Home

Tag: Cell Phones

  • The Best No-Contract Phone Providers

    The Best No-Contract Phone Providers

    You’ve got an awesome smartphone with a great display and slick new features? You probably don’t want to just use it as a tiny tablet, so you’re going to need a phone provider. Contracts aren’t for everyone: some people just want phone service and don’t want to be bound by contractual obligations. Which phone providers do we recommend? Read on!

    Cricket Wireless

    Using AT&T’s network coverage, Cricket Wireless offers a very affordable $35 (after autopay discount) plan that sports 5GB of data. Cricket’s data speeds cap at 8 Mbps, sadly, which makes them more of a budget consideration than a main provider, but they made the list since they offer some of the best data amounts per dollar. Cricket has the added benefit of rolling taxes and fees into this final price, helping alleviate “sticker shock” when the bill comes.

    Boost Mobile

    Boost makes the list thanks to its low price, same as Cricket. For $35 per month, you get 3GB of data on Sprint’s network. Sadly, this also means that you’ll experience some slowdown as Sprint’s network isn’t terribly speedy. On the bright side, like MetroPCS and Cricket, the monthly taxes and fees in this plan are rolled into the final bill price.

    AT&T

    AT&T offers a $40 with 8GB of data with no contract. This is a great pick for those who want to use loads of data and don’t mind the slightly lower coverage of AT&T’s network. The $40 price point is after enrolling in autopay, so consider that when shopping for plans. AT&T’s network works in Canada and Mexico, too, which allows for traveling users to stay tuned in to their internet and friends. This is our favorite plan for data, with great bang for your buck in terms of gigabytes!

    MetroPCS

    MetroPCS uses its parent company, T-Mobile, for its network, which means their prepaid plan sports better coverage than AT&T’s. For $40 you get 5GB of data, which is still a lot, and is definitely worth considering if you want better network coverage. Additionally, this plan allows for streaming from tons of music apps and websites without counting against your data allotment, which is certainly enticing for all you audiophiles out there! MetroPCS, like Boost and Cricket, includes taxes and fees in the final price. MetroPCS is our favorite plan for those who don’t need as much data, or plan on using audio services for the bulk of their data.


  • Best Budget Smart Phones: Getting More Bang for Your Buck

    Best Budget Smart Phones: Getting More Bang for Your Buck

    While everyone knows that Samsung and Google make great phones, they also charge flagship prices for their flagship phones. In order to help you make the most of your money, today we’re looking at some of the best deals out there for smart phone users. Let’s look at the best budget smart phones, starting with the least expensive and working our way up.

    Best Budget Smart Phones

    Moto G7

    Motorola made the first commercial cell phone decades ago, and they’re still producing some of the best budget cell phones you can get. The Moto G7 is no exception to this, either! Despite its low $300 price tag, it’s surprisingly quick and responsive. Many budget phones suffer from laggy, jerky or otherwise weak performance due to their budget processors. Motorola’s done a good job optimizing the Android OS running on this budget phone, however, and it shows.

    The camera is also surprisingly solid for a $300 smartphone. Despite using cheaper parts and sidestepping the expensive multi-camera setups of phones like the iPhone XS and Pixel 3, the Moto G7 takes pretty good-looking photos. The make quality is quite solid, too, sporting a stylish glass back like some of the big flagship phones you see in 2019. All in all, this is a great value for $300.

    Pixel 3A

    The Google Pixel 3A is the budget variation of their stellar Google Pixel 3. While we love the Pixel 3, it’s a little on the pricey side, so the 3A budget version is a welcome addition to the lineup. The most striking thing about the 3A, out of the box, is just how premium it feels for its price. Solid construction, a great-looking display and a strong processor all underscore the otherwise “budget” price of this smartphone.

    The most impressive thing in the Pixel 3A, however, is that there is no compromise on the camera despite the price. Google’s Pixel lineup has been renowned for their stellar camera performance, and the 3A follows in those footsteps. If you’re looking for a great Android phone to snap beautiful pictures and work quickly and easily without breaking the bank, look no further than the Pixel 3A.

    OnePlus 6T

    On the higher end of the “budget” spectrum, we’ve got the OnePlus 6T, coming in at $550. OnePlus might not have a lot of name recognition in America, but it’s a stellar brand that offers up premium-feeling smartphones for less-than-premium prices. The 6T is a generation behind the current OnePlus 7 Pro, but it’s still a rock-solid Android handset with a great processor and better-than-most camera.

    If you’re into flashy technology to show off to your friends, the 6T offers up a cool wrinkle: it’s got an in-display fingerprint scanner, like the Galaxy S10 and OnePlus 7 Pro. The phone also sports monthly security updates, and is sold unlocked on OnePlus’s website. Once you have yours, you need only go by a carrier and get the phone activated.

    iPhone XR

    While few people would call the iPhone XR’s $750 price tag “budget,” it’s got a great suite of features for the price tag. For people interested in dipping their toes into Apple’s new status quo (no home button, Face ID, gesture commands) the XR is the most affordable way to do so. Following in the footsteps of the revolutionary iPhone X, the XR offers up all the power of the flagship iOS device without the flagship price.

    Notable features include the stellar Bokeh-style portrait mode, an overall phenomenal processor, blazing-fast performance and a superb display. Everything about the iPhone XR screams “cutting edge,” from the appearance of the device to its sci-fi feeling Face ID unlock system. If your budget can allow for it, this is a great phone for the tech-savvy.


  • How 5G Speeds Will Impact You

    How 5G Speeds Will Impact You

    5G speeds are very nearly a reality for millions of wireless customers. Hype surrounding this next jump in cellular communications technology has been building for years. After all, it’s the next step in how our devices wirelessly communicate with one another. Everything from cell phones to self-driving cars will benefit from the new wireless infrastructure. So, how will 5G speeds impact you? What will 5G speeds mean for your devices?

    How 5G Speeds Will Impact You

    Where Will it Go Live First?

    5G speeds will likely roll out slowly at first, so don’t expect to see it any time soon unless you live in a major metropolitan area. If you happen to live in New York, Atlanta, LA or some other large city hub, you may be using 5G before everyone else. If not, it likely won’t be until late next year or even 2020 that you see 5G hitting your region.

    That’s because 5G represents a pretty major departure from 4G LTE and previous iterations of wireless infrastructure. This new wireless system will require a pretty major overhaul of existing cell towers and will require new hardware devices o take advantage of them. As such, the most populous areas will be the natural first pick for rolling out the service.

    Sprint has promised to have 5G networks up and running by early 2019. T-Mobile, likewise, has plans to go live in around 30 cities before the end of 2019. Take these estimates with a grain of salt, though: Verizon was talking about 5G field tests back in 2015. It may still be until 2020 or later that we see 5G on a large scale.

    What to Expect Early

    If you are one of the lucky few who sees 5G speeds hit your region early, don’t expect to be blown away by speeds hitherto undreamt of. It’s more likely that the fledgling system will have some growing pains before it begins to really show its strengths. For an example we can look to immediately, Verizon has launched a home 5G internet service in markets like Los Angeles and Dallas.

    Verizon’s home 5G broadband is certainly fast, and indicates a pretty big step up from previous internet speeds. However, the company isn’t using the industry-standard definition of 5G, leading many to criticize the company’s use of the 5G moniker. Even in their limited case, though, it’s clear that the 5G system won’t be revolutionizing telecommunication. Not right away, at least.

    5G Phones?

    There are currently no 5G phones in existence. If there are prototypes floating around, they’re still in the earliest stages. As of right now, 5G is more a benchmark that companies are trying to hit than a reality that is just weeks away. While we may see some early forays into 5G in the next year or so, the front half of 2019 is unlikely to have any proper 5G coverage. Well, at least not through phones.

    What you’re more likely to see early in this technology’s existence is “pucks,” or wireless receivers, that have 5G capabilities installed in major cities. These pucks would then process the 5G signal they’re receiving and turn it into a Wi-Fi signal. This would allow customers of various wireless companies to use their carrier’s 5G service through a puck on a phone that isn’t equipped to send and receive 5G signals.

    The Phones, Though

    “I don’t care,” you say, “I just want to know when I can get my hands on a 5G phone.” Well, there’s no definitive answer to that question yet. However, you’re right if you’re assuming you’ll likely never use a 5G puck. Pucks were used in the early days of 4G LTE coverage, but they were weird even back then. In today’s era, it’s unlikely you’ll encounter these. That means that, for the average person, their first encounter with 5G will be through a 5G-enabled phone.

    As for when we can expect to see the first of those, we’re not entirely sure. A conservative guess would be early in 2020, though many smartphone manufacturers are claiming that as soon as mid-to-late 2019 they’ll ship 5G phones. The truth may be somewhere in the middle of these two estimates.

    The earliest 5G phones are likely to inherit a lot of the problems that early LTE phones had. Phones like the Thunderbolt, one of the earliest LTE phones, had issues with short battery lives, overheating and poor performance. It’s reasonable to assume that the earliest 5G phones will experience similar growing pains as these earlier models did.

  • Top Five Cell Phone Plans

    Cell phone plans are hard to weigh against one another. Most of the cell companies have some claim to be the “best” or having the “most coverage.” They also almost all have terrible records of customer satisfaction and it seems like everyone hates their phone provider. So, with that in mind, how do you pick a cell phone plan? Today we’ll look at the top five cell phone carriers and their plans.

    Sprint

    Sprint has aggressive pricing and solid speeds on their unlimited data plans. However, they are consistently rated very low on customer satisfaction. Sprint has a habit of slipping hidden fees onto customers’ bills, is generally disagreeable on a corporate level and acts antagonistic to their customer base. They also lag behind the other four on this list on raw speed. If you can afford a better plan, do so. If not, they’re passable.

    Metro PCS

    This oddly-named cell carrier is a solid budget pick. They don’t have the best support, but they offer good pricing for solid network performance. They’re actually a T-Mobile subsidiary, so they use the same network. That’s a good thing, as it turns out, since T-Mobile has really solid performance. If you’re looking for a good budget option, this is the one for you!

    T-Mobile

    Speaking of T-Mobile, they’re our next pick. They offer good network speeds at reasonable prices, and they’re really friendly. It helps a lot that their customer service and corporate side are helpful and knowledgeable. For us, though, they don’t have quite enough coverage or speed to land in the top spot. We largely feel as though they’re tied for second place with AT&T, though, due to their great customer service.

    AT&T

    AT&T is also our second-place pick, but, like we said, they’re tied with T-Mobile. They offer slightly better overall coverage, and their speeds are just a bit better than T-Mobile. What they lack, however, is solid customer service. That’s not to say their customer service is bad, per se, but it’s just not what we’d expect from such a big company. They’re often unsure of how to help or just seem generally unprepared. They also have slightly higher prices than T-Mobile, which make them a little too niche to nab the top spot.

    Verizon

    Verizon is our pick for top, but it’s a close one. Really, it’s nearly a three-way tie between the top three! That said, Verizon does edge out the competition (but just.) They offer slightly better coverage than AT&T and T-Mobile, and their network speeds really are the best. Thankfully, the heated competition ends up being great for the customers (that’s us!) as all of these carriers are fine options. However, Verizon does just enough right to grab the top pick. Good customer service, unlimited plans and great speeds make them the best option, even if they are a bit pricey.