No-Contract or Full Retail?

[dan029]

I've been thinking about this lately and it has been bugging me. I'll be planning on buying a Verizon Note 3 somewhere are March or April of 2014, but I'm curious, is it better to get the phone with contract or without contract? The phone is $300 on a 2-year contract and $700 for the full retail price.

By the way, is it also true that if you buy the phone for its full retail price, you'll get an unlocked phone? It says so in Should I Buy My Next Phone Off-Contract? under "You Gain Freedom at Home and Abroad."

So I'm curious guys, what's better than the two? This would also be a huge help for me when I buy the phone, so I also need help. Thank you.

 

[Rukbat]

It's a CDMA phone so if you're going to Australia (and South America, I think), you might - depending on the carrier - be able to use the phone. But the rest of the world is GSM, so the phone just won't work. It's not a lock/unlock thing - the technology is completely different.

As far as contract/no contract, look at the price of the plan you want, then look at the 24 month price of the same thing prepaid. If there's a difference, figure out how much you're really paying for that "$300 phone".

One difference is that if you buy the phone prepaid, you probably won't be able to use it on Virgin or Straight Talk in the future.

 

[dan029]

I don't desire changing networks since it has been proven that Verizon has the best coverage so far. I'm considering full retail because I don't want to get stuck with a contract and if I don't like something, I might not be able to change it. I'm sure there's some downsides on buying full retail, including the price, but I don't know what's another downside to it.

Also some users here bought the Note 3 for full retail price. I think I can afford it in the future.

 

[jhawkkw]

It's a CDMA phone so if you're going to Australia (and South America, I think), you might - depending on the carrier - be able to use the phone. But the rest of the world is GSM, so the phone just won't work. It's not a lock/unlock thing - the technology is completely different.

As far as contract/no contract, look at the price of the plan you want, then look at the 24 month price of the same thing prepaid. If there's a difference, figure out how much you're really paying for that "$300 phone".

One difference is that if you buy the phone prepaid, you probably won't be able to use it on Virgin or Straight Talk in the future.

The Verizon note 3 has gsm radios along with cdma radios.

 

[dan029]

The Verizon note 3 has gsm radios along with cdma radios.

So it can be used on some places but should require a designated SIM for that country? Is also the full retail price version unlocked?

 

[jhawkkw]

So it can be used on some places but should require a designated SIM for that country? Is also the full retail price version unlocked?

It would require a sim from that country and would replace your lte sim when you use it. As for the lock, Verizon doesn't differentiate between subsidized and full retail purchases. They are literally the same device, except that you aren't bound to then for 2 years. It may be unlocked out of the box, it might not be. That will be on Verizon.

 

[dan029]

It would require a sim from that country and would replace your lte sim when you use it. As for the lock, Verizon doesn't differentiate between subsidized and full retail purchases. They are literally the same device, except that you aren't bound to then for 2 years. It may be unlocked out of the box, it might not be. That will be on Verizon.

This make a lot of sense now. I guess I made up my mind that I'll get the phone for a full retail price. But from here on until April 2014, there are a lot of things that can happen. I just hope I can get it as an unlocked version. Thank you for your help.

 

[ezza2117]

I just purchased a Note 3 at Best Buy for full retail price for similar reasons as you. When I purchased it, the Samsung rep at Best Buy told me it is an option to purchase an unlocked Note 3 for full retail. They did not have them in stock at the store, but could order it and have it within a couple days. I currently have service with Sprint, so I chose to get the Sprint version with no contract agreement made. I'm considering switching to Straight Talk or something similar in a couple months and I was told that I would be able to, but I've not thoroughly researched it myself.