Comparing apples to apples: two year smartphone cost examined
Over the past few month, we’ve seen several sites run cost comparisons on the latest and greatest smartphones from each of the top four carriers in the US. Good — presenting readers with cost analysis is always a good idea. We’re finding that just about all of these comparisons do so on the high end of the spectrum however, comparing the cost of owning each of these great smartphones along with the most expensive plans available from their respective carrier. Fair enough, we suppose. The simple fact of the matter is that not everyone is interested in an expensive unlimited plan though. For these people, comparing the maximum possible cost of several smartphones definitely makes for an exciting read, but we don’t know how useful it really is.
Unlimited plans continue to gain popularity as cost is driven down but the fact of the matter is that they’re just not for everyone. As such, rather than compare the highest possible cost of four popular smartphones maybe it makes a bit more sense to compare their relative entry-level costs — the base price, where most comparisons happen. Yeah, let’s give that a shot…
T-Mobile G1
Handset: $149.99
Monthly cost [UPDATED]: $29.99 voice plan (300 minutes, unlimited weekends), $24.99 T-Mobile G1 Unlimited Web (unlimited Web/email/data)
$54.98/month — $1,319.52 over 2 years + $149.99 for the phone
Total: $1,469.51 (excludes SMS/MMS, starting at $5/month)
Sprint, Palm Pre
Handset: $199.99 (after $100 rebate)
Activation fee: $36
Monthly cost [UPDATED]: $69.99 Everything Data Plan (450 minutes, unlimited nights/weekends, unlimited mobile to mobile, unlimited Web/email/data, unlimited SMS/MMS, unlimited GPS navigation)
$69.99/month — $1,679.76 over 2 years + $235.99 for the phone plus activation (after $100 mail-in rebate)
Total: $1,915.75 (after $100 mail-in rebate)
Verizon Wireless, BlackBerry Storm
Handset: $149.99
Activation fee: $35
Monthly cost: $39.99 voice plan (450 minutes, unlimited nights/weekends, unlimited mobile to mobile), $29.99 Email and Web for BlackBerry (BIS, Web)
$69.98/month — $1,679.52 over 2 years (excluding SMS/MMS) + $184.99 for the phone plus activation
Total: $1,864.51 (excludes SMS/MMS, starting at $5/month)
AT&T, Apple iPhone 3GS 16GB
Handset : $199
Activation fee: $36
Monthly cost: $39.99 Nation 450 w/Rollover (450 minutes, 5000 night/weekend minutes, unlimited mobile to mobile), $30 Data Plan for iPhone (unlimited Web/email/data)
$69.99/month — $1,679.76 over 2 years + $235 for the phone plus activation
Total: $1,914.76 (excludes SMS/MMS, starting at $5/month)
———————–
So what have we learned here? Look at your potential purchases from your own unique perspective. Wireless plans are complicated and should not be handled on an even playing field; each carrier has similarly priced plan options that feature both high and low points. For example, the bare-bones entry plan for the G1 reduces the two-year cost of the handset dramatically compared to the three other handseys but it only affords the user 300 minutes each month and doesn’t include free nights as other plans do. It’s all about give and take. Most importantly perhaps, don’t go to an AT&T/Sprint/T-Mobile/Verizon Wireless shop and expect to get help that is in your best interest. Don’t take media or a blogger’s word for it wither. Determine what matters most to you — whether it’s more minutes, unlimited messaging, etc — and do your own research with those things in mind. An educated consumer is a happy consumer.
the 4 best phone in each carrier
ohhh wheres the tuh tour fags?
tour is a failure! it will never be pictured next to these phones!! ahaha
Ok, so all of you don’t think everything is perfect…my one main issue with the original purchase, battery life. If i use it lots throughout the day, it does need a charge before the day is out. Already saw that Seidio has a longer lasting battery, and as usual is already in the works on an even longer lasting battery that would thicken the phone a bit with a new cover (like they have available for many phones). The fixes Palm came out with quickly did get me a day of use on most days, but still wish i could get into a second day so it never needed to be charged until i’m asleep.
And on the battery and charging issue, the magnetic charger is GREAT. No plugging anything into the phone, just sit it on where the magnet grabs it and it charges away while being available for use on the charger or by just picking it up again. Very innovative, and thus i have one at home and one at work.
The keyboard i wasn’t sure about at the beginning with the small buttons, but have found since i’m not actually typing documents it works fine and the stickiness of the buttons is what makes it work well. To keep the phone small and compact which i love, the keyboard also had to remain small and now i find my typing is easy on it though maybe just a tiny bit bigger would have been preferred.
Aside from wanting more apps, which like when the iphone started and other OS phones, it takes some time for everyone to start, but then it just takes off. If you are wondering if this phone is for you, go into a Sprint store like i did, ask to check out the phone, and play with it for about 15-20 minutes asking questions if you want to know how to do something. I did that, went home, read more online to see if anything bad, went back to check out a couple things i read which i didn’t find to be the problems suggested (sharp edge at bottom, loose when sliding up or down, loose battery – none of these were as suggested on the comments i read, and have not had any of those issues). Went back the next day and bought the phone.
Last, for anyone testing it. When you open it don’t do it by pushing up from the bottom or top, grab the outside edges and pull opposite directions, super easy and smooth. And the magnetic back is a material that makes it not so slippery, as i didn’t like the normal cover.
I think that about covers my thoughts, and just put here for those of you that might be thinking about the phone. You can read lots from lots of places, but i say try it out yourself and i think with a bit of use you too will come away loving this phone and the new OS. Palm did hit a home run with this OS no matter what you think of the phones themselves or the carriers (and Verizon is supposed to have the Palm Pre early next year, though at a higher cost for the same coverage and options, and same phone lines!).
Kevin
Not true, nt though, go to billshrink.com for the comparison as well, plus why the hell are you all comparing the G1, mytouch L8
How about the OTHER apples to oranges comparison this post attempts: substituting phones that have differing functional emphasis. It’s like comparing cars without regard for whether one’s an SUV, another’s a sports car or pickup.
Is the G1/G2 a substitute for the Pre? Do you really think the Storm is “Blackberry’s iPhone”? No way and whether the device’s focus is recreation, information management, or something else, these naive “smartphone” comparisons will never work.
So, the challenge is picking the plan AND device that suit your needs.
Nokia N97 + college campus wifi = FTW
Kevin G = obnoxiously obvious troll
leaving out SMS/MMS for ATT (oh wait…MMS isn’t available yet), Verizon is not a fair comparison…and…that’s only for 200 while Sprint gives you unlimited!
seriously…less bias please.
you can get “free” SMS and MMS on the iphone with no jailbreaking
there are a bunch of apps you can buy that will let you text all you want. Pinger will cost you $12 for their MMS and SMS apps. only fools will pay AT&T to text on the iphone
Actually if you delve a little deeper there are vast differences. Sure these prices look relatively similar although T-Mobile clearly beats everyone. Whats failed to mention is what happens when youre a customer for lets say 2 years already? For example, on AT&T after 2 years you get… well SQUAT! On Verizon after 2 years of loyalty you get…. hmmm SQUAT! What about Sprint…. hey look at that SQUAT. Now …. lets compare unlimited plans…. Sprint $99 + imperialist taxes = appx. $120 per month.
AT&T The iPhone unlimited plan comes to roughly $140 per month.
Verizon…. about the same.
2 Years with T-Mobile though gets you a loyalty package for the G1… and it goes something like this.
1 Line… Unlimited talk + unlimited data + unlimited messages.. $95 all in.
2 Lines? $85 per line.
3 Lines? $80 per line.
THATS all in…. unlimited talk, unlimited 3G data… and unlimited sms/mms.
Hmmmm do we see a clear winner? And please… please don’t anyone try to say anything about their service… TMobile is constantly on top of the hill with customer satisfaction… and every test Ive ever done… G1 bests the iPhone 3G 95% of the time…. WITHOUT CRASHING.
And yes… I am biased… I have a G1… after owning a Blackberry Curve on Sprint… a Storm on Verizon and an iPhone…. G1 is my savior.
Long live Magenta
Hands down you cant beat T-mobile on price and cust service They may not be the quickest to release updates and new phones though.
Go BGR!
Although clearly not a perfect article, still,
thank you for at least attempting a
side-by-side comparison of these potentially nightmarish and complex configurations!!
Thank You
it would be nice to have an apples to apples comparison. At least try to make the plans equal in what they offer.
Nice try at a side by side comparasion. People should make a decision based on their needs and availability. All this talk of everyone defending their wireless provider, that’s great for you. Now what a loyal customer gets is one thing and new customers is another.
If the comparasion above is meant for a new customer, that person should breakdown what is EXACTLY included in ALL the plans and what benefits each company has. Everyone should do their own research. Nice try but this is not comparing cars, houses at a certain price,etc… It’s smartphones with wireless companies that are not the same. Each has their own marketing strategies and perks. I don’t think there is a clear winner. If it works for you, then that’s all that matters.
Interesting… comparisons are never 100%, leaving out information never makes it more accurate rather more inaccurate. I do understand though that in order to have it be Apples to Apples each carrier would need to offer the exact same services, which most of us know just isn’t the case. This already eliminates an Apples to Apples comparison by default.
“Don’t take media or a blogger’s word for it wither.”
That’s funny, most people will proof read their stuff before sending it to the printers.
@ JakeyBoy,
“BTW- i don’t think att can do anything about 1st gen iphone users using 3g, since THEY are the ones who supplied a 3g sim card with the original iPhone. I’ve been running 3G since at least from Sep 17th 2008(texts are still on my phone).”
Am I reading this correctly, you aren’t suggesting 1st gen. iPhone users are capable of using 3G because of a sim card are you? You do know it’s in the hardware and not the contract? What I mean by this is the “1st gen iphone” DOESN’T HAVE a 3G chipset, which means NO 3G even if you have a 3G sim card. at&t does charge you more for 3G iphone, but you don’t get 3G with a phone that doesn’t have a 3G chipset.
Also, a 3GS for under $200, total BS! I can still sell my non-activated 3G iphone for $300 easily on craigslist if I wanted to. Everyone and their mother knows you wont find a 3GS for anything less then $700! That’s the lowest price I’ve seen for Buy It Now. There is one right now with 4hrs left at $450.00 with 25bids. How much you want to bet it’ll be past $550.00 in the next hour? In fact I’ll post the item number for so you can take a look, 150355745767. Also even though the seller ends the auction early you still have up to a month or so to view the listing, it’ll just state the auction was ended early by seller. Seller also pays a small fee for ending early, the fee needs to be accepted prior to posting.
The only one that includes any MMS/SMS is Sprint. All the others charge you at least $5 for around 250-300 messages.
How can you title this article “comparing apples to apples” when you’re not comparing the amount of minutes and features across carriers? Each of those minimal plans are different so that’s not an “apples to apples” comparison.
Yaniv, Verizon has NE2 and yearly upgrades depending on the plan and Sprint has thier Premier program
Well, I’m happy someone did quick math on “comparative” plans/devices. However, can Zach E. run his blog through a spell check before posting?
@bbkernel- you didn’t read all my posts. and yes, i’m using 3G and not paying for it. if AT&T supply me with a 3G sim card, its not my fault. They should have supplied a 2G card and then nobody could have used 3G. They are two seperate cards. I had a V3X with my 2G card and I was told I needed to come in a get a 3G card to be on 3G. Which was true.
As far as calling BS on the iPhone 3GS i won, well, thats up to you. Im not posting the auction for two reasons- 1- its a seller cancelled auction, and anybody can say “oh hey, thats the one i bought off ebay offline”, so anybody can call bs on that. 2-i’m not going to have everyone and his brother contacting the seller telling him what a reknob he was to sell the phone to me for $175. And if you would have read my posts, I buy phones with issues and fix them. I had actually bought the phone for $150, but then the guys phone starting working, and he wanted another $50 and I told him only $25. he agreed and it will be here monday afternoon. all the rest of the iPhone 3G auctions I purchased were mostly seller cancelled and offline, plus they are well over 90 days ago I was doing this. there is another I can buy for $400 right now, but i’m not going to. its too much money, especially when i’m getting them for under $200. I’ve seen plenty of 16gb 3gs going for as low as $500 free shipping. call bs all you want. i’ll still be rocking my 3gs on att for $20 unlimited a month…
Whatever lair! I did read all your post and you’re a lair!
You mentioned 1st gen, luckily you’re not able to edit your comments.
You CAN’T use 3G with a 1st gen iPhone. Not unless you somehow know exactly where to solder a 3G chip. Not to mention all the other alterations you’d need to make to get this to work. You can’t as you’d mention use a “3G sim card” and get 3G. The hardware needs to support the feature, and the 1st gen doesn’t support 3G.
As for the 3GS for under $200.00, you’re BS!!! No one in their right mind would sell a week old iPhone 3GS, for less then what they paid for it! And if something was seriously wrong with the phone they’d be better off returning it and getting a new one. Not selling it on ebay for less then what they bought it for.
Now you’re claiming the phone is working, so you don’t have to fix it. Man your luck is amazing. Everything seems to fall into place for you. I could be on ebay all day and never get a deal like yours in 20 years.
If you want to prove me wrong and back up your claims be my guest. I definitely wouldn’t have any problems proving it to you. However you seem to have every reason and every excuse not to prove your wild claims.
The 3GS item number I posted yesterday went for $620.00. I visit ebay from time to time, so I say lair!
@bbkernel- I concur, you CANNOT use 3G with a 1st gen iPhone. I never said you could. What I did say is that AT&T provides a 3G sim card, which is not a 2G sim card, with the iPhone 1st gen. Therefore, they can’t do anything to me for using 3G, because THEY gave me a 3G sim card to use.
Again, with the 3GS I bought, I never said it was brand new or perfect condition. Also, if you check Gazell, they give you about $285 for one, so my $175 diamond in the rough wasn’t too far off. And yes, the phone is working now. I also did the same thing to my 3G phone, to where it wasn’t working because of what I did, then it started functioning correctly days later.
As far as completed iPhone 3GS auctions, there are some on ebay for $499 free shipping that sold. You need to search through the completed ones. Eventually, you’ll find some dumbass who sold theirs buy it now for stupid cheap money. It will happen. I’ve seen it a hundred times. And of course, you’ll be too late to buy it, and will I most likely as well. There is no way to prove I bought this phone for $175. All I could do is show you my Paypal receipts(yes, there are two, one for the original $150, and the second for the $25 extra because the phone started working). But I could doctor something up to look official anyways, so whats the point.
Here are some auctions ended:
270414934679 $378
130313767965 $555
290325340529 $523
260435884094 $525
i’m seeing a lot of auctions that say 3GS or 3G S, but are actually 3G phones. some are totally fake and have been removed already, some say wire transfer only, fake. i’m telling you, this phone was damaged, lots of people don’t think damaged phones are worth anything, and many probably toss them in the garbage. Every year there is a new iphone, I scan like crazy on ebay because I know that there are so many new people that toss their phones around like its a rock, but then find out its made of glass. they learn, but they sell their phones cheap.
270412630446- here is a guy who sold his 3G for $98 free shipping, just because he wants a 3GS.
i could search completed listings all day long and find all the deals i missed out on. it can be done.
if there was a way for me to prove to you, i would. but without giving you my personal info, it would be difficult.
@JakeyBoy
“@bbkernel- I concur, you CANNOT use 3G with a 1st gen iPhone. I never said you could. What I did say is that AT&T provides a 3G sim card, which is not a 2G sim card, with the iPhone 1st gen. Therefore, they can’t do anything to me for using 3G, because THEY gave me a 3G sim card to use.” – Well, it sounds like you’re saying it again.
As for the use of 3G, that’s where you’re wrong again. at&t charges more for the iPhone 3G plan. When I upgraded from the 1st iPhone to my 3G iPhone my monthly plan went up. Just because at&t gives you a 3G sim doesn’t mean you have the right to use 3G for free. As far as at&t is concerned you have a non 3G phone/iPhone. I would think that by now at&t would have charged everyone accordingly. When I wanted to use my Tilt (which I bought off CL for $200) and also use my OG iPhone at&t told me that they would charge me more for using the Tilt and that I would need to use that phone. The Tilt was already using 3G even though the plan was for my OG iPhone. I just said thank you and walked out. A few weeks later I sold the Tilt. So if you’re doing this and haven’t gotten caught, I would think eventually you will. You better just hope at&t doesn’t force you to pay it back.
Item # 270414934679 looks very suspect. Sellers has “0″ feedback. Camera states 1-2 megapixels. This seller also shows no box photos. Very suspect possible fake.
Item # 130313767965 this seller shows proof, he seems to have a few of them looking at the photos hes posted. He’s asking $629.00. But only got a best offer of $555.00. Still far from $175.00.
Item # 290325340529 I personally wouldn’t deal with the guy, in any case buyer seems to have gotten phone and is happy. Far from $175.
Item # 260435884094 This seller has good feedback, $525 + shipping. Far from $175.00. Also check out his feedback, notice he sold a 3G not S, just 3G for $400.00. Feedback dated July 1, 09.
The item numbers you posted doesn’t make it look any better for you. I done here, this is a waste of my time. No matter what you say, your credibility is always going to be in question.
@bbkernel- I never “upgraded” to a 3G plan, because I bought mine off of ebay. You are comparing your tilt to an iPhone. I went from an iPhone to and iPhone. The whole point of my initial comment was to tell everyone how i’ve been screwing at&t for alomst a year now at $15 a month (which is only $180+/-). So even IF I had to pay $500 for an iPhone 3GS(which, i paid $175 for), it would still be like $200 thanks to At&t. I’m sure i’m not the only one in existence to be doing this to att. Sure, i was scared the first few texts from them, but when i kept using 3G and no charges, i thought, whey the heck not! I guess i just got lucky and someday my ship will have sailed.
hmmmm….no comment about auction #270412630446….the $98 3G iPhone…
i’ll agree with you on the other auctions…somewhat shady. there are more all the time ending and some at reasonable prices $500ish. i’m not going to waste my time going through ended items.
anyways, there is no logical way for me to prove to you that I got the phone for as little as i did. And yes, deals like this are fewer and further between, but they do exist.
my credibility will never come in to play with anything i say on this website. i’ve seen plenty of bs in my time, but my story, however much it sounds like a doozy, is true.
but it is always fun to argue ones point. so to that, i toast you
I agree with the others about the SMS plan additions for AT&T, and VZW.
AT&T screws their customers on stupid charges, and spotty 3G service, but their iPhone customers happily take it up their butt.
bbkernel- i’ve got the kids number who sold me the phone, its on the UPS packaging(which arrived today). give me your number and i’ll call you up on a 3way call just so you can hear for yourself. let me know…