Author Topic: Moto X screen shattered. Please suggest a new phone and plan.  (Read 3632 times)

Katielady

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My Moto X fell off my nightstand and the screen completely shattered. I was not a fan of the Moto X and I wouldn't mind trying a new provider (from Airvoice Wireless). Fresh start.

I am willing to pay $200 or so for a new phone and I'd love to try a new network/plan for $35 per month or less. Based on current slickdeals, I am looking at the LG G2 with Airvoice Wireless (unless there is a better AT&T compatible carrier) or the FreedomPop $29 LG Optimus.  I am totally open to any other combination of phone and carriers and I welcome your thoughts and experience!

Background: I bought a Moto X late last summer and I hated the battery life.  Compared to my old iPhone 4 that would last for days without charging (I am a light user), I had to charge it everyday, regardless of whether I had even picked it up that day. 

I used Airvoice Wireless. I initially tried the PAYG, but I disliked the pop up  messages about account balance after every text, call, or data, so I switched to the $30 "unlimited" plan. That was somewhat better, but I still had issues receiving mms from certain people (never figured that out even though I followed all the steps on the website).  My husband has similar issues and his internet is incredibly unreliable.

I have read and reread so many threads on cell phone plans, but I am selfishly looking for someone to say, "Buy this phone with this plan. It's great."

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Bob W

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Re: Moto X screen shattered. Please suggest a new phone and plan.
« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2015, 08:34:13 PM »
Buy a moto on republic wireless on the $10 plan,  "its great!".    At least for me, my daughter and wife.   YMMV.

Edit -- Honestly I can't recall if mine is an X or a G?  It was the $100 phone from Republic.   I am amazed at the length of battery life on mine typically I can go 3 days without charging it, although I do usually plug in daily.   I have a charger at work and home so if I want I can charge anytime.    My phone alerts me when there is 14% battery life left and that is enough for probably 8 hours if I'm not too talky.   

With a car charger,  home charger and work charger I can't imagine why anyone can't keep their phone close to 100% most of the time.

Might I also suggest you buy one of those $15 little portable battery sticks?    I think those will fully charge just about any phone.   

I'm wondering if your phone isn't a fluke.  My wife and daughter with motos never mentioned any issue with charging?  Did you buy it used?   Perhaps it was the dropping and shattering that effected the battery?

Do you just have your heart set on the Apples?
« Last Edit: April 29, 2015, 07:51:20 AM by Bob W »

HeCreates

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Re: Moto X screen shattered. Please suggest a new phone and plan.
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2015, 08:41:37 PM »
I have the Moto X on Republic Wireless. +1 to the poor battery life of the moto x. I like the phone fine, but charging twice per day with moderate use is inconvenient.

With that said, I have been happy with Republic Wireless. My wife paid $150 for the Moto G and although it isn't as "powerful" as my Moto X it gets the job done and the battery life is better than my X. Not sure exactly what you need from a phone, but the $10 RW plan is what we use.

Greg

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Re: Moto X screen shattered. Please suggest a new phone and plan.
« Reply #3 on: April 27, 2015, 08:53:06 AM »
For $200 you could buy a MotoE and almost a year of $10/month service.  I did this for my parents who were paying $100+/month for flip phones. 

Not what you wanted to hear I bet.

Daley

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Re: Moto X screen shattered. Please suggest a new phone and plan.
« Reply #4 on: April 27, 2015, 11:07:01 AM »
Katie, there's other AT&T MVNOs that do PAYGO without the USSD balance notifications (but it is very common with AT&T MVNOs). Although Airvoice and H2O Wireless do this with their PAYGO accounts, Puretalk USA does not. At least under Android, there's also apps that can suppress USSD notices and/or convert them into notifications, but some of them work better on older Android builds than newer and others require Root. Right now, this one seems the most reliable over on the Play Store, but it costs one buck, I've never personally used it, and as such cannot vouch for it. It's also worth noting that most T-Mobile MVNOs don't bother with USSD notifications, so keep that in mind as well if T-Mo coverage is good in your area.

mVoIP providers are pretty terrible service wise, and any provider that forces hardware lock-in, terrible contracts, and doesn't provide any real customer support is a raw deal no matter how cheap it appears. There are better out there for less if you just exercise moderation, and if you were able to get away with the Airvoice $10 plan in the past and only switched away from it to the unlimited plan to only avoid USSD messages, that seals it as a slam dunk for getting better for the same amount or less.

Regarding phones, if you're wanting to go smartphone, there's plenty of cheap and used on the market well under $100 if you know how to shop for 'em. It's also more environmentally friendly and considerate to the state of rare earth metal mining. However, if you feel compelled to buy new, Look into Blu handsets. They have a lot of really cheap, nice, carrier unlocked stock Android handsets for under $100 that also have user replaceable batteries (which is increasingly rare, especially at these price points) - camera quality is the only thing that seems to suffer. The Blu Life Play Mini seems to be a pretty sweet deal for $70 off of Amazon.

I know you're wanting someone to just tell you what to buy, but you should put in the effort and make sure to buy what you need instead of letting other people spend your money for you.

Jeremy E.

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Re: Moto X screen shattered. Please suggest a new phone and plan.
« Reply #5 on: April 27, 2015, 12:48:30 PM »
I'm using a Moto X on republic wireless and I love it, I switch between the $10/month and $25/month plans. I have a phone charger on my nightstand and just plug it in before I go to sleep, not much hassle for me, maybe you could form a new habit for charging your phone and you wouldn't hate it as much? If you are worried about the screen shattering again, you could buy a case for it as well.