay with that, but since it's such a significant amount I want to make sure I get it right. Feel free to make recommendations.

I think there are no other options, you've got it nailed, particularly with the number of devices included.  I have always been partial to Motorola phones and have a Razr now which I have become accustom to as my first smart phone and I have recommended it to others.  But, HTC and Samsung are top of the line.  Latest market share numbers suggest Android based devices have twice the share compared to Apple.  Windows is an also ran.

If I were buying today I'd likely get the HTC One without a second thought. But the Moto X's will be out in a few short weeks. I'll take a close look when they become available, as they do have my interest. I don't really care that the specs aren't top of the line, as long as the overall experience is good.

My disadvantage is that I have never used a smartphone, other than playing with them at cell outlets. Then again maybe it's an advantage. Either way, I've been reading just about every article on the latest offerings over the last month or two.

I agree, John.

With the exception of our youngest daughter who will be 18 very soon, all of our kids have smartphones. You'd think I'd have used one of theirs by now. But I have certainly gotten plenty of opinions. Once I'm ready to buy, I'll try a few calls at the TMO store.

TMO's coverage will be acceptable for my needs, although not as good as Verizon’s. I’m okay with that, as I’ve had TMO in the past and I know what to expect. A few of my partners are also on TMO and are happy with the overall service. The monthly savings are quite significant compared to Vz, AT&T, and Sprint. Best of all, no more contracts.

No final decisions yet, but if we were buying today there's no doubt we'd buy 3 of the new Moto X phones. I really like the phone overall; they feel incredible in hand. Admittedly it's not perfect, but it does most everything quite well. If there's a consistent complaint, it's that the camera is not as good as some of the other offerings.

I'm still waiting for the Moto X to come to T-Mobile, but it's looking like the full price will be around $579 per phone. At least that's the current AT&T off-contract price. I suspect that T-Mobile will be somewhere close to that price, or maybe lower if I get lucky. Either way, it won't be till October before we buy.

Phone Scoop review here: Review: Motorola Moto X for AT&T

For too much info, click here: Droid Live: Moto X Review (2013)

For way too much more info, click here: AnandTech: Moto X Review

The 4th phone, for my father-in-law, will likely be a Nokia Lumia 521, which currently goes for a full retail price of $144.

There was also a brief review on Fox News 2 or 3 days ago that reached the same conclusions, a neat phone.

Aside from an occasional ignorant opinion post, all the reviews I've found have been very positive. As for me, it left a very good first impression.

I really like the simplicity of the Moto X. My wife and daughter were both impressed as well. The most important thing to me, especially going to T-Mobile, is that the Moto X excels at keeping a signal. I further like the idea of the 3 of us having the same model, instead of having 3 different models with 3 different OS skins.

We plan on buying the first or second week of October. I'll keep an eye out on the G2, but I'm concerned the phone is larger than my needs. My wife and daughter may feel otherwise for themselves.

The Google Nexus 4 has dropped in price to $199, and that's the full price. I may pick one up just for giggles. I've considered a nice phone for my personal use, and the Nexus 4 as a work phone.

The best price is directly from Google Play.

8GB model is $199. 16GB model is $249. Both are great prices for pure Android phones.

It's exactly the same phone, too.

LG is the chosen manufacturer for the Google Nexus 4. The phone's software is stock Android, which means the phone gets the latest update before anyone else. It is a GSM phone and works on TMo or AT&T.

Google owns the Android operating system. It licenses the Nexus brand at low prices to show off what an unadulterated Android device can do, and to attempt to minimize fragmentation. Fragmentation is older versions of the OS still in the wild due to manufacturers not updating their specialized versions of Android.

In short, you get a lot of equipment for far less ka-ching.

The Nexus 4 is a pretty desirable device. It was discounted by $100 recently, probably because Nexus 5 is around the corner. I don't know who will manufacture the Nexus 5, but a lot of people are thinking it will either remain LG, or possibly go to Motorola.

BTW: Google fully owns Motorola as well.

You might wish to reconsider the Nokia for your father IL after this morning's announcement, knowing how much you love Microsoft!

I was interested in the Lumia 521, primarily due to the low price for a good quality phone. I was so-so on the phone's OS, but figured it wasn't a big deal.

When the Nexus 4 dropped down to $199 (8GB version), I thought that would be a better option, and I told my wife I wanted to order one ahead of time. Too late, as Google sold them out yesterday and there's no plans to restock.

The 16GB version remains available for $249, but I didn't want to spend that much. My father-in-law would have never taken full advantage of the 8GB model, much less a 16GB model. So we'll likely be back to looking at the Lumia 521.

I just finished another Moto X review/trial and, bottom line, if it was right, you're going to need a car charger for 12 hour shifts.

Bill, that seems to be the case with a lot of smartphones. While some are better than others, I see my coworkers constantly fighting that battle.

I've read a mess of reviews on the Moto X, and most argue that the battery is nowhere near as good as the 24 hours claimed by Motorola, but still acceptable. GSMArena had this to say:

"We put the Moto X through our traditional battery test. The device achieved an endurance rating of 39. This means that the Moto will make well beyond the intended 24 hours if used for an hour each of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily."

I will do very little web browsing and video playback while working, as I have my patrol computer for that. On most days, it's not like I have time for any of that anyway... unless it's work related. I average less than an hour of talk time per shift, so I hope I'll be okay. Regardless, I keep a Motorola micro-USB charger plugged into my patrol car 24/7.

BTW: Motorola is now offering the T-Mobile Moto X for $599.99 each.

Bet you were a Boy Scout too.

Yeah, for a little bit. Until the other Boy Scouts beat me up.