Which smartphone and carrier are you using? (USA only)
For the past five or so years I've been using prepaid mvno carriers (in the us btw) and buying my own phone. It's somewhat of a frustrating experience trying to figure out which phones will actually work with which carrier. There's a lot of very attractivly priced phones from Chinese companies that unfortunately just don't support the u.s. LTE bands that i need. Im not really the kind of person who wants to buy a $600+ flagship and carrier offerings are generally abysmal and overpriced.
I also don't feel like I have very many options for carriers as I Live in a fairly rural area where t-mobile gets fairly spotty coverage. I have seen compelling options for Verizon if I wanted 4+ lines (it's only me and the wife right now, so that doesn't help us much) .
I'm definitely jealous of people in Europe and parts of Asia when it comes to cellphone and internet options.
I'm using an iPhone XS. Up until recently I was an Android user but became concerned about privacy. App permissions are a nightmare, and there are tonnes of dodgy apps on the Play Store that Google doesn't seem to care about. There are some things I miss about Android (direct access to the file system being the main one), but I prefer the privacy that iOS offers.
I didn't upgrade my phone for years after iPhone 3G. Ended up with a Galaxy Siii, which I still use as an alarm. I had a cheap Alcatel for about a year, about a $100 phone. Finally splurged on the iPhone XS last October and I've never been happier with a phone. The privacy advantages are nice, as well. I may upgrade again this year, because resale of the X was about 75% of its cost in October last year (so, $750), so it would probably cost me $300 to have another brand new phone, but I've never done that before, so maybe not. Great phone though. The camera amazes me.
iPhoneSE I bought at launch, on the Sprint 1 year free promo (mine expires at the end of June)
iPhone SEs UNITE! My favorite form factor. I'm not American, so my provider is irrelevant... but the device is killer. I'm jailbroken on 11.3.1.
Pixel 2 and Google fi. Plan on switching if Apple releases an SE2 or something similar. That phone design is the absolute best imo. I'm really really hoping they refresh it. I don't care about them adding a better screen or camera, just bump the CPU and storage. If they did do a SX type phone I would still get it and it would be awesome, but I'm perfectly fine with how it is now. Plus I just got an iPad mini for art on the go so it would be nice to have them in the same ecosystem.
iPhone X on Sprint. They had a killer deal on the X right before the newer models came out, so they were only $5 a month for 2 years. Paying $120 for a $1000 phone was too good of an opportunity to pass up. We only pay $136 for 4 adult lines (me, wife, sister, brother-in-law), no data caps, no coverage issues. At this point we've been through every carrier except Verizon, hopping when they have strong promotions.
Blackberry KEYone and Yota.
That was the only keyboard phone on the market, I'm looking to upgrade to F(x)tec 1 when that comes out. Yota offers the best internet plan where I live - unlimited + 300 minutes and really cheap, I love it.
+1 for KeyOne! I love mine, and the battery is amazing. I wish the keyboard was a little clickier and easier to touch type on, like the old BB Curves and what not.
I'm on T-Mobile, $30/month for 100 minutes, unlimited text and unlimited data.
My wife and I use Verizon only because we lived in an apartment for a while where that was the only carrier we could get service from. For a long time before that we had AT&T and frankly, I don't notice much of a difference. The cost and quality of the service is pretty similar for our uses (2 person, limited data plan).
Unlike most Americans I do prefer buying my phone outright, so I stick to mid-range stuff. Right now I have a Moto g6, which is pretty great given the cost. I got it at $200, and I think I've seen it down to $150 lately. Before that I picked up an HTC U11 on sale which I really loved. If you do want to buy phones unlocked, just do some research beforehand about what cellular standard the phone supports. Basically there are 2 types and PCMag.com gives a nice summary:
So yeah... make sure your phone and your carrier use the same cell tech and you're good to go.
There's a bunch of really great cdma phones from China that don't support some us LTE bands so you literally need to check which frequency bands you get in your area and check if the phone actually supports them. It's not a big deal unless your buying a global version of a Chinese branded phone.
T-Mobile prepaid on a used Nokia 3310 (2017) for calling, and a Sprint Samsung Epic 4G (2010) for anything but calling. Money's really tight and I don't mind the age of the Epic, I actually love the style and size, so this is two phone arrangement works well for me. My dad recently got a raise, so I've been thinking of getting a new phone especially since Android 4.4.4 is getting a little long in the tooth, but I'm not sure what I'm going to replace it with. Options for a 4 inch phone with a removable battery and expandable storage are basically non-existant these days. :/
Sprint (Since they started providing Cellular) and currently on an iPhone SE (iOS 10.0.3).
Rock solid, no customer service issue, no phone problems.
I'm using the ZTE Axon 7 on Ting (thanks Jupiter Broadcasting!). Previously, I was on T-Mobile, and as Ting is an MVNO of T-Mobile, I knew the signal would be about the same.
I've been very happy with Ting. My bill has been considerably lower for my wife and me, sometimes nearly half of what we were paying before. Of course, due to their pricing structure, there is no ceiling to there monthly bill -- unless I set up hard caps, which I am loathe to do. That is one feature of Google Fi that is attractive to me, but I don't want to depend on another Google service that could end up dead next month.
The Axon 7 is a pretty good phone, especially considering I got it for about $350 nearly two years ago. It's running Lineage OS 15.1, which makes it far more functional for me compared to my wife's stock Axon 7, which is stuck on Android 7.1.1.
I'm using a Xiaomi Mi A1 in the US with Cricket wireless. It doesn't work with LTE most places, but honestly I'm fine with 3g. However, I am a bit worried since I've been hearing news of 3g networks being discontinued. I'm planning on getting a new phone whenever AT&T/Cricket disables 3g. Otherwise, I'm very happy with the Mi A1, since it runs Android one (basically stock android), and it has a pretty long battery life,
Interestingly my wife just ordered an a2 and also uses cricket, it's due in today actually, so I guess I'll let you know how it performs.
Xiaomi Mix 3, I think it looks very good and MIUI is kinda like iOS but running Android.
Its not super affordable though, I think its going for around $450-$650 depending on the model
I was using Samsung Galaxy A3 until very recently. My dad bought a new phone, so I borrowed his iPhone SE.
And man, it just works. It doesn’t require restarts to work, everything is so smooth, and it works every time.
But there are still few things that are bugging me. The smaller screen isn’t that big issue, but there are much less apps in the store. I know most of the missing ones are garbage, but I couldn’t imagine youtube on phone without NewPipe, which is only on F-Droid. And of course the missing filesystem and no Termux, but they are rather minor inconveniences.
The biggest problem is web browser. I hate apple’s rendering engine, it broke several sites I was using (thankfully Tildes work now) and it feels inferior to other rendering engines, in both feel and functionality. And Firefox has no extensions, which was absolutely devastating at first - uMatrix makes the Internet a whole different place.
So now I use iPhone as phone and Samsung as browser and media center when I don’t want to use my computer. However I plan to try to install Lineage OS on Samsung and see how it goes
Original Google pixel on Verizon. I used to have TMobile, and then Google fi for a long time. I really liked Google fi. I only recently switched back to Verizon because of a new job. The building was purposefully built to block radio signals, so having coverage in most of the building is spotty. TMobile just didn't cut it. Verizon gets me slightly better coverage for a much higher price.
Pixel 2 on T-Mobile.
Thanks to the 2XL mishaps with the display, I got an extra year of warranty(!), though I typically upgrade bi-yearly.
It's nice that they're giving a third year of updates, and it almost convinced me to wait another year before upgrading, but I plan on switching to the Pixel 4 next year.
Nearly everybody in my family has expressed wanting a Pixel, but nobody else is willing to buy unlocked (T-Mobile doesn't carry Pixel... Yet). So I'll probably hand off my P2 to my brother once the 4 comes out.
As for the network. I really enjoy the service, and they treat their customers well... But they promised RCS by Q2 2018, and we still don't have it. If they don't have it by the end of the year, I plan to switch back to Google Fi.
I originally signed up with Fi back in 2016 when the Nexus 5X came out. Got that for $280. Damn great phone for the price (save its major issues). But its price-per-gig made me very be very careful with my data usage, and I thought I'd rather get an unlimited plan elsewhere (T-Mobile). Once I did, I realized I didn't really use that much data without the stress. But now Fi has unlimited after 6GB.. It'd be cheaper, and the coverage is much better in my area. They also have RCS. So now it's up to T-Mobile whether they keep me or not.
I haven't been liking the big companies' flagships lately so I opted for a Sony Xperia XA2 Ultra. It's not a tiny thing, the battery is stellar, the specs are decent (I don't really play games on my phone), it does everything well that I need it to. My carrier is T-mobile. They're meh for where I live
A Galaxy S7 with LineageOS, on Bell. with a pretty ok plan. No complaints so far, since I got it + installed lineage everything's worked without issue, battery life's pretty good, build quality's solid. Can't ask for much more - and KDE Connect almost makes me feel like I've got a mac with the integration I get from it.
Nokia 7.1 and Consumer Cellular.
The latter because I have the choice of AT&T or T-Mobile networks for significantly less than either of them and the former because I prefer as close to stock Android as possible and like my phones cheap.
I use T-Mobile. My plan is $50, but their JUMP plus protection (it's rolled into JUMP), is another $12. I have a Galaxy S7 I'm trying to hold on to as long as I can.
Coverage is decent in my city, which is all I'm after.
T-mobile, iPhone 6s+ refurb.
I get free data in Europe, and I spend 4 months of the year there, so that’s huge for me. I had the Jump forever device warranty from TMobile, and I used the crap out of it. Bendgate/touch-disease happened to me 2 times with my original 6 plus, then a screwed up the headphone jack.. but Jump got me 3 refurb phones for $5 each. The last one was an upgrade to 6s. I canceled Jump now though, it worked too well, I am ready to let this device go next year.
I picked up an LG v20 unlocked about a year after release (late 2016, bought late 2017) for $350 from a 3rd party serller, which I believe is way less than it's initial market price. Removable battery and SD card are fantastic features, and the audio is pretty solid on it as well. There's a second screen at the top for a couple quick access shortcuts, which can be pretty nice sometimes. I'm also a fan of the fingerprint scanner/lock button on the back.
The only issue with this model in my opinion is the screen size. I can manage it alright, but it feels unwieldy at times. I saw that newer models get larger screen sizes, which I don't particularly care for.
I hope I don't have to replace this phone anytime soon, because I really do like it. Phones have stagnated enough that I could probably get by for years by just doing a wipe (or root to put LineageOS on it) and replacing the battery. The 3rd party battery I bought seems better than stock. I may ahve to replace sooner though; I cracked the glass over the camera somehow, so many of the pictures are blurry, and I seem to have terrible cell reception with AT&T (but that may be because I'm not living in a big city though I will shortly).
My carrier is Mint Mobile and I flip between an iPhone 5S and a Nexus 5X that has Lineage on it instead of Android.
iPhone 5 S running on Ting (using the Sprint network). I was able to cut my bill from Verizon in half (and that includes adding a third line that I didn't have before).
I'm on a $20/month Mint Mobile plan, which includes 8GB of LTE data and unlimited talk and text. I was using an XZ1 Compact until I lost it in a recent trip to Guadalajara. Back on my old Motorola G5 Plus, for the time being. I may upgrade to the Pixel 3a if it retails for a reasonable amount. I feel fairly embedded in the Google ecosystem, but Apple's seeming devotion to customers and their privacy is looking like greener pastures. Besides that Purism phone that may never come to be, it doesn't seem like there are any other options.
I have a Moto G6 and a plan on Twigby (Sprint MVNO). I used to be on Virgin Mobile, so I knew Sprint worked fine for me in my area. I now save about $24/month, which is pretty neat. For six months I was paying around $10/month, now I'm paying $14/month ($17 if I go to the 200mb-1gb tier).
I like how I can set myself on the minimum tiers, pay the difference if I go into the next tier one month, and go back to my original tiers the next month. It also works well for me because I mostly use WiFi and try my best to limit my phone usage when I'm out and about. Outside motivation (of data being money) helps keep me from being completely glued to my phone, haha.