iPhone 8 and/or iPhone SE (T-Mobile, Verizon, cables, coverage)

[Mike from back east]

AT&T has a Buy One Get One (BOGO) free offer on the iPhone 8 this weekend.

We've never had smartphones, so am looking for advice on this phone such as any notable limitations or faults. I primarily want the phone for GPS, camera, interfacing with our RAV4 radio/GPS, some website surfing when out and about. I do not want to watch TV or movies on any phone, nor play any games.

Also hope someone can advise if the BOGO pricing is reasonable or if this is some sort of retail doubletalk.

Here is an excerpt of the pricing specs from the AT&T website: "SMARTPHONE BOGO: Limited time offer. Buy an iPhone 8 get an iPhone 8 for free when you buy both on AT&T Next® with eligible wireless svc (min. 1st line $50/mo.; 2nd line $20/mo.). Each req’s up to $699.99 on installment agmt. Req’s one new line, well-qualified credit & elig. svc. Free iPhone 8 64 GB after up to $700 in credits over 30 months. Credits start w/in 3 bills. If svc cancelled, device balance due. Activation fees ($25/each), taxes & other charges, limits & restr’s apply."

Thank you!

[Mr5150]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

AT&T has a Buy One Get One (BOGO) free offer on the iPhone 8 this weekend.

We've never had smartphones, so am looking for advice on this phone such as any notable limitations or faults. I primarily want the phone for GPS, camera, interfacing with our RAV4 radio/GPS, some website surfing when out and about. I do not want to watch TV or movies on any phone, nor play any games.

Also hope someone can advise if the BOGO pricing is reasonable or if this is some sort of retail doubletalk.

Here is an excerpt of the pricing specs from the AT&T website: "SMARTPHONE BOGO: Limited time offer. Buy an iPhone 8 get an iPhone 8 for free when you buy both on AT&T Next® with eligible wireless svc (min. 1st line $50/mo.; 2nd line $20/mo.). Each req’s up to $699.99 on installment agmt. Req’s one new line, well-qualified credit & elig. svc. Free iPhone 8 64 GB after up to $700 in credits over 30 months. Credits start w/in 3 bills. If svc cancelled, device balance due. Activation fees ($25/each), taxes & other charges, limits & restr’s apply."

Thank you!

This is the odd part. Normally the first line is $20 for access plus data fee. Not $50. Check their website under plans.

If you're having to pay an extra $30 a month that second phone is not free. I would visit a local ATT store to find out the truth of this deal.

Edit: I wonder if that first line price includes basic data of 1gig which is $30. Then the deal would be worth it

[Mike from back east]

I just spoke to the local AT&T store and it seems I have to also take Direct TV to get the deal. There's always a catch, it seems. I'll probably pass on this deal and keep our ancient flip phones.

[Peregrine]

You do not need DirecTV to get the deal. You probably get a deal on DirectTV service as an ATT customer. I know they were also offering that. The only "gotcha" is they make you get the higher wireless plan that you ordinarily may not get. Notes as "eligible service" below. So where a 2GB plan might be enough for you, they want you on the unlimited plan.
Try calling the sales number on the website instead of going to a store.

Here is all the fine print:

x
SMARTPHONE BOGO: Ltd. time offer. Select locations. Must buy each iPhone 8 64GB ($699.99) on 0% APR AT&T Next (30 mos. at $23.34/mo.) or AT&T Next Every Year (24 mos. at $29.17/mo.) with eligible service. After all credits, get iPhone 8 64GB for free. Max credit may be applied towards other eligible iPhone 8/8 Plus models priced up to $950, which will be discounted but not free. iPhone X is not eligible. Req’d Wireless: Eligible postpaid wireless voice & data svc. on both (min. $70/mo. for new svc.; existing customers can add to elig. current plans). If you cancel wireless svc. on one, will owe that device balance of up to $950. Activation Fee: Up to $25/each. Return: Return w/in 14 days. Restocking fee up to $45 each may apply. Bill Credits: Applied in equal amounts to device over entire agmt term & will not exceed $700. Both wireless lines must be on same acct, be active & in good standing for 30 days to qualify. To get all credits, free wireless line must remain active, with eligible service, and on agmt for entire term. If you cancel service, upgrade or pay up/off agmt early your credits may cease. Limits: May not be combinable w/ other offers, discounts, or credits. Purchase, financing & other limits & restr’s apply. Participation in this offer may make your wireless account ineligible for select other offers (including select bill credit offers) for a 12-month period. See store or att.com/iPhone8offer for offer details.

GEN. WIRELESS SVC.: Subj. to Wireless Customer Agmt (att.com/wca). Credit approval required. Svcs not for resale. Deposit: May apply. Limits: Purch. & line limits apply. Prices may vary by location. Taxes, fees, monthly, other charges, usage, speed, coverage & other restr's apply per line. See att.com/additionalcharges for details on fees & charges. Promotions, terms & restr’s subject to change & may be modified or terminated at any time without notice.

[Mr5150]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

I just spoke to the local AT&T store and it seems I have to also take Direct TV to get the deal. There's always a catch, it seems. I'll probably pass on this deal and keep our ancient flip phones.

Just a thought. This lack of a deal should not keep you from making the jump to a pair of smartphones. Consider that you can get two iPhone SE for the same price as one iPhone 8. The SE is a huge jump up from a flip phone and has an excellent camera. Texting is way easier on a smartphone and the SE has excellent calling quality.

[Mike from back east]

Thanks for the info on the SE, just got back from the Verizon store where I ordered a pair of them. It will only raise my monthly bill by $30 which is just for two years until the phones are paid for.

They'll arrive next week.

Thanks again!

[Mr5150]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Thanks for the info on the SE, just got back from the Verizon store where I ordered a pair of them. It will only raise my monthly bill by $30 which is just for two years until the phones are paid for.

They'll arrive next week.

Thanks again!

Happy to be of help!

After a week with the SE you’re gonna wonder why you didn’t make the jump earlier. And going with Verizon is the second good choice. Att is very good, but Verizon is better and basically the same price. We are with Verizon. Best coverage esp in rural areas like where we live.

One app suggestion. Go with google maps instead of Apple maps. And get an app that your email provider supplies. We’re with Comcast and it’s great to be able to stay in touch while traveling.

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by Mr5150

Att is very good, but Verizon is better

Not always. And sometimes nowadays T-Mobile is better. You can't make blanket statements anymore since most of the carriers have done major upgrades to coverage. For anyone looking to switch carriers I strongly suggest checking out their coverage maps.

The only one where I feel relatively safe making a call is with Sprint, who lags all the others with coverage. Even then, it's location-dependent.

[Mr5150]

Originally Posted by markjames68

Not always. And sometimes nowadays T-Mobile is better. You can't make blanket statements anymore since most of the carriers have done major upgrades to coverage. For anyone looking to switch carriers I strongly suggest checking out their coverage maps.

The only one where I feel relatively safe making a call is with Sprint, who lags all the others with coverage. Even then, it's location-dependent.

I have found that you can’t trust the coverage maps. In my area att and T-Mobile both claim to have coverage in areas they don’t have coverage. The only way to know for sure is ask around or give the company a try.

[Mike from back east]

I've never been let down by Verizon (VZ) so there's no interest on my part to change. Been with them almost 40 years for both the old land-line back in VA and when I got the Samsung Haven flip phones in 2005 and moved to COLO. They carried over the phone number from the land-line to the cell phone; we've had that number a good 40 years and plan to keep it until.....

IMO the AT&T telephone and internet infrastructures will eventually be the biggest and best of the big providers. I get a daily news feed from investment site Seeking Alpha and hardly a day goes by that I don't read of AT&T (ticker symbol "T" in the stock market) investing hundreds of millions of dollars in this city or that to upgrade their installed plant. I'm a stock holder in T for the long term.

IMO you really can't go wrong with either T or VZ and some of the other firms are equally as good or they'd fall to the wayside in the competitive landscape out there.

Here's what my current flip phone looks like, the boxy one on the left, no camera, kloogy texting feature, but is all I've needed for basic phone service when out and about.

(Memory Lane Moment: I'm 70 and go back to the days when Ma Bell was THE THING and Western Electric, aka WE, made virtually indestructible phones. WE had a huge plant in east Baltimore, on the waterfront, at a place called Point Breeze. Our class did a field trip there one day in the 1960s and we got to see huge machines spinning massive cable for the phone business. It was at Point Breeze where WE made those thick trans-oceanic underwater cables that tied the USA to Europe and Asia. Ma Bell would bring their big cable laying ships in there to dock and load them with cables. IIRC they didn't spool these underwater cables as the reels would waste too much space, they just laid the cables like spaghetti in the belly of the ships and played it out like a fire department pumper truck plays the fire hose out the back as it rolls down the street. Those were the days!)

I'll keep adding to this thread as I learn my way around the new phones.

My thanks again to you both and to others who share their insights here.