There's been quite a bit of consternation over the initial prices that carriers are charging for the HTC Touch Pro 2. Officially, Sprint and T-Mobile are on the high end, at $349, and Verizon's undercutting them at $199. That's all with the usual rebates and contracts, of course and it's a bit moot because we all know it's fairly easy to sweet talk a rep into getting you a lower price.
And that's the whole game of subsidizing phones — they want to lock you into that much more lucrative two-year contract, where the data rates and voice charges really start to make money. (And don't even get us started on text messages.)
After the break, we take a look at ballpark total two-year costs for the T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon Touch Pro 2. (AT&T, as we all know too well, is still MIA on the Touch Pro 2, save for a leaked pic and a possible FCC listing.)
Before we dive into the numbers, a couple of caveats: These numbers are baseline, at best. We went with the cheapest voice plans, opted for unlimited data because, well, who wants to count MBs, and took basic texts. Your needs may vary. And these numbers don't include the various taxes and fees we're all blessed with, or any deals with the devil you might have struck.
T-Mobile | Sprint | Verizon | |
| Phone's discounted price | $349.99 | $349.99 | $199.99 |
| Voice plan (basic) | $29.99 | $69.99* | $39.99 |
| -- Number of minutes | 300 | 450* | 450 |
| Data plan price (unlimited) | $24.99 | Included | $29.99 |
| Text messages | Included | Included | $5 |
| -- Number of texts | Unlimited | Unlimited | 250 |
| Total cost over 2 years | $1,669.51 | $2,029.75 | $1,999.51 |
* - Sprint's new Any Mobile, Anytime plan, which lets you call any cell phone on any carrier for free; calls to landlines use minutes.
So the proof is in the pudding, boys and girls, and it's nothing we didn't already know. Verizon may get a bit of "Wow, they're selling that phone cheaper than the other guys." But they make up for it on the back end.
But price isn't everything. Verizon certainly has what many believe to be the best data network out there. Sprint is making huge strides with its plans. And T-Mobile remains the most economical, albeit with the smallest (and newest) 3G network. But as we love to repeat over and over, you should choose your carrier first, then the phone. If service is lousy where you live, having the newest phone won't matter at all.
We'll revisit this again if and when AT&T decides to come to the party. In the meantime, let us know on which carrier you plan to rock the Touch Pro 2.
Update: Our acronym-hungry pal John in the comments points out that T-Mo offers up unlimited messaging. We've updated our numbers, lowering the total T-Mo cost to less than $3,000. And Lakers16 notes that the Verizon data plan can be had for $29.99, so we've updated that total as well.
Hey, you guys should be the experts on the plans. See any other ways we can shave off some more cash? Let us know!
Update 2: OK, rule No. 1 about journalism is that journalists don't do math. Crazy, I know, but it's one of those things, as witnessed above. So, after shaking off whatever fog we were covered in, we're readjusting these numbers to reflect that there are, in fact, 12 months in a year, not 24. Now, how many hours are there in a day? (Sigh.)
Reader comments
Comparing the HTC Touch Pro 2s
I "WAS" a 12 year Sprint veteran - until YESTERDAY - and TWICE over the 12 years "retention" has sweetened a deal to keep us onboard - we were out of contract for many years. THIS TIME, I talked to Sprint retention - and a retention supervisor - and they said ALL THEY COULD DO was a $100 CS credit but I would have to order the TP 2 and "WAIT" the reported 12 to 14 weeks for the $100 mail-in rebate.
Retention "pitched heavily" the lower monthly costs of Sprint to which I replied, that's nice, but give me my discount upfront and MATCH Verizon's $199 (or cme closer than $449 + tax on $599 retail here in CA)... and I will consider staying!
Pissed ... I then called Verizon up and talked to telesales yesterday - TP2 was, available to ship, and $199 + tax out the door (the $100 was INSTANTLY applied) + got free overnight Sat delivery, waiver of activation, some sweet bundling, etc. Oh YES, my wife wanted a BB Tour - and that was "Buy One and GET ONE FREE" - so I added a third line for $10 more a month.
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THERE IS NO QUESTION AT ALL that the Verizon's "monthly plan" - CURRENTLY - is more that Sprint ... but COMPETITION has a way of changing all that ... and Verizon allows PLAN CHANGES with NO TERM ADJUSTMENT (Sprint also I tink). Most of our friends are Verizon ... and I am an LTE fan, NOT WiMax!
sob sorry bout the double post..stupid "captchas"
I used to have sprint. I got pissed every time I'd drop a call going into my basement or taking a crap in the bathroom. It was ridiculous. Now with verizon I can talk anywhere I want to with no dropped calls..Even in the crapper. It's all about service people. At verizon you pay just a tad more, it's not like vzw customers are paying out the ass. We pay to have constant coverage, a reliable service. What do tmobile, sprint and at&t customers pay for? Oh..by the way talking about "fav 5" is just stupid since every single provider now provides a "top 10" on their plans. I've also talked to many reps from other providers who can't say anything bad about verizons service and coverage besides..."it's expensive". oh and "they don't have roll-over".. but they do have... the largest amount of users?..soo most people that have verizon..have friends who also have verizon and therefore it costs....no minutes!!!..omggg
Thanks for that link jscher2000!
This is some pretty questionable comparing...how can you compare a plan with unlimited calling to any cell phone in the United States and unlimited texts to a plan without the unlimited calling and with only 250 texts? At the very least the right thing to do is to add a less restrictive text plan, since people with a phone with such a nice keyboard often text more than 250 texts/month.
Well if you guys are going to get cute with the math like that then technically anybody who wants to get the Touch Pro2 on Sprint can just go to http://mcguireslaw.com/ which is a Sprint exec's blog and click on the special offer on the right hand side then log in with his e-mail and referral code.
That drops the plan price down to $59.99 a month and adds on an extra 50 anytime minutes while retaining all the other features.
So then the math is:
24*$59.99+$349.99=1789.75 for 2 years
With a LOT more minutes in the plan versus the competitors because you can call any cell phone in the US as much as you feel like, in addition to having the most anytime minutes, in addition to having unlimited text, and free navigation service along with a whole slew of other random stuff.
Frankly there's no way Verizon can compare to Sprint in terms of price unless you willfully ignore the publicly available $10/month and 50 extra minutes discount, and try to compare a plan with 450 minutes and 250 texts against a plan with practically limitless minutes and unlimited texts.
Not only are there less minutes on the Verizon plan overage charges hurt a lot more on Verizon than Sprint (although on the Sprint plan you'd have to call a landline during the hours of 7AM to 7PM Monday through Friday for more than 500 minutes in order to overage which is pretty hard for most personal users to pull off since calling people at home often occurs after 7PM so you'd basically have to make a ton of business calls).
The Verizon selections in the table above do NOT include Exchange ActiveSync. Users wanting access to corporate email will need to upgrade.
The best deal for VZW users who need Exchange ActiveSync but make fairly light use of text (e.g., 1-2 sms/day) is the $80 voice/data plan (450 minute + unlimited data) PLUS the $5 (250 message) text add-on for a total of $85 per month.
I'm on the $29.99 data plan and have no problem accessing the company I work for's exchange 2007 server. My phone is my personal phone as well, not issued by the company and not strictly supported by our IT dept.
Hmmm, that's interesting. Apparently they want you to believe you need to pay more for Exchange, but they do not block Windows Mobile Outlook/Inbox from accessing Exchange using the $30 plan.
References (including some misinformation, so read the whole thing for corrections):
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1465288&highlight=exchange
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=1470878&highlight=exchange
There is one important factor that the author of this article neglected to observe... and that is that when you purchase the Touch Pro 2 on Verizon, it MUST include a PDA/Smartphone Nationwide plan. If you try to buy the phone with a basic package, it will not allow it. SO, the ACTUAL price of the 450 minute plan with unlimited messaging and e-mail is $99.99(!). Honestly, I wouldn't mind the $30 extra a month, but once you add a family plan into the mix, that's $60(!) more per month over comparable plans with Sprint. Not to mention, now Sprint offers the Any Time, Any Mobile plan which is a genius(?) tactic that Verizon probably will never offer.
$40(calling) + $30(data) = $70 (+ texts)
+ $20 for 5000(w/ unlimited Vzn2Vzn) = $90
+ $10 for 500(w/ unlimited Vzn2Vzn) = $80
I also dont understand your complaint. Why are you on a website devoted to smartphones, warning people that if you buy a smartphone from verizon, they make you use it as a smartphone...? Those scammers!
WHY does ATT have to ruin the TP2 phone by moving the numbers from the top number line? There is NO rational reason for that. If they do that, it's good-bye to ATT. That was the one thing I hated about the blackjack. It's a major PAIN having to use the function key, and if someone gives you a number in letter form like - 1-800-BAD-CALL, you can't enter the right numbers without a "regular" phone pad nearby.
Now this idiot author, who can't add or multiply, has brought down the price of Verizon's service such that it is below Sprint's without adding in the carriers' respective navigation packages, of which Sprint provides completely free.
What kind of a hokey site is this?
The Verizon pricing is still wrong!
The monthly cost for 450 Minutes should be $39.99 (NOT $49.99)
That brings the actual 2 year costs down to $1999.51. Please update the numbers, as many other website are reporting on this story and it is still inaccurate.
Yep, you're right. Fixed!
what you don't say it that the T-mobile touch pro 2 is only $279 with full discount or $150 on the business account. ou also do not disclose that T-Mobile has the "loyalty plan" that is only $50 for unlimited talking.... Data for t-mobile is $35 for unlimited data and text. i do not know what that $24.99 thing is you have displayed.
You also need to include Sprint's GPS Navigation, which is free with that Everything Data plan. You need to include it with the others. For Verizon, that cost is $9.99 a month, even if you buy a data plan.
Compare apples to apples!
Sprint's GPS navigation service is much less relevant on WM smartphones since many people prefer to use programs like TomTom or Garmin as they are not tiled to being in range of Sprint's Network. Sprint's navigation works on 5% of the planet and the TP2 is a a worldphone.
It is not "much less relevant on Windows smartphones" when the same navigation package is offered for T-Mobile and Sprint, and a similar one is offered by Verizon, for all of their phones.
I have five smartphones on Sprint and each uses the Sprint Navigator package. I don't ever expect to get a dang Tom-Tom or Garmin if we can have that functionality for free wherever we are using Sprint. Your argument is bogus.
Sprint includes navigation for free for all phones on an Everything Data or better package. That's real money for a truly useful service that is not being figured in the numbers mentioned above. T-Mobile and Sprint charge $9.99 a month extra. This should be added to the chart.
My guess is you don't know much about smartphones and Garmin and TomTom products for them
Your point is nearly totally irrelevant since the makers of Navigation software make and sell full suites forwindows smartphones and DO NOT for webOS, Iphone's OS, Symbian and Blackberry!
Most Sprint users of smartphones do NOT GET the Sprint Nav service for free.
Sprint charges $9.99 for most users (that is expensive $240 for two years) Verizon and ATT include it free on some plans as Sprint does on some plans.
Your sprint navigation software also only works in the small fraction covered by Sprints signals. TomTom, Garmin or Navigon on a windows mobile works worldwide!
You don't get why the experts would never put it on the chart --it is a near meaningless when it comes to Windows Mobile OS.
Ifyou are going to compare apples to apples you have to consider that Sprint has much worse voice service and much worse custoemr satisfaction according to both of the last tho JD Powers Surveys. :)
Despite the initial arithmetic issues, I think comparisons like this are great and I appreciate the work that goes into them.
So here is the deal. My girlfriend has a Verizon account and she will let me get a TP2 on her account. So I will be an additional number. I have ATT and am tired of waiting. She is due for an upgrade and will probably get a BB. I will probably go with 450 minutes and unlimited Text and a full data plan. What is the best way of doing this?
Thanks!
If you apply the right plan for t-mobile, you'll see that tmobile's price advantage becomes much less prominent
for 300 min + internet and 300 txt, it actually becomes:
(29.99+24.99+4.99)*24+349.99 = 1789.27
sure, this is cheap, but 300 min and 300 txt? I don't make calls too often (use email and txt most of the time), but 300 is pushing it. Txt of course can be controlled, but since I have unlimited, I indulge on it and used over 1000 this cycle with half a week remaining.
I just can't imagine someone getting a tp2 (with its awesome conference ability) using less than 300 minutes.
So let's get a little more realistic here and get the 1000 min plan (which still may not be enough for some people, but oh well) and indulge ourselves with unlimited text for five more bucks:
(39.99+34.99)*24+349.99 = 2149.51
All of a sudden, Sprint is the king of business sector :p
Just for fun, let's add at&t into equation. Let's use 450 min plan with rollover, 1500 txt, and pda unlim. Let's also assume the phone will cost 350:
(39.99+30+15)*24+349.99=2389.75
Even if you change verizon's txt plan to 500 w/ unlim mobile to mobile, at&t is still fail (sure, verizon doesn't have rollover, but, although very useful to me, it's really one of those ymmv stuff). So unless at&t lists this @ 200 (unlikely), we're all just going to laugh at it.
disclaimer: I have, and love at&t.
I'm getting 20% premier discount for my family plan (primary line only) and 200 extra minutes on two of my five lines, and 1000 extra rollover minutes, allowing me to cope with 700 minutes for five people. $175 for five phones with 1100 minutes, 2000 rollover, unlim internet for one smart phone and one feature phone, and unlim txt for all five doesn't sound so bad, does it? :p
If this phone comes out before november, I'll be getting a free warranty exchange, so I win :D
The comparison on the surface is alright, but without going deeper the comparison isn't as useful. For instance, Sprint provides free Telenav.
Yep. You caught us. There are 24 months in 2 years, not 48. MATH FAIL! Sorry about that.
ya i have never heard of talking the rep down in price, how much can be talked down and who do you talk to. people in the store or call verizon?
All the savings in the world are meaningless if the phone doesn't work. I live in the heart of a Spokane Wa, which is a major city. I own a few rental properties and my Sprint service would cut out bad in three of them. The worst was the house I lived in. In fact I knew a manager at Sprint who gave me free service. "cant beet that". The problem was that I was missing so many important phone calls that free kind of lost its appeal. I was mad my friend didn't work for Verizon. I had to switch because all the savings in the world, including free, couldn't help all my missed calls. Unfortunately those annoying commercials with the "can you hear me now guy" and how much they pound the network card, started to work on me. I was so sick of a free phone, free service, service that didn't work, that I jumped ship to Verizon. I'm not kidding when I say I haven't had a dropped call in three years. To make a long story short, nothing is free in this world. Well I guess my Sprint service was for a while. Free and not working couldn't overcome pay and working.
I'm going with Verizon, never had an issue with the network or customer service and add in the fact that all my friends and family are on it. I'd look at Sprint but after hearing horror stories concerning customer service there's no way I'd port my number over.
What new math is the author using to come up with Verizon's total cost?
"of course and it's a bit moot because we all know it's fairly easy to sweet talk a rep into getting you a lower price."
What are you talking about? Can you fill us in on this supposed secret that's so easy?
@ anywhere.... Good for you. Sprint is still way better than that pricey piece of crap VZW. Have fun getting raped by VZW's ridiculously high service fees.
Wow, you have to be pretty hardcore (retarded) to be a network fanboy.
I "WAS" a 12 year Sprint veteran - until YESTERDAY - and TWICE over the 12 years "retention" has sweetened a deal to keep us onboard - we were out of contract for many years. THIS TIME, I talked to Sprint retention - and a retention supervisor - and they said ALL THEY COULD DO was a $100 CS credit but I would have to order the TP 2 and "WAIT" the reported 12 to 14 weeks for the $100 mail-in rebate.
Retention "pitched heavily" the lower monthly costs of Sprint to which I replied, that's nice, but give me my discount upfront and MATCH Verizon's $199 (or cme closer than $449 + tax on $599 retail here in CA)... and I will consider staying!
Pissed ... I then called Verizon up and talked to telesales yesterday - TP2 was, available to ship, and $199 + tax out the door (the $100 was INSTANTLY applied) + got free overnight Sat delivery, waiver of activation, some sweet bundling, etc. Oh YES, my wife wanted a BB Tour - and that was "Buy One and GET ONE FREE" - so I added a third line for $10 more a month.
THERE IS NO QUESTION AT ALL that the Verizon's "monthly plan" - CURRENTLY - is more that Sprint ... but COMPETITION has a way of changing all that ... and Verizon allows PLAN CHANGES with NO TERM ADJUSTMENT (Sprint also I tink). Most of our friends are Verizon ... and I am an LTE fan, NOT WiMax!
I somehow wonder if you were a sprint customer for a couple of reasons. 12 to 14 weeks for the rebate? If you are a 12 year customer with two lines as you state you have gotten several phones and know the rebate is about three to five weeks.
AS a 15 year customer (late 1994) I do however agree that Sprint no longer offers any substantive benefit to staying with them. Long term customers no longer get any benefit for staying or not churning their accounts. The irony is that the killing of benefits for long term customers was coincident with the meaningless Premier customer launch.
It is in my interest to quit the moment there is one of the several times a year "no ETF" windows caused by increases in Sprint fees, and simply resign up under one of the different names on our several line account in order to get full handset discounts on every single phone before two years.
I gotta agree!
I loved Sprint's smartphones, they always seemed to have the "latest and greatest," and the price of their service simply could not be beat. But I had to switch because there were just too many places where I could not get a call.
It was absolutely ridiculous. I would be in Long Island, NY and could not get a consistent signal. Absolutely ridiculous!
It looks like the author actually calculated it for a 48 month time frame. I did the calculations for two 2-year contracts and those numbers match. All in all, I'd have to say I'm gonna go with Sprint's plan because it gives me more bang for my buck. I'll just have to try and sweet talk the reps into lowering the phone at least $50... :-)
Yes, it looks like the author multiplied the monthly rate by 24, then doubled that and added the price of the phone. Oh, and since Verizon took over Alltel, the Verizon rep said I could keep my original Alltel plan, with true unlimited data, and get the TP2 for an additional $50 off since my contract is almost up.
I use T-Mobile's Touch Pro 2 and pay $49.99 for the unlimited loyalty plan, $34.99 for the Smartphone Unlimited Web + Unlimited Messages, $9.99 for hotspot and $5.99 for insurance. $100.96 before taxes. I like T-Mobile's version because of the Ctrl Key, which allows me to use windows shotcuts like: Ctrl+A for select all and Ctrl+V for paste. I like to Sprint and Verizon versions because they come with a built in 3.5 audio jack but T-Mobile includes the dongle which is accepatable for now.
@Lionell,I have the Tmob loyal plan as well for $49.99 a month with unlimited minutes/text. Why would you pay the $34.99/internet plan when you already have the loyal plan with free unlimted text ? The 24.99/month would be cheaper since it's the same thing without text which you would'nt need because your on a loyal plan.
Double verifying the costs that were posted and they are not correct. Sprint monthly cost of 69.99 equates to 24*69.99= $1679.76 (two years). For Verizon 39.99 (450 minute plan) + 29.99 (data plan) + 20 (unlimited text) = 89.98 (monthly) and in a two year cost is 24*89.98= 2159.52. Its very uncertain how the author came about such calculations, even adding taxes, the cost of the phone and activation does not come near the prices stated above.
I have a feeling this website is biased towards tmboile my results ding the same "research" was alot diffrent
Verizon basic voice plan for 450 minutes,(to which you can add the 29.99 data plan),is 39.99 not 49.99.
The unlimited data and text messages from Tmobile is $34 not $24. Unlimited web only is $24.
I've got the T-mobile TP2 and noticed that it has a Favourite 5 application on it. I'm assuming that means it is elegible for a Favourite 5 plan. If so that should probably be mentioned in the price assessment too.
After my company discount on Verizon I pay less than T-Mobile. And I get the "network" :-)
Thats all? I'm a Sprint AdvantageClub Member and I get the same as whats up there plus Sprint TV, Sprint Music Premier, and Unlimited Sprint Navigation all for $30 a month.
Advantage club members dont count cause you guys go under heavily discounted employee lines, the people i have on my advantage plan only pay about 30 as well and thats including insurance, but they are kind of like a premier premier club, this is just geared towards normal customers with normal Discounts
With verizon, $49.99 for data is if youre using it ONLY as a PDA. Once you select a calling plan, your two data plan options are $29.99 and $44.99. They are both unlimited email/internet, the only difference is that with the $29.99 plan, you are restricted to downloading emails from about 10 mainstream email servers (AOL, yahoo, gmail, etc). However, you can use gmail to download your emails from basically any server, and just have that account go to your phone. So paying for the $44.99 option is pretty stupid. (I guess maybe some corporate/government emails cant be forwarded through gmail)
Well what you failed to mention was you could get ulimited SMS/MMS for same price with the UNL WEB & MSG plan from T-Mobile. So all UNL for pricing you mentioned, do some research!
T-Mobile lists $24.99 for Unlimited web but if you want any form of SMS you have to upgrade to the $34.99 plan (which gives you unlimited texting)..I had the grandfathered $24.99 with 400 domestic testing on my MDA but they refused to give the same plan when I went to the TP2..
t-mobile is actually offering the htc touchpro 2 for 149.99 with a two year contract if you go through thier business dept and mention the windowsmobile discount. i'm not sure if this only applies to new contracts. the number is 18664648662. you can get a data plan only if you wish or include a voice plan also.
sorry i forgot to mention the data plan is 39.99 and the voice plan is 24.99. i was going to get the phone myself and still may, but at the moment i don;t want to go back to t-mobile.