Looking for a new cell phone
Since getting a California cell phone number means that I’ll need a new contract anyway, I’m planning to get a new cell phone. My current phone, a Motorola V.8162, is wonderfully small and light but doesn’t get any reception at home unless I’m standing at exactly the right angle by the living room window. I can’t deal with that. It gets two or three bars if I’m standing on the street outside, but that’s not much help.
I’m hoping that a new phone will get better reception. Sprint apparently lets you return a new phone and back out of a new contract within 14 days, so I can buy a phone and bring it home to try it out without much risk. The question, then, is what phone to buy. Here are the requirements:
- Better reception than my current phone, specifically at home.
- A flip phone. I keep my phone in my pocket along with a Palm IIIx and my car keys, so anything that isn’t a flip phone will get severely scratched.
- A usable interface. I could design a better UI than the 8162’s if I was drunk. It’s awful. Windows 3.1 was more usable. I’ve had the phone for a couple of years, and it still takes me ten minutes to figure out how to enter a number. I don’t want to deal with that again.
Any suggestions? Price isn’t an issue; I’ll gladly pay more for a phone that’s a better fit for what I want. At the same time, fancy add-ons like Internet access aren’t necessary. I can’t imagine how you can do anything worthwhile on the Internet on a screen small enough to fit on a flip phone.
As for providers, I’m not tied to Sprint. It’s just that I know I get great reception from Sprint at work, their rates aren’t bad, and they seem to have much better phones than everyone else.
Erik J. Barzeski Said,
January 27, 2003 @ 5:56 am
I’ve got a Motorola v.60t and I like it. Good reception, flip phone, good UI, nice voice recognition (why enter a phone number at all?). Solid all around. Dunno, of course, if you can use it with Sprint
Sha Sha Said,
January 27, 2003 @ 4:34 pm
Heya,
The Samsung SCH-A460 is a pretty good phone; both Matt Person and Mariel use it. It’s flippy, small, and has a cool blue colored backlight.
Dunno about the UI because I’ve never really used it, but you could probably e-mail either of those two and ask them about it. The one thing is, I’ve heard it can get kind of hot when you have long conversations… 
Alexei Kosut Said,
January 29, 2003 @ 3:11 pm
If it’s a nice UI you’re after, you can’t go wrong with Nokia. I really like my Nokia 8260, although I’ve been eyeing the Sony-Ericsson T68i (mmm… Bluetooth). Neither of those are flip phones—I just let my phone get scratched up—so I’m not sure that’s helpful. But I’d definitely stop by an AT&T Wireless or Cingular store and play with a Nokia phone if you want a good user interface.
As for reception, if your current phone is bad, you’re probably not going to do much better with another Sprint phone, unless it has a much larger antenna. In general, the best coverage (in the U.S.) is going to come from carriers operating in the 800 MHz bands. In the Bay Area, that’s AT&T (TDMA, not GSM) and Verizon.
My recommendation would be to ask around at work and around your apartment complex to find out what other people think about their wireless carriers. Also, when you buy the phone, try to get them to agree to let you return it and cancel your plan with a week or two if you don’t get great reception at both home and work. Most carriers will agree to this if you ask first. Get something in writing, or at least on tape.
Nick Said,
February 1, 2003 @ 1:31 pm
I don’t have a specific phone recommendation, since I haven’t looked in a while, but I can tell you that it’s not true that another Sprint phone won’t do better for you.
Your phone is old enough that it’s on the old network … if you get a Vision phone, it’ll have been upgraded to their 3G voice network, so even if you don’t subscribe to Vision, you’ll get better reception.
The last phone I bought I got halfway into their 3G upgrade, so it only supports the voice components of 3G (I forget the acronym for this at the moment … I can look it up if you need), but even it immediately improved my reception dramatically … didn’t I tell you about this when I bought it?
Anyway … these days, just about any new phone Sprint sells should give you better reception than the one you have.
–Nick
Jon Said,
February 8, 2003 @ 11:11 am
I own a T68i (got it for free after rebate) but it’s not a flip. Amazon has a great deal (free after rebate) on the Motorola T720i which is a color flip phone that has a good bit of options. It’s UI looks good, color icons make things easy. On Amazon it’s through T-Mobile, but you might be able to get it locally for Sprint. It’s even got a camera :P.
I love T-Mobile so far… No complaints.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008BQZX/prsboos
MellerTime Said,
April 12, 2003 @ 12:58 pm
I just wanted to add that I have Verizon and their reception is excellent. I live in South Carolina and even on my trip to Hawaii a while back it never lost a signal (well, except at 35,000 feet…go figure! :>). Even in the remote reaches of some of the smaller islands in Hawaii it did just fine. At the bottom of the Volcano on the Big Island I was able to check my voicemail!
Verizon has been an excellent service. I started out with BellAtlantic Mobile and was a little concerned when they were bought out by Verizon about a year after I got my first phone, but the service only went up from there!
I would strongly recommend Verizon to anyone looking for a new phone. As for the phone itself, I can’t really recommend. I’ve got a Motorola v120c (came free with a new plan) and it’s been alright. It’s not a flip phone, and it’s not feature-rich, but it’s been reliable even under some very trying conditions (such as a trip into the ocean). I have friends that have some of the other Motorola flip phones (there are several to choose from) and they’ve said nothing but good things about them. Nokia on the other hand I have heard constant complaints about.
Anyway, I hope the search goes well for you and be sure to let us know what you finally decide on.
Anonymous Said,
April 15, 2003 @ 4:58 pm
I am using Verizon, although I get good reception on the phone people say they can never reach me. I was wondering if there is anyone who lives in the bay area who gets good reception at a good price? My sons are needing a cellphone and is was wondering what the best choice was. The reception part really bothers me. By the way i”m leaning twards T-molbile
Thanks,
Phil :/=confused!
Anonymous Said,
April 15, 2003 @ 4:58 pm
I am using Verizon, although I get good reception on the phone people say they can never reach me. I was wondering if there is anyone who lives in the bay area who gets good reception at a good price? My sons are needing a cellphone and is was wondering what the best choice was. The reception part really bothers me. By the way i”m leaning twards T-molbile
Thanks,
Phil :/=confused!
allstar Said,
May 24, 2003 @ 5:29 pm
I was wondering if anyone could tell me which phone they would prefer to get or if you have it if you like it or not and why between: Motorola V60t, Samsung SCH-A530, or the Samsung A310. If you can email me, AllStarNike30@comcast.net, i would really appericiate it …. thanks!!