Coming from the iPhone 7 was your mistake :) ... see
http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/10/22/what-is-hedonic-adaptation-and-how-can-it-turn-you-into-a-sukka/What I'm saying is..the iphone 5s is a remarkable piece of technology that you should be happy with, even the camera.
Alas, we all do the same thing to some extent.
We (my mom and I) had Straight Talk about 4 years ago when I was in college. I will agree that their customer service support is pretty lackluster, and you have to be able to figure some things out for yourself. My big concern with it was always losing my phone number, but that never happened. Being able to communicate clearly (i.e. listening well) to people whose first language is not English will go a loooong way.
As to your situation with the iphone 5s on a prepaid plan, I had my mom (who came from a flip phone) do this same thing you did just a month or so ago. I think it's a great plan and you should stick with it. She has a Verizon $50 prepaid plan, (as opposed to the $45 from Straight Talk). I consider the $5 difference a justification for the customer service :) Also, I thought we might have snuck out from underneath the Verizon early termination fee for her prior contract by staying with Verizon. I was wrong, and they charged us $100 for it (without telling me first, which severely pissed me off...topic for a different thread.)
She upgraded to a smart phone because she had started to think she would really like Maps/GPS enabled phone to tell her where to go if/when she gets lost. She did it with her eyes wide open as to what this really meant she was paying for though, and she recognizes it to be a bit silly (when she could just use a map, and ask for directions).
I bought a galaxy S5 a few years back because it had a better camera than the iPhones at the time.
The Wifi-calling issue at home could be solved by taking the iphone 5s or some other smartphone to Verizon's prepaid plans?
I don't think the SE would be that much of an upgrade over the 5s (but I don't and never have had an Iphone so I'm no expert). Physical size would be something to consider since the 5s is so much smaller than the 6.
User 'I.P Daley' is the resident frugal telecommunications/media guru for the MMM forums
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