Do you really, really need that smartphone?
The Apple iPhone and other smartphones hitting the market are cool, but if you don't have a spare $200 in your wallet, and you can't afford the hefty monthly service fees, there are less expensive options that still offer some of the wireless Web at a much more affordable price tag.
These alternative phones may not be as sexy as the iPhone or the new Palm Pre. And the Internet service and applications will not be as slick as what you'll find on a full-fledged smartphone. But for many wireless subscribers, less expensive feature-phones and cheaper data plans will offer enough to do the trick.
There is no denying that smartphones are the future of the wireless industry. As a category, smartphones are the fastest growing segment of the entire market. And new devices hitting the market this summer are selling fast. Last month, Apple and AT&T sold over a million new iPhone 3GS models in the first weekend it was available. People also lined up throughout the country to be the first to buy the Palm Pre sold exclusively by Sprint Nextel. And hype is already building around the new Google Android phone, called the MyTouch, which is set to launch on T-Mobile's network early next month.
These devices are made for the Internet, and developers are creating lots of cool new applications to take advantage of loads of advanced features. But all these features and speedy access to the mobile Web come with a hefty price tag. And as the economy in the U.S. languishes and more Americans lose their jobs, more consumers may find themselves unable or unwilling to shell out the extra cash every month for a smartphone service.
For many wireless subscribers, the functionality they get on a smartphone is simply overkill. And as a result, they are overpaying for services they don't really need or even use. For these consumers, who are mostly interested in checking e-mail, updating Facebook and Twitter, looking up a few things on the mobile Web, and occasionally using location-based services, there are plenty of less expensive options.
At the low-end of the market, there are several feature phones that with a two-year service contract, rebates, and online discounts cost less than $30. And these devices are just fine for accessing basic Web e-mail and Web sites like Facebook. For a little bit more money upfront, wireless subscribers can get slightly more advanced devices with assisted-GPS for navigation and location-based services, corporate e-mail access, and integrated applications for social networking sites like Facebook.
While these phones are often much cheaper than the latest smartphones on the market, the other big benefit is that the data service plans to access all these mobile Web goodies are cheaper, too. Wireless subscribers on average can save about $15 a month using a more basic feature phone for accessing mobile e-mail and the Internet rather than using a full-fledged smartphone. This is a savings of about $360 over the life of a two-year contract.
To help readers figure out which phone and carrier service plan fits their needs best, here is a summary of some of the hottest phones on each of the four major U.S. carrier networks with a summary of the service plans that are offered for these devices. For full reviews of each of the phones listed in the article, check out CNET Reviews.
*** AT&T ***
Motorola Karma QA1 - $79 with 2-year contract
Motorola Karma QA1
(Credit: CNET)Motorola Karma QA1 CNET review
The Karma is a new 3G phone that offers text messaging, instant messaging, and home screen access to Facebook and MySpace. It has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and high-resolution display. Other features include assisted-GPS, a 2.0-megapixel camera, an MP3 player, stereo Bluetooth, a 3.5-mm headset jack, a microSD card slot capable of holding up to 16GB cards, and quad-band GSM.
LG Neon - $30 with 2-year contract
LG Neon
(Credit: CNET)The Neon is one of the lowest-cost touch-screen devices available. It also features a full QWERTY keyboard, a 2.0 megapixel camera, and access to instant messaging (AIM, Windows Live Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger), mobile e-mail, AT&T music, and the mobile Internet. While there is mobile e-mail support it only supports a few service providers, including AOL, Yahoo, AIM, Windows Live Hotmail, AT&T Yahoo, Bellsouth, Comcast, Earthlink, Juno, Mindspring, and NetZero. Gmail is not accessible because the phone doesn't support POP or IMAP. It is also not a 3G phone.
LG Xenon - $99.99 with 2-year contract and rebates
LG Xenon
(Credit: CNET)Xenon has a full QWERTY keypad for text messaging beneath a large touch-screen display. This 3G device has a 2.0 megapixel camera and offers the full suite of AT&T entertainment services. It's one of AT&T's best-selling devices and is available in three colors.
It also has more advanced features, such as stereo Bluetooth, instant messaging (with AIM, Yahoo, and Windows Live accounts), mobile e-mail, and assisted-GPS. The mobile e-mail is housed within a Web-based interface and will only support e-mail from certain accounts like Yahoo, AOL, AIM, Windows Live Hotmail, AT&T Yahoo, BellSouth, Comcast, Earthlink, Juno, Mindspring, and NetZero. We weren't able to use Gmail, especially since the Xenon doesn't support POP or IMAP. As for A-GPS, the Xenon comes with AT&T Navigator, AT&T's turn-by-turn location-based service.
Similar phones from AT&T: (Listed pricing is for phones with a two-year service contract and also reflects the price after any rebates or special Web offers.
Samsung Magnet: $19.99; Pantech Matrix: $29.99; Samsung Propel: $30; Samsung Impression: $149.99
Service plans: AT&T offers a series of voice minute packages starting at $39.99 for 450 minutes of talk time that must be used with all its phones. From there, customers can layer on additional services, such as text messaging or data. For text messaging, AT&T offers bundles of other services. For $5 extra a month, subscribers get 200 text and picture messages . For $15 a month, they get 1,500 messages. And for $20 extra a month, they get unlimited texting.
The plans differ when it comes to data. Smartphone subscribers must subscribe to a $30 unlimited data plan in addition to a voice plan and any texting plan they may choose. Feature-phone customers are charged $15 a month for unlimited e-mail and mobile Web access if they choose this option. It is not mandatory. AT&T also offers a special discount for a combined data and unlimited messaging package that is $30 extra per month.
The bottom line: AT&T subscribers who want access to Web-based personal e-mail and Internet Web sites, like Facebook, can get a good bargain with a low-cost feature phone. At a minimum they can save $15 a month using a non-smartphone data plan versus the data plans that come with smartphones, such as Apple's iPhone and RIM's BlackBerry devices.
*** Verizon Wireless ***
Samsung Alias - $19.99 with 2-year contract and online discount
Samsung Alias
(Credit: CNET)The Samsung SCH-u740 has a dual-flip hinge that lets users view the display in either portrait or landscape mode. It has a QWERTY keyboard, access to Verizon's V Cast offerings, and a full array of multimedia goodies. Other basic features include a vibrate mode, text and multimedia messaging, instant messaging (AOL, MSN, and Yahoo messengers are supported), POP3 and IMAP e-mail support, and corporate e-mail syncing using Web-based Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Domino services. And it comes with a wireless WAP browser for stripped-down versions of Web sites for mobile devices.
LG enV2 - $49.99 with 2-year contract and online discount
LG enV2
(Credit: CNET)The LG enV2 is a slim handset with a full QWERTY keypad that flips up and has two displays. It supports instant messaging, Web browsing using a WAP browser, access to Web e-mail, USB mass storage, wireless syncing, and a text-to-speech feature. It also has a music player with access to Verizon's VCast music service. The music player supports MP3, WMA, and unprotected AAC and AAC+ files. Other Verizon applications are also available, such as VZ Navigator, Verizon's own location-based turn-by-turn navigation service. The enV2 comes with 63MB of built-in memory, but you can always get more storage via a microSD card.
LG Dare - $79.99 with 2-year contract and online discount
LG Dare
(Credit: CNET)The LG Dare has touch-screen interface, an advanced 3.2-megapixel camera, a full HTML browser, and operates on Verizon's 3G EV-DO Rev. A network. The Dare has all the standard features you'd expect on a phone. And also comes with some advanced features, such as full Bluetooth support with stereo A2DP, the capability to use the phone as a modem, and file transfer. It also supports mobile e-mail, mobile instant messaging, a USB mass storage mode, voice command and voice dialing, voice recording, and GPS functionality via Verizon's VZ Navigator service. Mobile e-mail is restricted to popular Web mail services such as Hotmail, Yahoo, and AOL, so it's not nearly as robust as using a smartphone.
It also has a full HTML browser, which is an important distinction since many phones in this category are only WAP-enabled, which presents stripped down mobile versions of Web sites on mobile devices. The phone can also be rotated to display the browser in landscape mode, which makes entering URLs a lot easier via the virtual QWERTY keyboard. However, CNET reviewer Nicole Lee notes in her review that the browser experience is not as clean as the Safari browser on the iPhone.
Similar phones from Verizon Wireless: (Listed pricing is for phones with a two-year service contract and also reflects the price after any rebates or special Web offers.
Verizon Wireless Blitz: $19.99; Motorola Rival: $49.99; Samsung Glyde: $69.99; Motorola Krave ZN4: $69.99; LG Voyager: $79.99; LG enV3: $79.99; LG Versa: $99.99; LG enV Touch: $99.99; Samsung Alias 2: $149.99
Service plans: Verizon Wireless offers a variety of options for consumers who want to use data services. But all these choices can be confusing. Here is a general summary that should help steer prospective consumers in the right direction.
For basic service, Verizon allows subscribers to sign up for services a la carte. So a subscriber could start with a voice plan, which begins at $39.99 per month for 450 minutes of talk time. From there subscribers can layer on additional services. Text-messaging services can be added in different increments. For $5 more a month, subscribers get 250 messages. For $10 a month, they can get 500 messages. For $15 a month they can get 1,500 messages and $20 gets them 5,000 messages per month. All messages sent to other Verizon subscribers are free and not counted against these totals.
Then subscribers can either choose to pay $1.99 per megabyte of data used per month when surfing the mobile Net or checking e-mail, or they can sign up for a VPak data plan that includes video clips, sports highlights, news updates and unlimited e-mail and Mobile Web usage. This package is $15 a month.
If subscribers want unlimited messaging, e-mail and data, they can sign up for either a Nationwide Connect Plan, that starts at $69.99 a month for 450 voice minutes, unlimited e-mail and data, and unlimited messaging, or they can sign up for a Nationwide Premium Plan that begins at $79.99 per month for 450 voice minutes, unlimited messaging, Mobile email, VZ Navigator and the V CAST VPak, which includes access to Verizon's entertainment video.
Meanwhile, smartphone subscribers can also sign up a la carte for services. Voice and text messaging is the same. But data services are $29.99 for unlimited Web usage and e-mail. For corporate BlackBerry users the price tag for this service is $44.99 per month.
The bottom line: Verizon Wireless subscribers who want access to Web-based personal e-mail and Internet Web sites, like Facebook, can save at least $15 using a data plan for non-smartphones. But with some smartphones priced at around $50 with a two-year contract, the price difference over the life of the contract might not matter to some subscribers.
*** Sprint Nextel ***
SCP-2700 by Sanyo - Free with 2-year contract and Web purchase
Sanyo SCP-2700
(Credit: CNET)The Sanyo SCP-2700 is a slim and lightweight phone with a full QWERTY keypad that makes it look like a lower-end version of a BlackBerry. It offers POP 3 e-mail from providers like Sprint's own PCS Mail, AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail. It also supports Web-based work e-mail using Outlook Web Access.
LG Rumor2 - $29.99 with 2-year contract, rebates, and Web purchase
LG Rumor
(Credit: CNET)The LG Rumor2 has a full QWERTY keypad and offers access to POP3 e-mail, such as AOL, AIM, Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail. It also offers access to work e-mail for subscribers using Web-based Outlook and Lotus Notes. And it includes some basic features, like text and multimedia messaging, an alarm clock, a calendar, a calculator, a voice recorder, voice dialing, wireless phone book backup, a unit converter, and a notepad. It also supports PC syncing, USB mass storage, a memory card manager, GPS with support for Sprint Navigation, Sprint's Family Locater service, stereo Bluetooth, and instant messaging.
Samsung Instinct - $49.99 with 2-year contract, rebates, and Web purchase
Samsung Instinct
(Credit: CNET)The Samsung Instinct is a touch-screen 3G wireless device with POP3 e-mail from AOL, AIM, Hotmail, Yahoo, and Gmail. It also supports corporate e-mail via Outlook Web Access. When it first launched, it was compared to the Apple iPhone. While it's not quite a smartphone, it offers some compelling features, like its own brand of visual voice mail. It offers several organizational tools and voice command for dialing and searching contacts or places and things on the mobile Web. For example, simply speaking the name of a business or even the type of business (like "pizza"), it will use the phone's GPS connection to search your surrounding location for a match. It then offers a map and directions to the business, which can be shared with a friend via a message, or it can dial the number to the location. The phone also supports a full HTML browser.
Similar phones from Sprint Nextel: (Listed pricing is for phones with a two-year service contract and also reflects the price after any rebates or special Web offers.
LG Rumor: $29.99; Palm Centro: $49.99 LG Lotus: $49.99; Samsung Rant: $49.99; Samsung Exclaim: $79.99; Palm Treo 755p: $99.99; Samsung Instinct s30: $129.99; HTC Snap: $149.99
Service plans: Sprint has greatly simplified its pricing. But simple doesn't necessarily mean cheaper. In fact, the service plans offered for Web-enabled and e-mail friendly feature-phones are exactly the same as for its smartphones.
Sprint's Everything Data plans start at $69.99 and include 450 minutes of talk time plus unlimited Web surfing, e-mail, BlackBerry Internet Services, GPS Navigation, and a series of entertainment services, such as Music Premier, TV Premier, and NFL Mobile Live. It also offers unlimited Direct Connect walkie-talkie service for phones that are capable of that. And it includes unlimited text, picture, and video messaging.
The $89.99 per month offers all this with 900 minutes of talk time. And the $99.99 Simply Everything plan includes unlimited voice minutes in addition to these other services.
The bottom line: There is no discount for customers subscribing to a feature phone instead of a smartphone, but feature phones can provide savings in the upfront cost of buying a new phone. So for consumers who don't feel like shelling out $200 for a Palm Pre or a BlackBerry, they can get a device with similar functionality for $50 or less.
*** T-Mobile USA ***
Samsung Gravity - $30 with 2-year contract and rebates
Samsung Gravity
(Credit: CNET)The Samsung Gravity is a thick candy-bar-style phone with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Features are on the lower end, with a 1.3-megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, a basic music player, and not much else. But its keyboard design is great for typing out text messages, and its affordable price makes this a great texting phone for the budget-minded. It also supports instant messaging for all the major IM services (AIM, ICQ, Windows Live, Yahoo), and e-mail from AOL, Yahoo, Comcast, Gmail, Mac, Verizon, and more. More advanced users will like the stereo Bluetooth, voice command, and the wireless Web browser.
T-Mobile Shadow - $149.99 with 2-year contract and rebates
T-Mobile Shadow
(Credit: CNET)The T-Mobile Shadow is considered an entry-level smartphone that uses the Windows Mobile operating system. It comes in a sleek slider design. And it features Bluetooth and Wi-Fi; a 2-megapixel camera; and various messaging capabilities. Positioned somewhere between the T-Mobile Sidekick family and the T-Mobile Dash, the Shadow (made by HTC) is for customers looking to make the jump from a regular cell phone to a more full-featured handset that can keep up with their social and professional lives without being too serious, according to CNET reviewer Bonnie Cha. Since the phone was introduced before T-Mobile had its 3G up and running, the device runs on the slower EDGE network.
The Shadow supports POP3 and IMAP e-mail accounts. And T-Mobile has included separate wizards for all the popular e-mail clients, including AOL, Gmail, Windows Live, and Yahoo. Since the device is a Windows Mobile 6 smartphone, it also ships with Microsoft's Direct Push technology out of the box so you can get real-time e-mail delivery and automatic synchronization with your Outlook e-mail, calendar, tasks, and contacts via Exchange Server. It also supports instant messaging clients from AOL, ICQ, Yahoo, and Windows Live Messenger apps.
But the real beauty of this phone is that even though it's technically a smartphone, it doesn't require the $34.99 smartphone data plan, and is able to use a much less expensive plan from T-Mobile.
Similar phones from T-Mobile USA: (Listed pricing is for phones with a two-year service contract and also reflects the price after any rebates or special Web offers.
Samsung Memoir: $199.99, MOTOZINE ZN5 $99.99
Service plans: T-Mobile offers its myFaves program that allows unlimited calling to five phone numbers on any network. Its basic service plan, that includes the myFaves option, starts at $39.99 for 300 minutes. Subscribers can then add additional data and messaging services. For non-smartphone/non-Sidekick devices and the T-Mobile Shadow, subscribers can get unlimited Web access, which includes personal e-mail for $9.99 per month. A bundle that includes unlimited Web and domestic MMS and SMS messaging is $19.95 per month. If subscribers want smaller packages of texting service it's $4.99 for 300 message and $14.99 unlimited messaging.
For most of its smartphones and Sidekicks, T-Mobile requires a basic voice plan. The data plans it offers for these devices cost $24.99 for unlimited Web usage and e-mail and $34.99 unlimited data with unlimited messaging.
The bottom line: T-Mobile offers some of the best deals on data services and voice services with its myFaves program. For consumers willing to spend $150, the Shadow is a good entry-level smartphone that won't take a big bite out of your wallet. But even the smartphone data pricing coupled with the myFaves voice plans is a good value when compared to the competition. The downside for T-Mobile is its coverage. The carrier doesn't have nearly the coverage that AT&T, Verizon Wireless, or even Sprint Nextel has. And its 3G network is not yet complete.
Marguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as well as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies. E-mail Maggie. 
Some of the plans the author mentions with the phones are the same cost or within $5.00 a month of service as the iPhone or G1.
Yes there are cheaper phones with cheaper plans, but nobody can beat the Android for flexibility or the iPhone the App Store and iTunes integration.
I love having access to the pre-edited articles! Don't know how I enabled that feature, but it's working great.
Just got my iPhone 3GS and have been very satisfied--the phone is easy to use and therefore allows me to use the features even more. Its all about the OS, and how well its implemented.
Now if ATT would improve their coverage. . .
Right, and you should provide the link to the wheel barrel you'll need to tote these devices around.
What a waste of space.
Getting on topic. I had a several cell phones with web access and they was a pain in the butt to use. It was a pain in the butt to use the calendar feature and most of the features of the phone except to make and receive a phone call. On the other hand my iPhone makes checking email, calender, contacts, web, and apps real easy.
Do I "really" need a smart phone? No
Do I really need a basic cell phone? No
However, like some other things in my life, having an iPhone is very nice
The iphone is outdated, the new 3G S has nothing that the HTC Magic(mytouch) or HTC Hero cant do.
The iPhone is not just a pleasure in comparison it has become an essential business tool.
Of course costs are flexible too. I do have a $114 a month unlimited calls + 2GB data plan but here in Australia there are 5 carriers selling the iPhone and competition is good - I have the choice of buying the phone on pre-pay, unlocked, or on 12 month or 24 month contracts that are as little as $19 a month. An unlocked iPhone casts $1040 but on my plan it was free.
The iPhone is no more expensive than any phone that can access the web yet is a whole lot more useful than any of the phones listed above. In fact compared to other 3G phones the iPhone seems quite reasonable.
I just wished Vodafone had forced Verizon to start with GSM network from the very beginning. I am sure if Verizon was GSM, iPhone along with alot of other smart phones which the rest of the world uses would have first come to Verizon before AT&T. Let's just see what happens when Verizon switches to LTE.
And I'm coming from being a heavy BB user. Blech, just thinking of going back to a Blackberry gives me fright.
Cody
*rolls eyes*
*rolls eyes*
Anyway, here's the deal. I just replaced one of the two phones currently in my family plan. Total cost of my plan, which includes 200 text messages, unlimited data and shared talk minutes comes out to about $100 a month. The talk time does not worry me because over the last year we accumulated over 4,000 rollover minutes. Most of our usage in that area is to people also on AT%T and on nights and weekends.
The thing is that most people do not need unlimited everything. Another factor which I rarely see mentioned is that many people qualify for corporate discounts on their accounts which can reduce the cost quite a bit. And for many people a good smartphone can eliminate the need for a laptop when on the go. This looks to be true in my case as the iPhone pretty much lets me do anything I would use a laptop for when I am away from home. As an added bonus it even has Myst. :-)
But as a maybe 50 a week, tops, texter, the 200 per month is fine with me.
"And of course your land line goes with you everywhere!"
That is the handy thing with a cell phone, it works most everywhere.
Nowadays cell phones are dramatically cheaper, coverage is excellent and gives internet, email, IM and more as part of the deal. Best of all with MobileMe I can take bookings from customers, make calendar entries which then automatically sync with the office computers and sms or email staff to organize them for the new job.
My inexpensive landline is actually a cost to me even at its low price while the $114 a month I spend on my iPhone earns me thousands every week. As a business man I could not afford to rely on the limitations of a landline but for everyone else surely the fact that the current crop of unlimited calls cell phone plans for the iPhone make individual calls cheaper than on that landline and make mobile phones the best choice for the primary phone for anyone.
And truly, i don't fix to browser internet in a 320x240 screen.
In my opinion resisting smartphones for minimal savings is not the best choice. I realize not everyone is ready right now for a smartphone so it will take a bit more time. And some people will never be ready. (there are some people who never bought a DVD player)
My thought is for the average professional out there it doesnt make sense to pass up getting a refurbished iphone for $79 dollars from ATT to get some of the basic phones that you mention in the article. I know several people who have resisted only to get stuck in a 2 year contract and kicking themselves when they realize how out of date they are.
www.mobipro.net
The music app was so screwed up and slow that instead of trying to figure out how to optimize it and speed it up, they simply decided to limit you to right at 1100 songs on your card. So even if you had an 8gb card that could handle a whole lot more music, the app will only querry around the first 1100 songs. ***?
The last firmware update made it about 5 days before it was pulled and rollbacks forced.
Honestly, I don't know who tests updates for Sprint and the Instinct, but I would fire them on the spot if I was in charge. Why Sprint didn't stick with the standard Samsung OS and interface is beyond me. Giving their dev department like 4 months to write a phone OS so they could beat the iPhone 3G to market was a huge mistake and whoever made that decision should be fired on the spot.
The only good thing I can say about the Instinct was the integration between Live Search and Navigation... but it is ungodly SLOW! The $99 Simply Everything Plan was a definite bonus and that is the only thing I am going to miss.
I have since left Sprint after 9 years and went with AT&T and the iPhone 3G S... OMG!!! Now I know why they call it the Jesus phone! It's a miracle of technology! I no longer carry my laptop around because everything I needed to do on my laptop, now fits in my pocket!
I considered the Pre, but 1 year with the Instinct left such a horrible taste in my mouth that I ended up not only hating my phone, but hating Sprint as well. I never thought I would say it, but I really do like AT&T and their service. Support is awesome because you get connected to Apple instead of AT&T. Sprint's support was about as pleasant as exploding diarrhea while having a root canal at a military dentist.
noticed the first sentence of the article....the iPhone this, the iPhone that.
a better article would be...."there are better smartphones than the iPhone like the HTC Touch Pro 2".
here's my 2 cents response to the article.
ppl buy stuff for their own reasons.
as for business users, i need GPS, email, wifi, phone, web and if it got the other stuff like camera, video player, recorder, etc. are nice but unnecessary.
GPS feature alone can add almost $100 easily to the price tag.
without having the netbook with me all the time, the shrink size HTC Touch Pro 2 is on-the-go solution.
as for SMS, i'm not sure why people let the carrier screw them.
you can use IM which have the same result as SMS.
and IM is FREE!!!
people who owned the smartphone, most likely, they got the web access plan.
i just hope the smartphone is not smarter than its owner!! :-)
all i really need is calling, texting, camera, notes, and mayyyyy be scheduler. the rest is really just, meh...
- by inachu1 July 13, 2009 12:58 PM PDT
- I am tempted to get rip of my iphone as I now have Ooma.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (51 Comments)No need for a cell now that I have this free service.