Why purchase a phone

[Flowey]

Alright, I'm looking into buying a new phone, and wondering what are the diffrences between buying the actual phone yourself then getting service or getting a contract involving a phone? I can make some educated guesses but I want some confirmation pls

 THX

[Lurick]

Mostly it's upfront vs drawn-out cost. Buying a phone outright costs more right away but allows you to cancel service at any time usually. The contact is a 0% loan on the phone and if you cancel early you have to pay off the remaining balance on the phone.

[DocSwag]

13 minutes ago, Lurick said:

Mostly it's upfront vs drawn-out cost. Buying a phone outright costs more right away but allows you to cancel service at any time usually. The contact is a 0% loan on the phone and if you cancel early you have to pay off the remaining balance on the phone.

Also if you buy it from the carrier at least on android you get updates later  

[Lurick]

Just now, DocSwag said:

Also if you buy it from the carrier at least on android you get updates later  

Hmmm, interesting.

I know I bought my phone from T-Mobile but I'm on Ting and I still get updates.

Doesn't surprise me that some would block updates if you're not on their network though.

[aeroencychris]

3 minutes ago, Lurick said:

Hmmm, interesting.

I know I bought my phone from T-Mobile but I'm on Ting and I still get updates.

Doesn't surprise me that some would block updates if you're not on their network though.

At least with Verizon, it's just because they put their own layer of bloatware ontop of Android so all updates have to go through them first. Since I got my Axon 7 unlocked right from ZTE, I don't have to deal with that layer.

[DocSwag]

15 minutes ago, Lurick said:

Hmmm, interesting.

I know I bought my phone from T-Mobile but I'm on Ting and I still get updates.

Doesn't surprise me that some would block updates if you're not on their network though.

Yeah, as @cdsboy2000 said, a lot of the time the carriers stall the updates because they add bloatware and whatnot on top of android. That's another reason why I prefer unlocked phones, as you don't get a bunch of extra bloatware and apps that come with android.

[Flowey]

17 minutes ago, cdsboy2000 said:

At least with Verizon, it's just because they put their own layer of bloatware ontop of Android so all updates have to go through them first. Since I got my Axon 7 unlocked right from ZTE, I don't have to deal with that layer.

 

5 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

Yeah, as @cdsboy2000 said, a lot of the time the carriers stall the updates because they add bloatware and whatnot on top of android. That's another reason why I prefer unlocked phones, as you don't get a bunch of extra bloatware and apps that come with android.

Ohhh, unlocked that's the word to describe buying your cell right? Do you generally get lower priced contracts if you do so? Like instead of getting fked in the ass cause I live in Canada and pay minimum 60$/month for this crap, could I possibly lower those cost by buying the cell and then going month to month with a carrier, be it Rogers, Telus or whoever?

[Lurick]

1 minute ago, Flowey said:

 

Ohhh, unlocked that's the word to describe buying your cell right? Do you generally get lower priced contracts if you do so? Like instead of getting fked in the ass cause I live in Canada and pay minimum 60$/month for this crap, could I possibly lower those cost by buying the cell and then going month to month with a carrier, be it Rogers, Telus or whoever?

Some carriers will give you lower rates if you buy the phone outright. Others however will still screw you over.

[Flowey]

Just now, Lurick said:

Some carriers will give you lower rates if you buy the phone outright. Others however will still screw you over.

The is the world we live in, as I like to say, "you either screw people of people screw you. your choice"

[DocSwag]

1 minute ago, Flowey said:

 

Ohhh, unlocked that's the word to describe buying your cell right? Do you generally get lower priced contracts if you do so? Like instead of getting fked in the ass cause I live in Canada and pay minimum 60$/month for this crap, could I possibly lower those cost by buying the cell and then going month to month with a carrier, be it Rogers, Telus or whoever?

For me, since I'm in the us and on T-Mobile (who doesn't do 2 year contracts), buying from the carrier makes no sense at all. However, if you're using a cell provider that offers contracts they could potentially be worth it. However, you're stuck with using them for 2 years, and if you try to switch there's a big penalty.

 

If you're planning on keeping a phone for two years and plan on using a provider that offers contracts they could be worth it, as you get the phone for cheaper and pay the same for the data AFAIK (you could check to be sure but usually going on contract doesn't cost any extra than getting an unlocked phone and using the same data plan), you'd just have to deal with the extra bloatware.

[Flowey]

Just now, DocSwag said:

For me, since I'm in the us and on T-Mobile (who doesn't do 2 year contracts), buying from the carrier makes no sense at all. However, if you're using a cell provider that offers contracts they could potentially be worth it. However, you're stuck with using them for 2 years, and if you try to switch there's a big penalty.

 

If you're planning on keeping a phone for two years and plan on using a provider that offers contracts they could be worth it, as you get the phone for cheaper and pay the same for the data AFAIK (you could check to be sure but usually going on contract doesn't cost any extra than getting an unlocked phone and using the same data plan), you'd just have to deal with the extra bloatware.

FUCK ME THEN by bloatware do you mean anything removable or actual shite you can't remove?

[DocSwag]

3 minutes ago, Flowey said:

FUCK ME THEN by bloatware do you mean anything removable or actual shite you can't remove?

Usually it's random apps and crap that you can disable but not remove. Though you also get updates later.

 

Of course, you could flash your own custom rom onto the device bypassing that, but you'd be voiding your warranty.

 

You could also probably root the device and then you could probably remove the crap but, again, you'd be voiding your warranty.

[Flowey]

3 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

Usually it's random apps and crap that you can disable but not remove. Though you also get updates later.

 

Of course, you could flash your own custom rom onto the device bypassing that, but you'd be voiding your warranty.

 

You could also probably root the device and then you could probably remove the crap but, again, you'd be voiding your warranty.

Alright then. By buying the cell as a standalone and then getting service, do I still get the bloatware? I'm guessing not since technically there are no contract.

[DocSwag]

Actually I just checked something and for Roger, for example, if you pick the 5gb plan if you bring your own phone you save $10 a month compared to buying it from them (though you get the phone at a discount of a few hundred dollars if you get it through them with a contract)

 

Over two years you'd save $240 on data but you'd be saving more if you bought the phone through them. Just something I noticed.

[Mooshi]

20 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

Yeah, as @cdsboy2000 said, a lot of the time the carriers stall the updates because they add bloatware and whatnot on top of android. That's another reason why I prefer unlocked phones, as you don't get a bunch of extra bloatware and apps that come with android.

 

Not quite that simple. Your carrier only supplies the service, your manufacturer is the one responsible for updates. Take Samsung's Galaxy line, those take ages to get updates vs a Google phone like the Pixel.

[DocSwag]

Just now, Flowey said:

Alright then. By buying the cell as a standalone and then getting service, do I still get the bloatware? I'm guessing not since technically there are no contract.

You get bloatware from the manufacturer you buy it from unless it's google, but you don't get any from your service provider. You just pop a SIM card in and you should be good to go if you get an unlocked phone.

[DocSwag]

Just now, Mooshi said:

 

Not quite that simple. Your carrier only supplies the service, your manufacturer is the one responsible for updates. Take Samsung's Galaxy line, those take ages to get updates vs a Google phone like the Pixel.

Carriers usually do add an extra barrier for updates. If you buy the phone through them that usually happens.

[Flowey]

2 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

Actually I just checked something and for Roger, for example, if you pick the 5gb plan if you bring your own phone you save $10 a month compared to buying it from them (though you get the phone at a discount of a few hundred dollars if you get it through them with a contract)

 

Over two years you'd save $240 on data but you'd be saving more if you bought the phone through them. Just something I noticed.

So really I'm mostly looking at : Do you want to keep this phone for a few years or have the possibility to upgrade once in a while? I'm looking at some trade-up option, wondering if dead cellphones are usable for that stuff, I don't think so right?

[DocSwag]

@Flowey doing a bit more research it seems the price disparity in the plan increases with more data in the plan. E.g. for Roger's there's a $10 per month difference in the 5gb plan between bringing your own phone and getting it through them, whereas with a 15gb plan the difference is $20 a month.

[DocSwag]

Just now, Flowey said:

So really I'm mostly looking at : Do you want to keep this phone for a few years or have the possibility to upgrade once in a while? I'm looking at some trade-up option, wondering if dead cellphones are usable for that stuff, I don't think so right?

I don't know too much on trade up plans, so I can't really answer that  

[Mooshi]

3 minutes ago, DocSwag said:

Carriers usually do add an extra barrier for updates. If you buy the phone through them that usually happens.

Never denied that. Just saying updates are a bit more complex than pointing at your carrier in terms of update frequency.

[DocSwag]

1 minute ago, Mooshi said:

Never denied that. Just saying updates are a bit more complex than pointing at your carrier in terms of update frequency.

Fair enough, though generally there is extra time that is added between updates usually ranging from a few weeks to a few months.

[LienusLateTips]

58 minutes ago, Flowey said:

 

Ohhh, unlocked that's the word to describe buying your cell right? Do you generally get lower priced contracts if you do so? Like instead of getting fked in the ass cause I live in Canada and pay minimum 60$/month for this crap, could I possibly lower those cost by buying the cell and then going month to month with a carrier, be it Rogers, Telus or whoever?

If you buy it yourself, there are BYOP discounts. Also, I pay $42 a month for 500 minutes and 1.5GB at Virgin (Bell).

[Flowey]

1 hour ago, JDE said:

If you buy it yourself, there are BYOP discounts. Also, I pay $42 a month for 500 minutes and 1.5GB at Virgin (Bell).

Don't know if I could negociate at the desk, not afraid to do that on my end.

[LienusLateTips]

3 minutes ago, Flowey said:

Don't know if I could negociate at the desk, not afraid to do that on my end.

I didn't negotiate. It was just offered to me after I said I had a budget of max $45