Galaxy S5 or the new HTC... Or not?

[Boyiee]

I have Verizon already, gf doesn't and she's not switching, sorry son.

[Omniyoji]

lol

[tyven]

My new. Advice is to wait for LG G3. The G2 was easily best phone of 2013

[Obsidian]

The M7 would like a word with you.

[tyven]

The M7 would like a word with you.

M7 was baller for sure but once g2 dropped it was better at everything but speakers

[octopus]

I personally can't stand the button on the back lol

[Obsidian]

M7 was baller for sure but once g2 dropped it was better at everything but speakers

I dunno. Build quality means a lot to me and where that's concerned I don't think anyone can argue that the M7 wasn't the best by a significant margin. I have no idea how LG has kept up with Android updates for the G2 but HTC's been on top of things for the M7 which also matters to me. Both have quad core processors (the G2's is better though), both have the same 2GB of RAM. The G2 has the better screen in my opinion (IPS LCD versus the M7's S-LCD 3) and the larger battery (both are non-removable).

Both were/are excellent phones though, so this is kind of a silly debate to even have haha.

[Elites]

Get the HTC M8, i've held all the new phones this year and I can say for sure YOU WILL have that premium feel to this phone. It is just amazingly built, LG's processor was good last year but it didnt feel solid at all and the annoying buttons on the back was the biggest drawback for me.

[Roranora]

I think I'm gonna get a One M8 now. It does look pretty clean.

I want to buy unlocked, whether via HTC or ebay or whatever and operate free of a contract. Anyone a guru with that? I mean, NIB on ebay for even ~670 USD is pretty good for now?

[octopus]

I was going to suggest just getting from Google Play store (for the GPE) but looks like it's out of stock right now.

[Obsidian]

Speaking of the G3...

[Prothescar]

Its screen res is nice if it turns out to be true, but eeeh, not sure id notice the difference between 1080p and 1440p on a screen so small. Not really sure on the rest of the specs, but not really expecting anything mindblowing compared to an m8 or an s5. If it retains those ridiculous back buttons then ugh

[tyven]

The back buttons take 4 minutes to get used to and I find myself wishing they were on my nexus 7

[TummieGaruda]

So, kind of related to this topic.

I just called T-Mobile to see about getting an S5 because I recently shattered my S3's screen. So, instead of getting out the heat gun and guitar picks I figured I would just finally upgrade. Long story short, T-Mobile isn't offering the phone at all for an upgrade fee. It's $0 down with an upgrade.

That sounds great, right? Well, it's $0 down, but, it's $27.50 (per month) for 24 months. What the fuck? No $199 upgrade fee? 30 minutes of my time wasted on the phone because the agent didn't bring that up until the end. So fucking mad right now.

This is the Tmobile jump program. AT&T and Verizon have something similar. Basically it's an off contract plan that is rent to own which allows the phone companies to offer non subsidized phones to customers. At first it sounds like a cool thing until you look at what's really going on. They take the full price of the phone ($660) and divide it by 24 months to get the $27.50. You pay that each month in addition to your normal plan fees and $10 for the jump program. From what I remember, if you decide that you want to switch carriers, there is no early termination fee since you aren't on a service contract, but you will owe the balance left on the phone. For instance, if you had the phone for three months and decide to switch to another carrier, you will owe $577.50 on your last bill.

As far as upgrades go, originally after your first 6 months grace period you were eligible to return the phone and "upgrade" to another phone of your choice and you were allowed to do this twice a year (with no balance owed). However, as of Feb. they changed this policy and now you have to have paid a minimum of half the price of the phone before you can upgrade (by swapping the phone to another one). So this means that at $27.50/month, you are not eligible for an upgrade until after one year. However, you do have the option to pay more into it as you go so you can meet the minimum of half price of the phone so you can get an upgrade.

So in reality:

On Contract with other providers
2 year agreement
$199 for phone
Can only upgrade once every 22-24 months.
Option to keep phone or use the phone for trade in value towards next phone.

Jump Program:
No contract
Can upgrade after 1 year @ $450 (330 for jump payments + 120 in the $10/mo jump program fees) or
Upgrade once you have paid $330 plus whatever $10/mo jump program fees you have paid within that timeframe
Have to turn the phone in unless you pay it off completely

[Serra]

So, correct me if I'm wrong, but don't a lot of countries run off that model? You buy your phone (who cares from where/how much), and then you can stick in a sim card and are on their network, paying whatever the fee for being on the network. Yes, you have to pay the upfront cost of the phone (in full), but you're not locked down to a carrier.

And isn't T-mobile only jump now? So in effect, are they just charging $10 more a month?

[Jaffar]

While the monthly payments sound a little steep for those who are used to subsidized phones, it may save money over the long run.

In my case, my plan with VZ was for 3 phones, an Iphone 4, a 4S, and an old flip phone, and a small amount of data, for roughly $175/mo. That was outside of whatever was paid for the phones upfront. I'd keep paying that $175 a month indefinitely, as long as I kept the plan.

My new T-mobil plan has 3 S5s, the plan is $100 ($85 with my coprorate perks discount, but that was also on my VZ plan), the three phones $27.50 each, which puts me just under $175 . So my bill would be the same as the verizon I was currently paying, but after 2 years, the phone portion of my Tmobil bill goes away, as the phones are paid off, so I'd just be paying the $85 monthly plan fee.

So 3 brand new S5s for the same price as 2 old Iphones & a dumb phone currently, but my new bill will basically be cut in half in two years.

I did sign up for Jump though, as it includes the phone insurance and my 2 & 5 year olds love playing music/apps on them. Also, since this was my first foray into Android, I liked having the safety net there if I want to go back when the iphone 6 comes out.

Jump is not mandatory though.

[Serra]

Oh, I thought T-Mobile was only jump -- I had a friend who got a new iPhone (I guess back in November, so not that new..) and I thought they said that was the only plan option.

Like you said, the nice thing is that it can save you money in the long run. The subsidized plans that Verizon, At&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile had (and in some cases still have) are equal if you're taking advantage of it and getting a new phone every two years, but if you decide to keep a phone past the point when you're eligible for an upgrade, you're actually paying more since they don't reduce the contract fee when your contract is up and you're essentially paying monthly.

[Melena]

Depends also on what your plan is. I have unlimited data still on my AT&T plan (grandfathered in with a 15% discount for working for a local government agency) so I'm paying 156 every month for two lines, unlimied data/text and 700 minutes. It's actually the lowest amount of minutes I can get with this plan as we have unlimited mobile to mobile. If I was to switch to a 2 person jump plan, i'd save maybe 10 dollars, lose the unlimited data which I abuse at the gym, and have to pay full price on the phones. Since we have no intention really of leaving AT&T until they remove the grandfathered people in unlimited data, it's better for me to get the subsidized phone and in two years when we re-up, I sell my old phone for the 200+ dollars and essentially get upgraded for free.

[TummieGaruda]

Oh, I thought T-Mobile was only jump -- I had a friend who got a new iPhone (I guess back in November, so not that new..) and I thought they said that was the only plan option.

Like you said, the nice thing is that it can save you money in the long run. The subsidized plans that Verizon, At&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile had (and in some cases still have) are equal if you're taking advantage of it and getting a new phone every two years, but if you decide to keep a phone past the point when you're eligible for an upgrade, you're actually paying more since they don't reduce the contract fee when your contract is up and you're essentially paying monthly.

I stand corrected. I took at look at Verizon's Next program and the differences in prices are slim ($55 more with Next vs Contract) if you upgrade at the the two year mark.

Next for the S5 with a 2 GB plan is $32.50/mo @20 months + $65/mo for the plan. The total monthly is $97.50 but drops to $65 after 20 months
On the same plan with contract it is $80/month + $199 due at purchase and $36 for activation. So over 24 months they are pretty close in price.

Personally taking a second look it is tempting to switch to Tmobile but I am grandfathered in with AT&T and their old unlimited data plan but I might have to make the jump.

[octopus]

T-Mobile actually still has unlimited data in their phone plans. Something to keep in mind.

Another thing is if you don't make a lot of phone calls, there is a $30 prepaid plan that has 5GB of data, unlimited texts and 100 minutes of voice calls.