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($549.99) | Sprint ($599.99) | Verizon ($489.99) | |
| 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.)
