2015 Smart Phones

I think they will. If anyone will develop wireless charging for metal body phones, its Apple. Plus I'm hoping they switch to Quad HD AMOLED panels.

 

So apple can change the laws of physics? They would have to change the material of the cover.

 

I realize that. However, Qualcomm announced that they can implement wireless charging for phones with metal backs now. Now whether their solution is actually cost effective is another discussion but it is "possible" now. The challenge of course would be the Qualcomm's solution doesn't follow Qi or PMA so you'd need a new set of wireless chargers but that sounds like a perfect Apple solution as they love selling iphone only peripherals.

 

I think it will overheat the metal.

 

I totally agree. I think I saw a video reviews of the Vivo XL and the reviewer said that there were only a few bloatware (amazon, McAfee, and a few more) can all be uninstalled.

 

'In 2016, that fight will intensify, not for the tip-top phone -- though that will happen, too -- but for the handset giving you the biggest bang for the buck, the device that's almost as good as that top-of-the-class expensive model, but costs significantly less.' cnetSource

is Blu the biggest bang for the buck?

 

So I presume I must be late to the party on this... but thought I'd share regardless.

My 2-year AT&T contract is up today. I just went into an AT&T authorized retailer store to re-up another contact and upgrade my phone at the discounted price. The CSR tells me that AT&T no longer offers this option and that I have to do AT&T Next.

I do some quick math and explain to her that to own the phone I want under Next would cost $850 over the life of the deal. But the discounted deal sells the phone at $399. WTF?

I go online and see the option to buy at the discounted price w/ a 2-year contract offered online. So I call AT&T national customer service and they say you can only do this online and have the phone shipped to you. You can't do this in stores anymore and can only do AT&T Next in stores. But the people in the stores don't tell you this. They say Next is your only option.

Seriously - feels like AT&T is just trying to screw customers over even more. They said all providers are doing the same thing, not just AT&T. I haven't researched it to see if that is true. This just really rubbed me the wrong way.

 

You've been charged a penalty on your bill for having a 2 year contract. At least $15 a month plus you payed about a $36 upgrade fee. Add that up over 2 years and you get very close to the full cost of the phone. Right before they stopped doing them in stores is was a $40 upgrade fee. So $399+40+$360 ($15 penalty)= $799. Pretty close

 

wow, is that right? i'll have to dig up my old bills. I don't remember ever seeing that.

 

um....you are paying the same under the next plan. That $399 is a subsidized price. You pay for in the monthly bill. What will happen under the next plan, they show u what you are paying for hardware-wise. Also, your monthly service fee is lower under the next plan......reflecting the lack of phone subsidy.

 

And yes....ALL carriers have basically drop the 2-year agreements like that, in line with the rest of the world.

 

It's a cost that you won't see. It's in the plan you have. Believe me it's true. I work for a fruit based technology company and we deal with it all the time.

 

Well AT&T said they couldn't change my current plan with Next b/c I have an enterprise plan due to work. So my plan would stay the same (and monthly fees) and I'd just pay the extra monthly fee for the hardware. Sounds like I would just be totally screwed if my plan fee doesn't decrease like you guys say.

 

If you want a cheaper version of AT&T, just get off of your work plan and switch to Cricket Wireless. Cricket runs on AT&T's network now and the plans are significantly cheaper. You'll still have to pay for your device but at least you'll save a huge amount of money.

Or just switch to another carrier entirely.

 

Right, the major carriers will no longer subsidize the cost of a phone via a 2 year contract. You will now have to make monthly payments on a phone if you re-up with AT&T. It works out better if you simply buy yourself an unlocked phone outright. AT&T is, like Sprint & Verizon, moving away from 2 year contracts. You will now have to pay the cost of the phone plus your monthly data plan. Typical plans call for you to make $25 monthly payments over a 24 month period which comes out to $600. There are some really good deals for unlocked phones on the Amazon, Newegg and Walmart websites.

My AT&T contract ended in May and I switched over to Straight Talk. On AT&T with a two year contract my monthly bill was around $110. I paid $45 just to have a smartphone plus $65 for 1.5 GB data, unlimited text, etc.. On Straight Talk, I pay $40 monthly for the same package plus 5 GB data. My HTC One M7 is getting long in the tooth so I plan to get an Asus Zenphone 2 (or 3) and pay out $300-$350 and I'll be done with buying a phone. You just have to decide just how much phone you need vs. what you want in a phone.

 

You can do that with Apple too. They now have adblockjng app

 

Can't you already do that with Android phones? Download Mozilla and install adblock for free.

 

There are so many options nowadays for all budgets. Here are some basic questions to get started:

Who's your carrier?
Are you buying a phone outright or on a plan (NEXT, JUMP etc)?
When do you want to buy?
What's your current phone and what do you like/don't like about it?
Are you looking for flagship level phones or something more midrange or budget?

MWC is in a month or so and the Galaxy S7 is rumored to be released in early March. By then, we should have a better idea how well the new Snapdragon SD820 works.

 

The Gold 32GB Nexus 6P is $450 at Best Buy with a $25 gift card included. I believe it's part of the flash sale that ends at 3 CT but I could be wrong.