Oh that’s gross as shit. Seems they have a general BYOD plan, but I guess that only applies if they have that model of phone.

Didn’t even realize that could be an issue, given I’ve used a PinePhone of all things on my carrier and it worked as fine as one could expect mobile Linux to work

Yeah, I’ve tried finding alternatives, because having a second phone number was helpful, but… Nothin’. It’s still the fake phone number I give out to companies to stop them spamming my phone though

I’ve mostly used new budget phones, personally. My current phone is the most expensive one I’ve owned, and it was $400 xD I probably should do used more, but phones do usually last me a while, and I normally use a wallet case so they’re fairly well protected against drops

I haven’t heard of a carrier that doesn’t, at least personally. Then again, I’ve mostly used smaller carriers. Republic Wireless, FreedomPop, Mint, etc. I did use TMo for a while on a prepaid plan up until I got tired of the texting not working half the time

Huh, I’d never actually noticed they were higher price. Most of the time I’m buying the phone from the manufacturer’s website, and I at least didn’t see carrier locked phones on Motorola’s website when I got my last phone. Does make sense, though, given carriers will hope to subsidize some of the cost of the phone through the plan itself

Kinda depends. If you buy the phone outright it’s usually pretty similar in price, but most people finance, and then it is cheaper to buy separately because interest hits like a truck :D

I know a lot of people who can’t necessarily afford $200 minimum to drop on a phone, though, and that’s for one that really starts to struggle after 2 years to do anything other than the most basic call/text functionality

As a reminder to everyone:

If you can afford it, you can 100% just… Buy a phone online and use it with your carrier. Make sure it’s carrier unlocked, but yeah. All but one of my phones (bought in an emergency) was bought this way, and I’ve been through… 5 or 6? carriers and never had an issue