2022 5G cell phones, best deals?

[KITROBASKIN]

Poppy, I had similar issues with the Android app sending contacts to a new iPhone. Took quite a bit of time to straighten it out but it's ok now. Hopefully you will get used to the difference. Undeniably Android has some handier features than ios but the overall experience on Apple is better for me.

I have the adaptor to send music to our home stereo but really do not use it very much. Do you have wireless charging (Magsafe?) capability? That is nice but the added layer of a phone case makes it a bit titchy to align.

 

[Poppy]

Kitrobaskin,
I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who had a problem transferring and adapting from android to iphone. After a while I'll get it all worked out. Thankfully I have my daughter to help guide me, or it might have been a painful experience.

Yes it is a iPhone 13 and it has the magnetic charging ability. My daughter has a magnetic charger, and mine hooked up to it no problem, but I think the charging rate is much slower than hard wired charging.

I had a little down time here and there at work today, so I spliced in the new connector for my new bluetooth car radio today. 14 wires! Either later tonight, or tomorrow, I'll solder all the connections, and then install it tomorrow.

Baby steps I guess.

 

[PhotonWrangler]

A reminder for anyone with a 3G phone -

• AT&T is turning off their 3G towers next week - Feb 22nd.
• TMO is turning theirs off between March and July of 2022.
• Verizon says they will finish their 3G shutwodns by December 2022.

More info here...

And if your car's telematics use a 3G cellular module, you need to get it updated this year. Ditto if you have any home medical devices or alarm systems that have 3G radios in them. Some older cell-equipped Kindles will lose access also.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Yes Poppy, and the Magnetic charger is less efficient, especially if it is not aligned pretty much exactly as intended, I understand. In our case, we are solar and usually have more than enough sun.

 

[Poppy]

YEA!!! Now my phone can talk to my car!
I made three phone calls on it today, and received 2.
The iPhone synched up nicely, and now when I get into the car, and start her up, music starts playing right away.
Man... life keeps getting better all the time!

 

[Chauncey Gardiner]

YEA!!! Now my phone can talk to my car!
I made three phone calls on it today, and received 2.
The iPhone synched up nicely, and now when I get into the car, and start her up, music starts playing right away.
Man... life keeps getting better all the time!

Congratulations, and welcome to iPhone. We've been waiting for you.

 

[Poppy]

Congratulations, and welcome to iPhone. We've been waiting for you.

LOL Chance, you are out of your mind! But thanks for the welcome.

If not for my daughter encouraging me to make the switch, I wouldn't have done it, and without her as a guide, I would be kicking myself in the A$$ for doing so. The transition of data does not necessarily go smoothly. The interphase is very different. I would say that unless you have a particular reason to change to the iPhone format, don't do it. The learning curve is steep.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Poppy, give yourself some time. iPhone will be like riding a bike soon enough; that is if you use it regularly. Not knocking Android however. Wife is using my old Samsung S9 and when she has an issue, I can usually help; kind of like being bilingual.

It may be a long time before you have to get another phone, but transitioning to another iPhone should be pretty hunky dory.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Just this morning, I was reading on an iPad and got a phone call. I was able to answer and speak using the iPad itself without getting up to use the iPhone. When first receiving this iPhone13, it suggested moving it near our (years old) iPad Pro. That speeded up the 'new-phone' process significantly. No need to look up our WiFi password; thqt kind of thing. I did take photos of all my important contacts from the old phone and stored it on Google Photos, just in case the contact transfer went kaput. That was somewhat helpful.

Perhaps I should mention that I purchased the unlocked iPhone 13 shortly after release for about $950 which includes a magsafe charger, and using Prepaid Verizon (the only halfway decent network here) about $30/month currently, with another $5 reduction in some months. Wife is using the Verizon network with the MVNO company called Mobi, out of Hawaii for about $20/month. She has 1GB of data, I have 4 or 5(?)

 

[PhotonWrangler]

Just this morning, I was reading on an iPad and got a phone call. I was able to answer and speak using the iPad itself without getting up to use the iPhone. When first receiving this iPhone13, it suggested moving it near our (years old) iPad Pro. That speeded up the 'new-phone' process significantly. No need to look up our WiFi password; thqt kind of thing. I did take photos of all my important contacts from the old phone and stored it on Google Photos, just in case the contact transfer went kaput. That was somewhat helpful.

Perhaps I should mention that I purchased the iPhone 13 shortly after release for about $950 which includes a magsafe charger, and using Prepaid Verizon (the only halfway decent network here) about $30/month currently, with another $5 reduction in some months. Wife is using the Verizon network with the MVNO company called Mobi, out of Hawaii for about $20/month. She has 1GB of data, I have 4 or 5(?)

MVNOs are a good choice for tech-savvy users who don't need to call customer service very often. I use an MVNO for my personal phone and it's just under $30/month for 5gb. I think the only time I've had to use their customer service (which is often offshore) was for the initial startup.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Having been with Republic Wireless (another MVNO) for years, their customer service was/is excellent. They use AT&T towers supposedly, originally utilizing Sprint, though that CDMA service is ending. They were bought out by DISH, with resulting concern by Republic Wireless customers. The transition has been rocky and not really a bargain in this competitive MVNO world now. I was getting 1GB of data for about $20 before leaving (with non existent service at or near home) while wife did not want to pay for any data and stayed on until a few months ago for about $13/month.

So far, Mobi has been responsive to our needs, with voice support primarily but emails also. Some of their workers are in Hawaii, one was in Vancouver Canada, another stateside. Mobi is still spooling up and their app is effectively non functional last time I looked.

Before buying the iPhone, I used the Samsung to experiment with different carriers. Ting was a fizzle. Verizon MVNO Visible was a nightmare for me. Tello was quirky with texting. Verizon Prepaid was no walk in the park either, having to go twice to a brick and mortar store to straighten things out.

Verizon has apparently purchased Consumer Cellular... The MVNO Mint is pretty popular but not for everyone.

Purchasing an unlocked phone opens a lot of options, including choice of carriers. The Apple store will do it.