Help Please - New Smart Phone, New Provider ??????

I'm gonna break down and buy myself and the better-half a smart phone. Sometime in the next month or two.

Question is, which phone and which wireless provider do I go with?

I'm really leaning towards T-mobile at the moment.

I for sure won't be buying the latest and greatest of anything. No new iPhone 8. No new Samsung S8.
Nothing like that.

Another factor is having two kids on the plan. So four smart phones. Which is why the T-mobile thing looks good.

My kids already have smart phones.
So just looking for guidance on phones for two people in early 50's with no experience at all regarding smart phones.

The better-half isn't technically savvy, an quickly loses interest in technology that's difficult to understand.
I'm much more inclined to enjoy the challenge of learning new tech.


Any an all help is appreciated.

Who was your old provider?

Dragonfly said:

I'm gonna break down and buy myself and the better-half a smart phone. Sometime in the next month or two.

Question is, which phone and which wireless provider do I go with?

I'm really leaning towards T-mobile at the moment.

I for sure won't be buying the latest and greatest of anything. No new iPhone 8. No new Samsung S8.
Nothing like that.

Another factor is having two kids on the plan. So four smart phones. Which is why the T-mobile thing looks good.

My kids already have smart phones.
So just looking for guidance on phones for two people in early 50's with no experience at all regarding smart phones.

The better-half isn't technically savvy, an quickly loses interest in technology that's difficult to understand.
I'm much more inclined to enjoy the challenge of learning new tech.


Any an all help is appreciated.

Click to expand...

IDK what plan to recommend you as we have limited options here... At&t and verizon. I do have an AT&t plan with 6 phones, 15gb shared data that runs me about $200/mo.

After my iPhone 5 dies (probably years from now) I'm gonna get a cheapish Amazon prime exclusive unlocked phone.

https://smile.amazon.com/Prime-Exclusive-Phones/b/ref=sv_cps_2?ie=UTF8&node=14613304011

I currently live about 40 miles south of Philadelphia. Tons of options here for providers.

All the big names are here.

X Factor said:

Who was your old provider?

Click to expand...

Verizon. Not staying with them.
Cheaper options with better plans.

Dragonfly said:

Verizon. Not staying with them.
Cheaper options with better plans.

Click to expand...

Personally, in terms of reliability and coverage, I do think AT&T is the best. As far as the tech goes, most smart phones are really user friendly. Will the kids let you play with theirs to see if you like it?

X Factor said:

Personally, in terms of reliability and coverage, I do think AT&T is the best. As far as the tech goes, most smart phones are really user friendly. Will the kids let you play with theirs to see if you like it?

Click to expand...

Kid 1 has an older Samsung S4.
Kid 2 has an iPhone 6.

Both have shown us a lot.

Thinking for the non-tech spouse an iPhone might be better.

I hate the idea of owning anything Apple. So I am far more open to looking at other things.

Dragonfly said:

I'm gonna break down and buy myself and the better-half a smart phone. Sometime in the next month or two.

Question is, which phone and which wireless provider do I go with?

I'm really leaning towards T-mobile at the moment.

I for sure won't be buying the latest and greatest of anything. No new iPhone 8. No new Samsung S8.
Nothing like that.

Another factor is having two kids on the plan. So four smart phones. Which is why the T-mobile thing looks good.

My kids already have smart phones.
So just looking for guidance on phones for two people in early 50's with no experience at all regarding smart phones.

The better-half isn't technically savvy, an quickly loses interest in technology that's difficult to understand.
I'm much more inclined to enjoy the challenge of learning new tech.

Any an all help is appreciated.

Click to expand...

I loved Ting, which is a third party provider (I think they use Sprint and Verizon's network?). You might wanna check their price calculator and see what they can offer.

On a pay-by-month/use plan like this, you buy your phone outright. But it's SO much cheaper for the plan itself (usually less than half what a contract costs per month) that it will have paid for itself within a few months. Plus, if you hate it, you can just move on somewhere else. I haven't had a contract in years, and I'd never go back to one.

As far as a good, simple smartphone phone, what you probably want to look for are the mid-range, budget, or "mini" options, which are often a bit simplified compared to their flagship/high end counterparts. I tend towards these myself because I don't like needing 2 hands to operate my phone. Some are still quite powerful, despite being a bit more stripped back, while in others it's obvious they cut corners.

I've had really good experiences with the mid-range or budget HTC's and Sony's. Sony is a bit more expensive, but I think the user interface is more straightforward than HTC (although neither one is difficult, per se). I currently have an Xperia Z5 Compact that I've been very happy with.

My personal experience with Samsungs is less great. It seems like they put all of their effort into their flagship, and neglect the rest of their lower end phones. I had the same fault in 3 different phones from their lower end line, all within the course of 6 months. I also think their user interface isn't as slick as the others.

Dragonfly said:

I'm gonna break down and buy myself and the better-half a smart phone. Sometime in the next month or two.

Question is, which phone and which wireless provider do I go with?

I'm really leaning towards T-mobile at the moment.

I for sure won't be buying the latest and greatest of anything. No new iPhone 8. No new Samsung S8.
Nothing like that.

Another factor is having two kids on the plan. So four smart phones. Which is why the T-mobile thing looks good.

My kids already have smart phones.
So just looking for guidance on phones for two people in early 50's with no experience at all regarding smart phones.

The better-half isn't technically savvy, an quickly loses interest in technology that's difficult to understand.
I'm much more inclined to enjoy the challenge of learning new tech.


Any an all help is appreciated.

Click to expand...

Recently switched from AT&T to Metro PCS. I've been with ATT since we bought this house 7 1/2 yrs. ago... can't believe I waited this long to switch, terrible service in my neighborhood.

Metro works on the T-mobile network and I knew I would have great service here because my brother has T-mobile and he had great service here when he would come to my home.

Love the service and got two free phones for switching 2 lines over... the wife and I.

Cheaper plans than T-mobile and cheaper phones also.

Got the LG K 20 plus, really like this phone, very snappy, 32 gigs internal storage plus mini SD for more storage, removable battery and the battery is unbelievably long lasting. Not a top of the line phone but very very nice phone.

I checked out some reviews before I made the switch.

Dragonfly said:

I'm gonna break down and buy myself and the better-half a smart phone. Sometime in the next month or two.

Question is, which phone and which wireless provider do I go with?

I'm really leaning towards T-mobile at the moment.

I for sure won't be buying the latest and greatest of anything. No new iPhone 8. No new Samsung S8.
Nothing like that.

Another factor is having two kids on the plan. So four smart phones. Which is why the T-mobile thing looks good.

My kids already have smart phones.
So just looking for guidance on phones for two people in early 50's with no experience at all regarding smart phones.

The better-half isn't technically savvy, an quickly loses interest in technology that's difficult to understand.
I'm much more inclined to enjoy the challenge of learning new tech.


Any an all help is appreciated.

Click to expand...

Some of the smaller providers don't send out invoices, or auto-dock a credit card. You have to physically drive to the nearest store each month and pay cash, so be sure to ask about payment requirements. (I only know that much because my husband is trying to switch to a provider that costs less and gives a stronger signal here in the podunks, and he made this startling discovery.)

Dragonfly said:

I'm gonna break down and buy myself and the better-half a smart phone. Sometime in the next month or two.

Question is, which phone and which wireless provider do I go with?

I'm really leaning towards T-mobile at the moment.

I for sure won't be buying the latest and greatest of anything. No new iPhone 8. No new Samsung S8.
Nothing like that.

Another factor is having two kids on the plan. So four smart phones. Which is why the T-mobile thing looks good.

My kids already have smart phones.
So just looking for guidance on phones for two people in early 50's with no experience at all regarding smart phones.

The better-half isn't technically savvy, an quickly loses interest in technology that's difficult to understand.
I'm much more inclined to enjoy the challenge of learning new tech.


Any an all help is appreciated.

Click to expand...

Is this just for the phones or do you want to bundle other services?

For a phone for your 'other', I would recommend getting something as similar to what she's used to as possible. My wife had a Moto Droid, so I got her a new Moto e4 plus. They are pretty cheap. The more I can keep her from getting frustrated because some "simple" thing doesn't work as she expects, the better. I got an S7 edge, which because of the S8 is now a lot cheaper. I like it a lot so far, but it's like 3 weeks old.

I'm still using a flip phone so my advice is to get one of those. But, really, you probably should not listen to me.

Dragonfly said:

I'm gonna break down and buy myself and the better-half a smart phone. Sometime in the next month or two.

Question is, which phone and which wireless provider do I go with?

I'm really leaning towards T-mobile at the moment.

I for sure won't be buying the latest and greatest of anything. No new iPhone 8. No new Samsung S8.
Nothing like that.

Another factor is having two kids on the plan. So four smart phones. Which is why the T-mobile thing looks good.

My kids already have smart phones.
So just looking for guidance on phones for two people in early 50's with no experience at all regarding smart phones.

The better-half isn't technically savvy, an quickly loses interest in technology that's difficult to understand.
I'm much more inclined to enjoy the challenge of learning new tech.


Any an all help is appreciated.

Click to expand...

I use a Samsung Note 2 and a 6s iPhone. My wife uses three Samsung phones of types I do not know. These follow a long row of telephones of various makes. They all work okay.
First of all, I have liked the iPhones best. They tended to have better cameras, be easier to use and were robust enough.
Second. No matter what the brand, size is most important, if you read a lot or write on fora. I prefer the Samsung in the internet, simply because it is larger, but pocketable unlike the tablets.

I'm on my 3rd HTC over the past 15 years, and I've have good luck with them.

Anybody use Xiaomi ?

Mi Global - Mi Global Home

Anybody think Apple will discontinue the SE after the release of the 8?

I'm thinking non-tech spouse would be perfect for the SE.

I don't know - with providers I've seen that you get what you pay for. I have tried all of them - Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, etc, and I get the absolute best coverage with Verizon. There is one place in my area that I can't get coverage for, and that's in the middle of the Okefenokee Swamp. No issues elsewhere.

My daughter just changed from Verizon, probably because her mother is on Verizon. *sigh* She was like, "But Verizon is so much more expensive! It's like $100 a month just for me!" and then she went with T-Mobile which is $80 a month just for her, and she'll have no coverage.