Hi, never owned a smart phone before - Want a good no contract

[cj31387]

Hi, I'm looking to buy a smart phone next month (September). I live in Santa Maria, California. My friend got the ZTE Warp Android from Boost Mobile and said it is a really good phone for the price but he lives in AZ, I asked a phone dealer where I live if boost was any good, and they said their coverage was not that great here, he recommended T-Mobile because I want no contract. I'm not willing to spend like $300 on a phone right now though from what I've seen of their best no contract phones. I checked out newegg and sorted phones by popularity and came across this one. LG Motion 4G | Android 4G No Contract | MetroPCS - MetroPCS . It is pretty cheap and apparently really good from what reviews say. I just don't know if their coverage is good here, I've never really heard of metropcs in my area. Can anyone recommend a good droid with no contract that has good coverage in my area, Santa Maria, CA.

What I'd like to do with the phone is use apps well, I don't know how well they all run on each phone, but I like to make music so I would want a phone that can run like music making programs (DAW's) for instance this program, and others like it https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...ftware.caustic .

Also I have a couple questions

1: What should I look for in a no contract phone? Should I look at technical specs IE processor or ram ect... or other stuff?

2: Also where should I look to find unbiased info on coverage in my area, I think when talking to the local phone salesmen they are just trying to make commission.

Thanks for reading this, and thanks in advance.

[LandSurveyor]

You will be better served if you settle on what carrier is best for your needs first, then pick from their available phones. Go to the various carriers' websites to see their coverage areas. Their maps are decently accurate and will be your best source of information.

With no-contract services, remember that they usually only run on their hosts' network and do not roam. Services that use Verizon as a host will have the best coverage but VZW doesn't seem to allow them much data so most run on the other 3 networks.. Page Plus, for example, runs on VZW and so has excellent coverage but only recently offers a plan with
1 gb per month. This would be a good choice for you if you are a data-sipper but use lots of voice and/or text. In addition, pretty much any available VZW phone except their own prepaids can be activated on PP.

I use PP with a flip phone for voice because I travel off the beaten path a lot.

I have a Tmo prepaid plan for my smartphone but 4g is gone away from town or the major highways, which is not normally a problem for me.

The combination of both plans costs me a out $42/mo.

Picking from the no-contract offerings from the major carriers is a safe choice because their devices shouldn't give you any network problems but some of the MVNOs have some good choices as well.

If you plan to buy a smartphone for prepaid, you will have to balance your desires with your pocketbook since you will be paying the full price for the device. I paid about $300, IIRC, for my Samsung, which is a good but not top of the line model.

[Adama D. Brown]

LS is right, pick the carrier first. Brighthand has a couple of big articles coming up soon specifically about all the prepaid smartphone options, and which phones make good choices for use on them.

[cj31387]

Thanks LS, good info. Adama Ill check out that article.

[LandSurveyor]

As will I. Thanks, Adama.

[Adama D. Brown]

I don't know when exactly it's going up, but it's in the pipeline to be published.