Soliciting Advice for New Mobile Phone and Carrier

[james_bond_007]

Short Story:

Moving from ATT to Verizon.
Will also be needing new (new to me, so used are OK) phones.

Questions for Which I Need Advice:

VERIZON

1. What are the Pros/Cons with Verizon
   
   1. Coverage ?
   2. Customer Service ?
   3. Plans ? (Note: As of 2 weeks ago they now only offer no-contract plans and full price phones)
   
   
2. Any recommended Verizon MVNO's that offer better plans ?
3. Pros/Cons of getting a plan at a Verizon store vs a re-seller ?
4. Any 'deals/promotions' that you know of ?
   
   PHONE
5. Looking at Samsung S-series (4, 5 flavors) What are the Pros/Cons ?
6. Recommended place to get a used phone ?
7. Consideration with a used Phone
   1) I understand about making sure the IMEI is not blacklisted
   2) I understand about making sure the LTE data works on Verizon if using an unlocked phone from another carrier on Verizon
   3) I understand the battery may not hold a charge and may need to be replaced
   4) Make sure I see the phone work (text/Phone/LTE 4G) before purchase
8. Can an S4/S5 be rooted to allow apps to run from the Flash Card (I did this with my Tab 7 2.0 and 4.0)
9. I tend to keep my phone for a long time, so I'd like to get something reliable
10. What else ?

Long Story:

I've been with ATT since BEFORE it went to Cingular (first phone was the old Moto PT550 era). All was good.
My wife has a new job and is unable to get an ATT signal at work. ATT gave us a new uCell, but since it needs to be
placed by a window for GPS Lock (FCC requires the registration of the location of the TX's, thus the uCell uses GPS to do this)
and no windows are anywhere near where she works (nor does it have an external GPS antenna), it is not an option. So we need to change carriers.
ATT verified that there were tons of uCells near her workplace (thus they confirm there is poor coverage) and the nearest tower is pointing away from her workplace.

She 'surveyed' her co-workers and found that other ATT users have the same issue.
T-Mobile and Sprint are better at work, but not stellar.
Thus Verizon seems to be the best, per the informal survey.

We will also need to upgrade phones. Both of us are thinking Samsung S-somethng. She's more inclined to the S5, I'm OK with something a bit lower/older, but prefer something small in size (S4-mini ?).
Would prefer NOT having to get brand new phones at Full price, so looking at used or refurbished.
Verizon recently (13AUG15) did away with their discounted phones w/ 2-year contract and only sells no-contract plans and full price (payments spread out over 24 mo) phones.
So, I'm thinking I can do better, dollar-wise, by getting a used phone somewhere.

Features I am interested in (not in any order):

• Use the Phone as a Hotspot for a tablet (occasionally)
  
• Can make WiFi calls (when at home/office)
  
• GPS (for navigation)
  
• Expandable Flash ( slot can be under the cover)
  NOTE: This is one of the reasons we don't want an iPhone
  
• Decent Screen (do not need Top of the line; want to be able to see screen in sunlight)
  
• Waterproof (afraid I may accidentally dump in in the toilet etc.)
  
• Camera w/ Flash (For Snapshots; does not have to be Top of the Line)
  
• Sync w/ Outlook
  
• Android ( I am a developer, so another test platform would be handy)
  
• BT LE (I think going fwd most BT accessories will be BT LE 4.x and up)

If you read through this lengthy post, congrats for making it through and thanks for taking time to do that.
If you take some time to offer advice... thank you again.

[hurley842002]

You may be in luck, I have a near new Galaxy S5 with a couple cases (a Lifeproof), extra factory battery, and standalone Samsung charger, I'm thinking about selling.

[hurley842002]

Oh, and it's for Verizon.

[ray1970]

I like my S5. Haven't had any issues with it yet. Well, other than its a bit big for pocket carry. Lol.

[hurley842002]

I should also at least give my experience instead of just trying to pimp my wares lol.

Verizon is the only carrier I've ever had, so my experience is very limited, but it's the only carrier I've had for a reason. Coverage has been awesome for me, even on trips to the back country. They are a bit pricey, but I believe you get what you pay for. Also no experience in the CS department as I've never needed it.

As far as phones go, I learned awhile back, to only go with the "big names" in smart phone, as they will continue to receive support longer than others, along with aftermarket support.

[Bailey Guns]

I've used AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon. Hands down, nobody has the coverage Verizon does. They may be slightly more than some other carriers but it seems to be pretty negligible when comparing plan to plan. On the other hand, it doesn't matter how much you save if you don't have service. We're currently getting a 22% discount because of a deal with the wife's employer and a 10% "Loyalty" discount. Even so I still pay $95 per month for 2 smartphones with unlimited talk/text and 3GB of data (my company gives me a $30/month phone allowance so I actually pay about $65).

The coverage in Colorado was excellent. It's even good here in the outback of Idaho. From talking to some people here it's the only carrier that even has service outside most cities.

I've only needed customer service with plans and such or to activate a phone. Verizon CS has always been quick and helpful for me. I've never had an issue with phones or anything. Currently have an S5 as well. My favorite phone so far.

In my experience AT&T would be next best with coverage...can't speak to their pricing.

[ray1970]

I currently have service with Verizon and Sprint. Verizon works pretty much everywhere. Even in some of the remote areas where my job takes me. Sprint... not so much. The only reason I switched to Sprint for my family service was they had an "unlimited everything" plan at the time. With a wife and two teenagers on the plan it was nice not having to worry about minutes, texts, or data usage. Been thinking about canceling my Sprint service and moving everything back to Verizon just for better coverage. The Sprint works fine as long as I'm in the city along the front range but head the slightest bit east and you might as well just turn the phone off.

[ray1970]

I will mention, based off personal experience, if you aren't very geeky or technologically savvy you might actually like the iPhone. I had one for several years and it is very intuitive to use. Also, the phone itself is very well made. Had zero issues with mine. Ever.

I like my S5 better than the iPhone because I'm getting better at figuring stuff like that out now. But it does do stupid things every now and then and you have to restart it or sometimes even pull the battery to unlock the darn thing. Not often. Maybe once a month or two. But my iPhone never did anything like that. It just worked.

[Bailey Guns]

^^ Funny! That's exactly why I like my S5 so much...I thought it was very intuitive and easy to use. Never had to restart it or pull the bat-tree so far after about a year and a half of using it. I can't even remember ever turning it off. But I've never used an iPhone.

[ray1970]

Don't get me wrong. I really like my S5. But it does have it's quirks. At least mine does. I found it a bit less user friendly than the iPhone at first but now that I'm used to it I don't have any issues doing things on it. Most of the time. Lol.