Cell Phone Plans Comparison: Android vs. iPhone | Verizon vs. Sprint vs. AT&T
Android has upped the ante in the battle of the smartphones and many consumers are torn between the iPhone and the sleek new Android phones running Google’s mobile operating system, particularly Verizon Wireless’s HTC Droid Eris and Nextel/Sprint’s Samsung Moment. These are all fine phones packed with all the features and functionality you need from a next generation smartphone, including unlimited data, corporate email connectivity, social media and messaging and seamless 3G web browsing. But in light of the touch economic times, the X factor for most family cell phone plans (and individual cell phone plans) will be the cost of service. To help you choose the cheapest smartphone cell phone plans, we’ve put together a quick reference breakdown of the major costs and fees for today’s latest and greatest smartphones.
Device Costs
Currently, there’s essentially no contest for the most affordable smartphone. HTC Droid Eris takes the spot with ease with its low price of $19.99 a
s of December 2009, with the Samsung Moment with Google as the runner up at $149.99. The iPhone 3Gs, meanwhile, rings up at $199.99.
Cell Phone Plans – Voice and Data
The default smartphone plan for an HTC Droid Eris with Verizon Wireless if $59.99. That gets you the Nationwide Basic 900 plan, which includes 900 anytime minutes, free nights and weekends and free calls to five of your family and friends on any network. However, you can bump down to a cheaper voice plan that gives you 450 minutes at only $39.99. Unlimited data for the Droid Eris costs $29.99.
Sprint/Nextel’s Samsung Moment comes with the Everything Data 450 plan for $69.99 which includes unlimited mobile-to-mobile calls (any network in the U.S.), free nights and weekends after 7PM, unlimited email, web browsing and messaging.
The iPhone 3GS plan starts at $39.99 for 450 minutes of voice with a required $30 unlimited data plan per line.
As you can see, all three cell phone plans providers are nearly neck and neck at right around $70 for the bare minimum.
Text Message Plans
With Verizon Wireless and the HTC Droid Eris, $5 gets you 250 messages. The iPhone’s smallest text message package is also $5 for 200 messages.
Nextel/Sprint’s plan includes unlimited text, picture and video messaging at no extra charge, which allows it to pull ahead of the other two a wee bit.
To get unlimited messaging with AT&T, it’ll cost you $20 a month. You can get 5000 text messages with Verizon for the same price.
Termination Fees
All three networks have prorated early termination fees where the penalty reduces by a set amount each month. Currently, Verizon Wireless has an ETF up to $350 (though FCC pressure will likely reduce this). Sprint/Nextel’s early cancellation fee is $200 and AT&T’s early termination fee is $175.
What about family cell phone plans?
The costs for a family cell phone plan for your smartphone are going to vary widely based on how many lines you have and what kind of features you add to each line.
However, Verizon’s family plan with two HTC Droid Eris smartphones starts at $89.99 for 1400 minutes (you’ll have to add data plans to both lines, which brings you to about $149.99).
Two Samsung Moment smartphones with a family plan gets you 1200 minutes for $129.99 a month (that includes unlimited voice, data and messaging for both lines).
Two lines on AT&T’s cheapest family iPhone plan is $59.99 per line for a total of about $120. Add on two data plans and you’re looking at around $180 with about 550 minutes to share between the two of you.
As you can see, the default plans ring up with Sprint being the cheapest, then Verizon next and AT&T being most expensive.
Conclusion
With all that being said, cell phone plan prices are always subject to change. There are also a host of activation fees, service charges and taxes to consider that can add a significant amount to your monthly bill – so take that into consideration.
The cheapest cell phone plans for you will depend on how you plan on using your smartphone. The Samsung Moment has higher up front costs than the HTC Droid Eris, but if you’ll benefit from the unlimited data, text and messaging, then it’s worth it.
It’s also worth looking into the amount of coverage each network gets in your area. For that, we recommend taking a look at our earlier post, Cell Phone Plans: Comparing the Best Data Plans for Smartphones.
Good luck!
Image by kevinspencer
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Tags: Android, AT&T, Cell phone plans, droid, family cell phone plans, iphone, Nextel, smartphone plans, Sprint, Verizon