Smartphone Buying Guide

Price Range for Unsubsidized Smartphones (between $480 – $600). The least expensive Smartphone that comes with a service plan costs about $50. The most expensive costs about $300). Unsubsidized Smartphones do not come with service plans.

Price Range for Subsidized Smartphones (between $50 – $300).  The least you should expect to pay for a brand new, unsubsidized Smartphone is about $480. The most is about $600. Subsidized Smartphones are always bundled with a service plan.

This chart shows the the minimum and maximum you should expect to pay for a Smartphone bundle after 2 years of ownership & use (i.e. subsidized hardware bundled with a plan that provides basic voice an data services over the length of the contract); between $1,250 – $2,700.

Note: All the plans highlighted in this article included a single phone line with a 2 year service contract, a fixed monthly fee for 450 minutes of talk time and unlimited data usage per month (i.e. an “all you can eat” data plan). Other features like long distance rates, rollover minutes, roaming charges and off-hour or evening calling charges vary from plan to plan.

Minimum Bundle Cost (i.e. the minimum you should expect to pay for a 2 year service plan bundled with the least expensive subsidized Smartphone on the market); $1,250 total (hardware cost = $50; service plan cost = $50 / month or $1,200 total).

Maximum Bundle Cost (i.e. the maximum you should expect to pay for a 2 year service plan bundled with the most expensive subsidized Smartphone on the market); $2,700 total (hardware cost = $300; service plan cost = $100 / month or $2,400 total).