Need serious smart phone guidence

Hey guys

I'm one of the few basic phone holdouts and I'm considering ditching my basic phone and overpriced verizon plan for a smart phone. My main issue is that I'm cheap..well when it comes to most things but herps.

That said, the only options I'm considering right now are verizon's prepaid service and straight talk prepaid. Those options aren't that great (I would be stuck with only 3G service with verizon or could face spotty coverage on AT&T's 4G network.) but I'm unwilling to sign a contract with verizon which would put me spending close to twice what I am now before taxes.

I'm mainly conflicted because most phones in my price range are only 3G compatible and aren't top of the line (lack features, memory, or run on outdated android).. I'm looking to spend around $250 or less. So far the only decent option that runs up-to-date android I can find is the motoG, but it's sadly only 3G compatible.

I'd like your input on whether or not 4G is necessary to "enjoy" / get use out of a smart phone and whether or not getting a rather low-end smart phone would be worth it as well. I'd primarily be using calendar and gps functions on the phone as well as some game aps.. I probably won't be streaming much and plan on hooking up to wifi as much as possible.

If you guys have any input on 3G vs. 4G, smart phones in my price range, etc. they would be greatly appreciated as I know nothing about this subject matter.

Buck up and get the Samsung S4....you will be on the forum more than ever!

iPhones are better built, but aren't as user friendly as the Androids.

I've used both and I prefer the Android based phones. Not to mention that the iPhone's try to lock everything to iTunes and I will never respect a company for this.

4g is so much faster than 3g around here.
I stick with Sprint mainly because I haven't had too much trouble with them. Started out on their burners with Virgin.

In your case, I recommend getting as good of a smartphone as you can get. 3G/4G doesn't really matter all that much based on what you said you were going to use your phone for. So stick with the 3G plan, and see what their best phone is.

Not sure how you feel or if your area covered but the Straightalk has pretty good phones and (some are pretty new) Both my wife and I have them we are still on 2.3 android phones. but with no contract and it only 45 bucks a month( or 46 if direct taken from account ) card that offer unlimited talk text and data) we been happy. I know she uses her tap a talk to get on here a lot. I know they have a few 4g lt phones but we stick not sure how they work. They are a trac-phone company but I know they have Verizon and spirit tower access ( with Verizon phones having a red united states map on the package ( just an fyi) )

So you can get a phone and at least 1st month air time with your budget.. ( possible more)

If you sign up for a two year contract with Verizon you can get tons of phones for under $250. I get a discount through my work but if I didn't the bill would be like $90 a month I think. With the amount of time I spend on my phone I think it's a very justifiable expense. But that's just me lol

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Thanks for the input guys!

I think we're going to run a "test" of the coverage offered by straight talk in my area before I commit to buying a GSM phone to use on their network (or looking into verizon prepaid). Here, the straight talk service uses AT&T, verizon (only on 2 phones here like you said mechnut450), or sprint networks.

They have a "free" basic phone (I think it runs on AT&T's network) and we're planning on getting it and a $30/month credit. My husband wants to try it out around town and see how good the coverage is (although this may not tell us about 4G coverage, we'll at least know if we can get calls / texts in town). If that works out fine, he'll keep that basic phone and I'll get a smart phone to use on their network.

I'm thinking verizon pre-pay will be my second option (they are 3G and it would be $60 a month for a small amount of data, before taxes / fees) or just see if I can do their pre-pay basic phone service ($35 a month).

Either way we'll be saving money from what we're paying now with no smart phones.

Mike41793- I just don't know if I'll use it enough to justify spending about $90 a month... I have a tablet at home and computer at work, so my internet usage will be low at best... Plus I've been with verizon so long and am tired of their customer service... Not that smart talk would be any better. *shrug*

Thanks again folks!

OK, went with straight talk (verizon network) with the $45 a month plan. I got a so-so phone (android 4.1 with an upgradable micro sd card) the ZTE savvy. I wanted the ZTE Majesty (bigger screen) but they didn't have it in store. I don't think my phone has many "bells and whistles" but it had good reviews and seems to preform well, even with the slower 3G network speed. I'm not sure on battery life yet though.

I figure I'll test out how much I use the smart phone and decide if I want to upgrade to a better phone sometime next year.

Thanks again for your input!

glad I could be of help. Yeah customer service sucks with all the carriers from what I heard..
I had mine a year and i dropped thrown and who knows what else to the phone, and in that time my only draw back has been about every three months I reset it back to the factory settings and reload everything. but i had this problem with all my smart phones. So I copy my contacts to the memory card / the pc. I think it something I been doing too between the updates and and all. The only 2 places I have poorest resp ( drop calls is ) in stores with metal roofs and such( heard that it almost all the phones. or known dead spots. ( we got one in out kitchen you can talk fine and no problems and then suddenly the call drops. ( we think it cause the heating/ac duct it right above the kitchen table the cause. ) I got my wife on straight talks when we started to dating ( cut her bill by like 10 bucks and had way less hassles with than before. ) and I gotten my mother, aunt, cousins all to switch too. Everyone been happier too.