I Bought a Smartphone
I was a late adopter of cell phones in general - by the time I bought my first one in 2006, I was the only person in my circle of friends and family who didn't have one (excluding kids much younger than me). So it comes at no surprise that I'm way behind the trend on smartphones too.
But I don't mind being different so it's all good. :)
If you've been reading for a while, you may remember my post last year about my thoughts on buying a smartphone and switching to Republic Wireless. Well, spoiler alert: I finally took the plunge and bought one (you may have already guessed that from the title of this post haha).
The biggest factor for me was the money saved. Since I first got a cell phone, I've always had the cheapest basic plan I could find. I was paying between $42-45 for 500 minutes and unlimited texts, plus taxes and fees, for a nice round total of about $50 a month. That's $600 a year for my cell phone service (no cost for phones because I always pick a free one). Bleh.
With Republic, I bought a their smartphone (a Moto X) for $300, and my monthly bill is $12 for unlimited minutes and texting, plus free data usage whenever I'm in range of wi-fi. That means this first year, I'll pay $300 for the phone + $120 for 10 months of service, a grand total of $420. I'll already be saving money over my old plan! The best part is there's no contract, so I can jump ship at any time if I change my mind.
I've had it for a week now, and no plans to abandon ship yet! Phone calls and texts have been going through fine (except for one dropped call last week - possibly due to a heavy rain), and being able to use the internet on my phone is super convenient. Now I'm crossing my fingers that this service and the price are compelling enough to get my husband to switch (his current plan is $80 a month so we could be saving big time if he switches!).
Do you have a smartphone? How much do you pay for cell phone service?
But I don't mind being different so it's all good. :)
If you've been reading for a while, you may remember my post last year about my thoughts on buying a smartphone and switching to Republic Wireless. Well, spoiler alert: I finally took the plunge and bought one (you may have already guessed that from the title of this post haha).
With Republic, I bought a their smartphone (a Moto X) for $300, and my monthly bill is $12 for unlimited minutes and texting, plus free data usage whenever I'm in range of wi-fi. That means this first year, I'll pay $300 for the phone + $120 for 10 months of service, a grand total of $420. I'll already be saving money over my old plan! The best part is there's no contract, so I can jump ship at any time if I change my mind.
I've had it for a week now, and no plans to abandon ship yet! Phone calls and texts have been going through fine (except for one dropped call last week - possibly due to a heavy rain), and being able to use the internet on my phone is super convenient. Now I'm crossing my fingers that this service and the price are compelling enough to get my husband to switch (his current plan is $80 a month so we could be saving big time if he switches!).
Do you have a smartphone? How much do you pay for cell phone service?
I was a late adopter to smart phones, too. I got my iPhone 4S in March, 2010: when I bought it, I had not owned *any* mobile phone since the days of analogue phones. I can hardly believe this phone is almost 4 years old now. Originally, I was spending min. $49 a month on a plan, but often well over that with calls. I ditched the plan as soon as I could and now pay $19 per month. I think I've exceeded the limit only twice (although eek...this month was one of them!)
ReplyDeleteGlad I'm not the only late one :)
DeleteNice! I'd love an iPhone, but I couldn't find any iPhone plans that cheap in the US. Thankfully this phone seems to be working out fine so far though.
I got my iphone in December 2011 - another late adopter (although I did have a work Blackberry, but I don't count that lol as it was no fun at all!). I paid £35 a month for the first 2 years, now I pay £15 for unlimited Internet/5000 texts (!!) and 200 minutes. I'd be lost without it now.
ReplyDeleteThat's super cheap! And I'd love to know who exactly is sending 5 thousand texts in a month! They must have teenagers in mind?
DeleteJust this year I got the least expensive Nokia Windows smart phone with a pay-as-you-go rate of $15/month. I thought having a Windows phone would be clunky and embarrassing but I actually like it. However I also have an iPad (with wireless only, no data plan).
ReplyDeleteVery cheap! :) The Moto X is an android (google-based) phone, which I'm used to because Mr. G has an android phone. I don't think I've ever tried a Windows phone . . Mr. G has a wireless only iPad too and loves it :)
DeleteI don't have any neat-o requests of you like H.M. Stuart up here ^ but I do have an iPhone (4, I think? My students would laugh at me for not knowing...and for not having a 5). I was late to the party, as well, and it's a significantly higher cost. So, I'm hoping to find a smartphone with a) good service and b) a cheaper bottom line when the contract runs out. The issue is that we have crappy service from anyone but Verizon in our area, so they've got us by the you-know-whats. :-P
ReplyDeleteHow are you liking the "smart" part of having a smartphone?? Do you find it helpful, distracting, fun, or annoying? :-) Or "d", all of the above? (I pick "d.")
http://megactsout.blogspot.com/2013/05/getting-smart.html
Yeah, I'm not sure what to make of Mr. H. M.
DeleteVerizon prices do suck. Republic Wireless uses Sprint towers as its backup, so maybe you could find a similar company that uses Verizon as its backup?
Umm, yes, all of the above! I was giddy prior to getting the phone thinking of checking my email, etc. at work or "on the go" but I'm not sure it's actually saving me any time, haha. I haven't added too many apps yet so I imagine it'll get worse (and yet more fun) :)
So I always buy (or get gifted others 'old' phone) my phones outright. I had a hand me down smart phone from a friend first, but it had it's issues, and died when I dropped it on site, and the screens started leaking internally. Then I went to a 'hardy' phone which would stop me answering calls if it was 'thinking' ie I was browsing facebook. So about three weeks ago I started using the BF's old iPhone 4. Alas I dropped it this week, shattering the back. Why do they use glass in phones?!?!
ReplyDeleteI pay about $35 per month for unlimited calls and texts, and 2.5GB of data. I've never gone over, but it is annoying that I have to manually reload monthly, rather than setting up something automatic as I had with my last carrier. In Australia, it's essentially a duoploy of carriers (Telstra or Optus), and many brands on sell at different rates. There's also Vodafone, but after having serious network issues, I left them for dead!! I am with an on sold Telstra package, which is the brand with the best coverage (ie almost all Australia govt businesses are with Telstra, despite it being traditionally far more expensive). So there's a little background on Aust. telecommunications!
Sounds like you've had some bad cell phone luck there . . they should make a super durable phone. I'd buy one!
DeleteVery interesting! I always enjoy my mini lessons on Australia :) I've never heard of a pay-as-you-go plan with a data allotment. In the US, it's typical to sign a 2 year contract, get a phone for free or at a heavily discounted price, and pay at least $75 - 100 per line for smartphone service (usually $30 for 2gb data + $50-$70 for minutes/texts - and tons of people want more data than that). You can get cheaper plans with "family plans" of 3 or more people, but even then, there are plenty of people I know with $200 or $300 monthly cell phone bills for their family. Crazy expensive!