If you are shopping for a new mobile phone and can’t decide which wireless carrier to go with and want to skip the exhaustive research on at&t vs Sprint vs Verizon. Here is the quick and dirty of what you need to know, based on my unique situation of having 3 mobile devices at the same time. One on Sprint, one on AT&T and the other on Verizon. A coincidentally odd situation that I decided to learn from.
Looking at package bundles and plan pricing
Based on my mobile needs (1 Line) in my region (USA South East). Sprint seemed to offer the lowest price on a straight up Unlimited Plan. But not by as big a margin as you might think. AT&T came within $10 per month on their entry level Unlimited plan, closely followed by Verizon’s entry level Unlimited plan that came within $15.
Each company will entice you with buy-one-get-one offers on a variety of your favorite hardware (IPhone, Samsung, LG etc), therefore they are evenly matched on that respect.
Both AT&T and Verizon are well known to bundle cutting edge high speed Internet and TV (Cable) Service which begins to tug on your decision making, the way Sprint counters is by offering the lowest price Unlimited Plan that also allows you to Stream HD content. Without diving into a deep discussion on HD Streaming and SD Streaming on Unlimited plans, what I’ll add is that AT&T and Verizon also offer HD Streaming on their Premium Unlimited Plans, which cost around $30 to $40 more than Sprint. CNET has put together a great article detailing the HD Streaming data breakdowns from AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and even T-Mobile.
So my Sprint IPhone with an Unlimited Plan is cheaper than both my other IPhones from AT&T and Verizon. And I occasionally catch up on on all my binge watching on Netflix.
And finally, the Coverage
Here is where AT&T and Verizon shine over Sprint. Could this be due to my location? Maybe, but the numbers don’t lie. I drive on average 20 miles to work in the metro Atlanta area. And although I’ve dropped calls on all three phones at various times. Dead zones, heavy peak times, overloaded cell towers while stuck in Atlanta traffic. On average I seem to lose LTE coverage on the Sprint phone vs AT&T and Verizon. It is not enough to totally work my nerves, but its noticeable. Both my AT&T and Verizon phones seem to receive a broader range of LTE service coverage in the metro Atlanta area.
Summing up
If price is the bottom line, and you require unlimited data. Sprint currently offers the lowest price plan out of the big 3 carriers, and includes HD Streaming.
If you require solid LTE coverage. Both AT&T and Verizon will edge out Sprints network. If you require high speed internet and television service, again AT&T and Verizon will be your better solution. I imagine in the south AT&T will have a stronger foot hold, while up north it would be Verizon.
As to why I have 3 mobile devices on different carries….. that’s a story for another time.
