Broken S7 but I am at the end of my contract. What's should my next phone be?

Bigfootmandude · August 1, 2018

Hello!

My S7 has the glass and camera smashed on the back (despite the case D:), and the contract is on is expiring.

I am unsure as to what's the best upgrade/purchase path.

I can repair the phone, as performance wise it is doing just fine, and I am not really a power user on it.

The battery is currently okay, but I kinda want a new battery for it if I was going to open the phone up to repair it.

My usage is mostly music (Deezer with headphones), web browsing, light social media etc.

Starting on Contract, both the S8 and S9 are the obvious upgrade choices, with the S8 being the cheapest.

Choosing either of these phones would increase my monthly bill by $10, which would suck.

I have concerns about the fingerprint scanner placement on the S8, so I am hesitant to go out and get it, as I don't have the biggest of hands.

The lack of headphone jacks on the iPhones, Pixel and Huawei devices are deal-breakers.

LG devices don't have very good reviews as of late, so I am hesitant to go that route as well.

Unfortunately, my carrier does lower the monthly bill if you bring your own phone, so going on contract with one of their phones makes the most financial sense.

What are my other options?

Thanks!

Zando_ · August 1, 2018

If you can find a One Plus 5T with your cell carrier that is a freaking amazing android phone at a price way lower than most other flagships.

Bigfootmandude · August 1, 2018

3 minutes ago, Zando Bob said:

If you can find a One Plus 5T with your cell carrier that is a freaking amazing android phone at a price way lower than most other flagships.

Unfortunately my carrier does not offer any one-plus phones on contract, and so I would be paying the upfront cost of the phone in addition to the high phone bill, where as something like the S8 would not have the upfront cost, and have the same monthly bill. It's a pretty stupid system.

Egg-Roll · August 1, 2018

If it is cheaper to get the S7 fixed (like $150-200) Do it esp if you're going on a 2 year term. Have you looked at other plans provided by your provider? Sometimes they hide or don't tell you of better plans that are shown online... Simply because why should they lose money if they can just keep you on the current plan by being dishonest. (this has happened to at least one person in my family)

I've owned a few LG phones, and while I don't think the top tier phones are worth (hence never owned them) it, their midranges seem to be decent for the price.

Also have you looked at other providers to see if they are cheaper? If their competitor has a better deal and equal service quality they might lower your bill to a better deal, tho likely not as low as the competitor but something is better than nothing.

Darkseth · August 1, 2018

Well, going S8 doesn't make much sense, as it's not much of an upgrade.

If you're perfectly satisfied with your S7, it's fine too. If you look for a noticeable upgrade, you should at least jump 2 years further. S7 --> S9 for example.

Hauwei P20 / P20 Pro would also be incredibly good phones. However, no headphone jack here, and "only" 1080p res.

S9, or much better, S9+ would be a solid allrounder, no missing headphone jack, no notch (many don't like it) but still very high screen to body ratio..

I would highly prefer the S9+ over teh S9. 6gb Ram over 4 make sense for the next years, especially with Samsung. And better camera (second one with telephoto lense)

Bigfootmandude · August 2, 2018

2 hours ago, Egg-Roll said:

If it is cheaper to get the S7 fixed (like $150-200) Do it esp if you're going on a 2 year term. Have you looked at other plans provided by your provider? Sometimes they hide or don't tell you of better plans that are shown online... Simply because why should they lose money if they can just keep you on the current plan by being dishonest. (this has happened to at least one person in my family)

I've owned a few LG phones, and while I don't think the top tier phones are worth (hence never owned them) it, their midranges seem to be decent for the price.

Also have you looked at other providers to see if they are cheaper? If their competitor has a better deal and equal service quality they might lower your bill to a better deal, tho likely not as low as the competitor but something is better than nothing.

My initial estimate for repairing the phone had it cheaper than buying say an S9 or similar, but more expensive than going for something like an S8 on contract.

If I can somehow convince them to lower the monthly bill, then repairing the phone is the cheapest choice.