If price was the same, would you still get the Nexus 5 over the Moto X?

[oberkc]

I am on TMobile. Yes, it is prepaid (walmart $30 per month plan). I do not have a lot of experience switching carriers, but made the switch from verizon to tmobile about a year ago. Given the unlocked nexus, I expect that I could switch to a variety of carriers at any point, simply by purchasing the correct sim card. I have my eye on net10 (ATT), but that would be $20 more per month, and I am not sure that it is worth it even if I get better coverage.

I loved the verizon network, but grew tired of the inability to bring my own phone to one of their pre-paid plans, them refusing to unlock any of my phones, and paying nearly $2000 per year on two cell phone plans. Now, I pay about half of that. Yes, I must bear the cost of the phones, but this pays for itself in about a year. Furthermore, I see no reason to switch phones every two years at this point or feeling ripped off with expensive plans if I did not upgrade. I would still be using my HTC thunderbolt were it more universally compatible and unlocked. Like a car, you start saving some real money in year two and three if you don't keep buying new phones.

Of course, somebody will probably come out with some killer feature in the next generation phones, rendering all my plans moot.

 

[JeffDenver]

I am on TMobile. Yes, it is prepaid (walmart $30 per month plan). I do not have a lot of experience switching carriers, but made the switch from verizon to tmobile about a year ago. Given the unlocked nexus, I expect that I could switch to a variety of carriers at any point, simply by purchasing the correct sim card. I have my eye on net10 (ATT), but that would be $20 more per month, and I am not sure that it is worth it even if I get better coverage.

I loved the verizon network, but grew tired of the inability to bring my own phone to one of their pre-paid plans, them refusing to unlock any of my phones, and paying nearly $2000 per year on two cell phone plans. Now, I pay about half of that. Yes, I must bear the cost of the phones, but this pays for itself in about a year. Furthermore, I see no reason to switch phones every two years at this point or feeling ripped off with expensive plans if I did not upgrade. I would still be using my HTC thunderbolt were it more universally compatible and unlocked. Like a car, you start saving some real money in year two and three if you don't keep buying new phones.

Of course, somebody will probably come out with some killer feature in the next generation phones, rendering all my plans moot.

I am paying significantly less on T-Mobile, even factoring in the cost of the two nexus phones I have bought in the last year.

I actually am getting more, because now I have no limits on minutes or texts like before, and no bloatware or Verizon bossiness.

 

[gidgiddonihah]

I am paying significantly less on T-Mobile, even factoring in the cost of the two nexus phones I have bought in the last year.

I actually am getting more, because now I have no limits on minutes or texts like before, and no bloatware or Verizon bossiness.

I was checking out their website and couldn't find any reference to the 30$ plan people keep talking about. If you don't mind me asking, what plan are you on?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Central n ohios best]

I was checking out their website and couldn't find any reference to the 30$ plan people keep talking about. If you don't mind me asking, what plan are you on?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

U have to call T-Mobile. At first the 70$ prepaid unlimited wasnt on the website either. I called tmo and they activated me no problem.

Sent from my T-Mobile LG Escape running 4.1.2 using tapatalk 2 (Central n ohio Austin IL)

 

[JeffDenver]

I was checking out their website and couldn't find any reference to the 30$ plan people keep talking about. If you don't mind me asking, what plan are you on?

$70 unlimited everything.

They do limit wifi hotspot to 500MB a month. Of course this can be circumvented through rooting, and T-Mobile does not attempt to restrict rooting like Verizon does.

 

[mrsmumbles]

I was checking out their website and couldn't find any reference to the 30$ plan people keep talking about. If you don't mind me asking, what plan are you on?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

I've also seen reference to getting the $30 T-Mobile plan at Walmart but I don't know if that's accurate.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2

 

[oberkc]

The quick story for me regarding the $30 plan was that a lot of folks at Walmart and TMobile told me a lot of things that ended up not being true about how to activate that plan. While the exercise was not trivial in my case, I am glad I went through it.

There is a whole thread on the topic, so I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say that there seems not to be a consistent way to do this. It was easy for some, impossible for others, and somewhere in between for the rest. If I were to try it again, I would go to Walmart.com, order the sim card for that plan, and plug it into my new phone.

 

[theduder]

I got the $30/mo plan last year when I bought my Nexus 4. Did it on the phone without buying anything from Walmart. Ordered the SIM from T-Mobile.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Shilohcane]

The quick story for me regarding the $30 plan was that a lot of folks at Walmart and TMobile told me a lot of things that ended up not being true about how to activate that plan. While the exercise was not trivial in my case, I am glad I went through it.

There is a whole thread on the topic, so I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say that there seems not to be a consistent way to do this. It was easy for some, impossible for others, and somewhere in between for the rest. If I were to try it again, I would go to Walmart.com, order the sim card for that plan, and plug it into my new phone.

This is the point that most people they are being ripped off by Verizon, ATT, Sprint and T-Mobile that doesn't advertise they will discount their price if you own your own phone. If you own a AT&T you can go to their cheaper service since they own AIO. If you have T-Mobile you can get Metro PCS that they own. If you have Sprint you can get several services including Straight Talk via Trackphone that gets their services from Sprint's towers. When Verizon that blocks the Nexus 5 loses enough customers they will lower their price also just to stay in businesses.

 

[oberkc]

I got the $30/mo plan last year when I bought my Nexus 4. Did it on the phone without buying anything from Walmart. Ordered the SIM from T-Mobile.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

So you were one of the ones falling into the easy category. I purchased mine SIM card also from TMobile, but they refused to activate it on the $30 monthly plan without having an activation code purchasable only from Walmart.

 

[kolyan2k]

I am considering ordering N5. I have MX now. Very nice phone. I think quality-wise its better then N5, but it still might lack the updates and camera on MX is not usable in low light. I think screen on MX is excellent for AMOLED, battery life is amazing (I am usually at 40-50% on battery with 3-4 hours of screen time which ALL syncs, Google Now, Facebook, and all Moto stuff is ON, WiFi ON), also T-Mobile version of MX is the same as Dev Edition (bootloader unlockable and its SIM-unlocked, no T-mobile branding as well).

$500 is pushing it, but at $350 for 16GB custom built phone with free overnight shipping and 30% off on all accessories, I think its a pretty good deal.

 

[JeffDenver]

I converted a friend of mine to T-Mobile last night.

Word of advice...if you are trying to escape Verizon, do NOT go through them to transfer anything. Go through T-Mobile. You will need your Verizon Account number, and probably your ID/Password for the website as well. Typical transfer time is under 4 hours (his was done in 90 minutes), and you CAN transfer even if your contract is not yet up (though it has to be close, like within a week). Or, you know, you can just pay the fee and leave early. Thats what I did. It was totally worth $250.

Verizon will throw up road blocks if you try to go through them. They are like a desperate controlling girlfriend that you are trying to break up with who won't take no for an answer. The less they know the better.

 

[DayThyme]

$500 is pushing it, but at $350 for 16GB custom built phone with free overnight shipping and 30% off on all accessories, I think its a pretty good deal.

I hope everyone realizes the added cost that are associated with a phone assembled in the US. In the US, you actually have to pay people a decent wage and I am sure the Motorola employees get benefits, too, like health insurance. That makes it more expensive than a phone assembled in chinese factories by people who are paid a comparatively very low wage.

 

[kolyan2k]

I hope everyone realizes the added cost that are associated with a phone assembled in the US. In the US, you actually have to pay people a decent wage and I am sure the Motorola employees get benefits, too, like health insurance. That makes it more expensive than a phone assembled in chinese factories by people who are paid a comparatively very low wage.

yes, but they only slap on back covers and buttons for the most part everything else is done in China.

 

[DayThyme]

yes, but they only slap on back covers and buttons for the most part everything else is done in China.

hence the term assembled. still costs a ton to have american workers do even that compared to chinese workers

 

[21stNow]

So you were one of the ones falling into the easy category. I purchased mine SIM card also from TMobile, but they refused to activate it on the $30 monthly plan without having an activation code purchasable only from Walmart.

There are a ton of different stories on what is required for this plan floating around. My most trouble-free activation was to buy a SIM card activation kit from amazon.com and activate it through the T-Mobile website. However, I have read that you can't activate this plan with kits purchased from Amazon, which contradicts my experience.

 

[Scott7217]

I loved the verizon network, but grew tired of the inability to bring my own phone to one of their pre-paid plans, them refusing to unlock any of my phones, and paying nearly $2000 per year on two cell phone plans.

The fact that Verizon didn't allow you to bring your own phone to their prepaid plans is probably a blessing in disguise. Their prepaid plans are very expensive, and you're limited to 3G speeds. You don't get LTE. As for unlocking your phone, it would only make sense if it were compatible with another network. For example, the HTC Thunderbolt doesn't have a GSM radio, so it couldn't work on AT&T or T-Mobile no matter what.

Verizon's pricing is based on what people are willing to pay for their extensive network coverage. I know people who can only use Verizon because they rely on their phones a lot. (For example, they take care of young children or elderly parents, so it's important for them to have reliable voice coverage everywhere they go in case they need to be contacted in an emergency.)

In any case, it's good that you got a Nexus 5. Hopefully T-Mobile will expand its coverage so that it can challenge Verizon more aggressively.

 

[DayThyme]

As for unlocking your phone, it would only make sense if it were compatible with another network. For example, the HTC Thunderbolt doesn't have a GSM radio, so it couldn't work on AT&T or T-Mobile no matter what.

All of the new Verizon 4G LTE phones have GSM radios and they are SIM unlocked out of the box. The Verizon iPhone 5s has all of the LTE bands for ATT and TMobile, too.

 

[oberkc]

All of the new Verizon 4G LTE phones have GSM radios and they are SIM unlocked out of the box. The Verizon iPhone 5s has all of the LTE bands for ATT and TMobile, too.

Really!? While I think I knew this of the iPhone, I did not realize that they all had GSM capabilities.

 

[DayThyme]

Really!? While I think I knew this of the iPhone, I did not realize that they all had GSM capabilities.

hmm, I will have to check on it, but I thought that was true for all of them, not just the iPhone. Whether or not they support all of the LTE bands of other carriers is a different story.

ETA - just double checked, the Verizon iPhone 5/5s, GNote2/3, Galaxy S3/4 and Moto X have GSM radios and will work on ATT and TMobile for talk/text. Whether they work on LTE for other carriers is a different story. The iPhone 5s will work on ATT and TMobile's LTE.

I think Verizon is requiring the manufacturers to put the GSM radios in their phones to make them world phones.