cell phone shopping

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I've never had a Cell phone, never needed a cell phone, but I'm thinking now might be the time. After searching contract plans and no contract plans, I think the way to go for me is Tracfone. Tracfone has a bunch of phones to choose from on their website. My friend has had a Tracfone (flip phone) for many years, he gets a good signal...I mention that because his family members have smart phones with other phone service providers and they have signal problems in Glencoe.

After researching all the different phones they offer, it seems the ZTE phones might be the way to go. They run Android software and very cheap, from $10 to $30 (there are cheaper and free phones). I've watched several youtube reviews (FYI there are a lot of stupid people making cheap cellphone reviews on youtube). Anyway, it seems these ZTE are are pretty comparable to the Samsung Galaxy when you find the models with similar specs, except the Galaxy is 3 times the price.

So with all that said, anyone have anything good or bad to say about ZTE ?

Or anything else in general about Cell phones and Services ?

[Oily]

The main thing you need is service in your area. The price of the phone is secondary. Your cell phone no matter what the price is useless unless you have signal in your area. Find a good provider in your area and then get a phone that will work with there system. If you are in a rural area as I am you need to find a provider that shares towers with other companies so you have coverage everywhere. I am with a local company in NW OK and I can use my phone coast to coast without roaming costs. If you live in a big city or in the burbs you can go with the big guys but realize that if you get 20 miles off of the interstate or main highways you will lose signal.

[NyFirefighter357]

The main thing you need is service in your area. The price of the phone is secondary. Your cell phone no matter what the price is useless unless you have signal in your area. Find a good provider in your area and then get a phone that will work with there system. If you are in a rural area as I am you need to find a provider that shares towers with other companies so you have coverage everywhere. I am with a local company in NW OK and I can use my phone coast to coast without roaming costs. If you live in a big city or in the burbs you can go with the big guys but realize that if you get 20 miles off of the interstate or main highways you will lose signal.

This is very true many of the "discount" cell services only have good reception close to major cities. No frills also means no extra money to make agreements with other cell phone companies to use their towers. I have Verizon because it's the best service here, my wife and kids use Boost Mobile which is Sprint's pay as you go plan. Boost starts at $35 a month & has very good coverage. My Verizon is $80

[Down South]

I've had need of a cell phone for many years of my career. I use Verizon service because it works at my house and in many other areas. AT&T has very poor signal here. I'm retired now but still need a cell phone. I cut the land line about 10 years ago and strictly use cell service for a number of reasons.
What ever phone you get, make sure it gets service in the areas that you frequent. You can Google and look at coverage maps for the different providers or you can ask others in those areas what service they use and how good it is.

[CastingFool]

We use Consumer Cellular as our provider. They use ATT lines. We pay $70/ mo for unlimited calling and texting, with 5gb data, for 3 phones. So if ATT services your area, I would recommend you check out CC.

[ShooterAZ]

Jon,

I googled the cellular coverage in your area. It looks like Verizon has the best rated coverage. My advice would be to go down to the Verizon store near you, and explain your needs. In the past, they have been very helpful to me. Best Buy might be able to help too. We are on a family plan with Verizon, with unlimited data and text. This saves us quite a bit of money. If you have family in the area, maybe check with them and see if you can help get on a plan. Even if they are in a different state, you can still get on a plan. I am fortunate in that my employer pays for a portion of my service. It's my phone and service plan, but I do use it for work. I disconnected my land line right around the 2016 elections because I was getting flooded with political calls. Good luck!

[Texan74]

straight talk uses verizon towers, just make sure when you go to get the phone ensure it is for verizon towers.

[ThomR]

My wife and I have been on no contract plans for almost five years now.
I buy my phones off of Ebay and rarely ever have a problem with them. Just make sure you buy from a seller with good feedback.
There really is no need to spend a thousand dollars on a phone. The most I've spent was around $150, but I could have been just fine with a much cheaper phone.

An old friend of mine once said "I remember when people used cell phones to call people." You can live without all the whizbang features of high end cell phones.

Just make sure you don't text and drive. That's a good way to end up dead.

[Wag]

If you don't need a smart phone, that's the way to go. The plan I have now is costing me about $25 a month WITH a smartphone, however, the old plan I had was $150 a month. After 18 months, the savings has paid for the phone many times over.

Again the bad thing is the cost of the stupid smart phone.

The good thing is that when I'm at home, it uses my wireless to make calls and for other data demands and as a result, on occasion, I'll go a month with NO phone bill at all. When I get away from home, there are a few dead spots that have issues but they are fairly rare.

A few years ago, I rolled the dice and killed the land line which saved a few more bucks and I haven't missed it at all.

As mentioned by others, service availability is going to be your primary decision-making factor.

--Wag--

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

good info so far, thank you.

I was hoping for info about ZTE phones. Anyone have one?
https://shop.tracfone.com/shop/en/tr...te-zfive-c-lte
I am looking pretty hard at a ZTE® ZFIVE C LTE (Z558VL)

[Handloader109]

Don't have one, and that review didn't tell me much except it has a slow processor. Very Slow, which is to be expected on a relatively inexpensive phone. I would be hesitant to buy if you plan on using for internet use very much. I got my wife a cheap phone a few years ago, and it was so slow as to be worthless on the internet. Along with the 3G that it was using, it was a turtle crawl.
BTW, almost zero cell companies are using a contract for the data and the phone service. Most are month to month now, but you DO have a contract for the cell phone itself, unless you pay for it up front. Used to roll phone cost into the service contract, but now very few do it unless you ask for it. If it were me, I'd find a used iphone, series 6 or newer and go with whichever provider you decide is best. Android devices are ok, but Apple does make the best phones. Very few Androids are good for more than two years, I've not had one go much longer, my daughter has barely made two years on her 3 phones she's had. My wife's 5S is over 3 years now with no signs of battery failure. Just say'n. Motorola has been the worst we've used, phones worked great, but failed too soon.
I've a Samsung now and after a year, good as new. Good luck.

[Wag]

Everyone has their different preferences for iPhone vs Android. My preference is for Android and they've always lasted me 4 years. The only reason they don't last longer is because the new software updates render them a little sluggish and, therefore, obsolete. But they still work.

Another issue I have with Android is that when you buy from a major provider like Verizon or AT&T, they install a whole bunch of bloatware on it which you won't use but you can't install. Best you can hope for is to disable it but it still takes up space on the phone.

Mine is a Pixel XL direct from Google and using the ProjectFi system. No bloatware. Battery can last as long as five days before I have to charge it up again. But the phone was $800 up front. Crazy. But for what I do with it, it was worth it.

Other people prefer iPhones and that's fine. Whatever works best for you! My only experience was with the very first iPhone that came out and I hated it, but I'll acknowledge that they have very likely improved dramatically since then.

--Wag--

[ThomR]

Try Ting.com. You only pay for what you use. They use Sprint for their CDMA coverage, and I believe T-Mobile for GSM. I checked the coverage map and you are good on both of them. The last time I checked the average monthly bill was like $20.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Don't have one, and that review didn't tell me much except it has a slow processor. Very Slow, which is to be expected on a relatively inexpensive phone. I would be hesitant to buy if you plan on using for internet use very much.

>>>SNIP

We that is the thing, since I've never had a cell phone, I don't know how much I'd use it for internet? Honestly, I don't know how much I'd use it for calls/texts either, as I really don't like talking on the phone. It'd get used mostly when traveling, and I don't leave home that much, maybe 10 or 20 times a year within the State...I haven't left the State in maybe a decade. I really only travel if I have to, and even then I fight it and back out of a trip whenever I can.

With that said,
Last month, I needed one for a "light" emergency on a road trip.
While I was considering a flip phone, the Cheap smart phones aren't much more money.
I can see sending a text here and there, to let friends know when I am arriving to a location.
I can see using google maps 5 or 10 times a year, if I get lost going to a new location.
I can see looking up value of vintage items while shopping (ie: gunshow, antique shop, thrift store, garage sale).
Maybe post a selfie on facebook, if I am at some cool roadside attraction.

So, I don't think I need a high performance processor? This ZTE phone is only $30, so if I find out I need an Iphone, it isn't much money lost.

[Pressman]

Jon, I am using Verizon as it's the only reliable deal in Waseca.
Many of the Trac phones use Verizon towers. If so you will be swamped with Verizon ads.
I had a friend that thought he might be OK with a Trac phone. I got so tired of listening to him complaining about it I gave him a spare Samsung and put him on my plan. That solved all his phone issues.
Ken

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Jon, I am using Verizon as it's the only reliable deal in Waseca.
Many of the Trac phones use Verizon towers. If so you will be swamped with Verizon ads.
I had a friend that thought he might be OK with a Trac phone. I got so tired of listening to him complaining about it I gave him a spare Samsung and put him on my plan. That solved all his phone issues.
Ken

That brings up another question.
My friend, who lives near me, is happy with his tracfone service coverage with his flip phone. Since I am considering a ZTE phone that uses android software, if I use tracfone for service, will my phone be using the same cell towers...or could the phone use other towers giving me potential problems with coverage in my location?

[454PB]

It sounds like your need and use is similar to mine. A cell phone is an emergency device for me. I've been a Tracfone customer for 15 years, when I first signed up, there were no "smart phones", and I had a flip phone. I've now progressed to a smart phone, but I normally use it as a dumb phone. I have several computers including laptops that are used for internet. When I first got the smart phone (android), it was constantly nagging me to update, check facebook, yada yada, so I now keep the wireless turned off unless there's a real need for it. I find the texting ability extremely handy, because I'm not big on phone talking (hard of hearing).

Tracfone is a great service for me, and has excellent coverage where I live. I believe it uses Verizon.

Each year I have to renew my air time, which is $100. With that renewal I get double minutes and data. So, my cell phone costs $100 per year, I've never run out of minutes or data, in fact it keeps mounting up because it never expires.

[Handloader109]

It's only 30 bucks as you said. Try it. I've only had a cell phone for the past 3 years, prior and as of this month, our internet has been upgraded in our area, so I installed an old ooma system that is internet based. But I'll use cell for 99 percent of calls. I use it a bunch for internet use, expect to increase what you think you might. If Verizon is best service in the area, stay with a company that uses their towers.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[dragon813gt]

That brings up another question.
My friend, who lives near me, is happy with his tracfone service coverage with his flip phone. Since I am considering a ZTE phone that uses android software, if I use tracfone for service, will my phone be using the same cell towers...or could the phone use other towers giving me potential problems with coverage in my location?

I don’t recommend ZTE phones for a bunch of reasons. But I’m also what you would consider a power users. There are better Android phones available, but you pay more for them.

There are two types of cell system in the US. GSM and CDMA. The phones are one or the other. I can only assume that tracfone rents time off one of the major backbones. So it should be using the same towers. But be aware that every phone is different. Some have better antennaes and have service in more areas. Only time will tell if the phone you end up w/ has service where you want it.

Verizon doesn’t work around where I live. AT&T has coverage everywhere. So if I were to switch to one of the budget carriers that used Verizon’s CDMA backbone I would have the same poor coverage like I was paying Verizon.

[popper]

I have a ZTE flip phone the cops made me get. Just use it for 'emergency' situations. It works OK but ZTE has been accused of China spying. Just changed over to her old iphone as the ZTE was too hard to read. Android is just a wrapper around linux that can be manipulated or modified by the manuf. Carrier, battery life and use-ability are primary factors, I don't need any Apps. Well, mapping does come in handy, make sure the map app is from a good supplier.