Comparing Cell Phone Plans: Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T Smartphone Plans in the US
Many people are clearly willing to spend triple digits on a smartphone plan for themselves and their families, but that's of course not ideal. The cheaper something is, the better, especially if it is a quality product.
Thankfully for consumers, U.S. carriers have gotten caught up in a pricing war, offering better and better services for increasingly competitive prices in recent times. However, many available plans are still priced higher than what the average consumer would like to spend.
With that in mind, we compare the cheapest smartphone plans you can get across all of the major carriers in the States. Here, we'll examine the price and features offered by every budget plan, and determine which one is the best for you. We'll go through all of the major wireless carriers, including Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile.
Verizon is known for charging more than the other guys, though they've developed a ploy to get penny-pinching converts over to their side. For $45, you can get unlimited talk and text, and 1GB of 4G LTE data. However, to get the $45 Edge plan, you have to buy a device through Verizon, which you can then pay off over the course of 24 months. However, for a limited time, each device you activate through Verizon's Edge plan will net you a $150 bill credit. Otherwise, you'll have to shell out $60 a month for access.
Going with Verizon nets you access to exclusive NFL Mobile content, but with the NFL season in the home stretch, the value of this app is limited at best until the start of the 2015 season this September.
AT&T's deal is pretty competitive compared to Verizon's because they offer triple the data that Team Red does -- 3GB to be exact. Plus, this individual plan also comes with unlimited talk and text, and free texting to "select" countries.
If you switch to Wi-Fi when at work and at home, 3GB data may be all the data you need. However, that's assuming that you limit your data usage to podcast downloads, weather updates and other basic tasks.
Sprint $60/$50 (only with iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus)
Sprint offers the best deal here, but the company is held back by its coverage map. People regularly complain about Sprint's spotty coverage and reach.
Sprint makes up for this by offering unlimited talk, text and data for $60. You can get that down to $50 per month, but only if you also opt for an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus.
If you happen to know that you're in an area with great Sprint coverage, then this is a no-brainer.
It doesn't get much hype or attention, nor does T-Mobile make much of an effort to let people know that this plan exists. However, if you call T-Mobile at 877-353-3615, you can order their $40 a month plan, which you can't do online.
This plan gets you unlimited talk and text, and 500GB of 4G LTE data. It's a pretty barebones plan, but if you value savings above all, this might be your best choice out of all the offerings from the big four carriers here.
What do you think of these plans? Which do you think is the best one of them all? Sound off in the comments below.