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You're probably not buying the best smartphone that you actually want
You're probably not buying the best smartphone that you actually want
Antonio Villas-BoasApr 8, 2018, 20:37 IST
If you're living in the United States, chances are good that you're buying your smartphone from your carrier.
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Indeed, 90% of Americans buy their mobile devices directly from their carrier, according to telecommunications giant Huawei.
If that figure is accurate, it means that 90% of Americans aren't getting the full choice of fantastic smartphones out there. I just visited a carrier store selling phones and carrier plans, and was met with an appallingly limited selection of devices that its customers had to choose from. Some locations have better selections than others, but almost no single store carries every single phone available.
Antonio Villas-Boas/Business Insider
Sure, I saw the most popular smartphones like the latest iPhones and Samsung devices at the store I visited, and there were some LG, HTC, and Motorola phones there, too. And those are really great smartphones.
But there's a lot more choice out there that you should consider before paying several hundreds of dollars for a new device. You might not be buying the best phone overall - a phone you can't buy at your carrier's store might better fit your needs.
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I bring this up because I personally recommend a lot of phones that you won't find in carrier stores. It's a shame that potentially 90% of you aren't exposed to a wider selection of truly great devices. Not everyone who buys a smartphone follows the minutae of the tech industry to find the exact right device for them.
Check out some of the smartphones - some available today, some coming soon- you should consider buying that you won't find at your carrier's store:
You don't have much to worry about if you're an iPhone-only kind of person.
If you're device of choice is, and always will be, iPhone, you don't have much to worry about. iPhones are in every carrier store everywhere, and you probably know exactly what you're looking for.
Still, just in case you might consider switching to Android, it's worth checking out the more exotic smartphones that you won't find in your carrier's store.
OnePlus smartphones are an amazing value.
If Americans weren't so willing to spend close to $1,000 on a new smartphone – and if they didn't buy from their carriers as often as they do – I'd estimate that you'd see a lot more people walking on the street using OnePlus smartphones.
OnePlus smartphones are the smartphone to buy if you value sleek looks, stock Android, astounding and unbeatable performance, and a value-driven price tag. On several levels, OnePlus devices are better than Samsung phones. They have better performance and they're significantly cheaper, too, costing in the $500 range.
To top it off, OnePlus devices also run a very clean version of Android that looks and works almost identically to the "pure" version of the operating system, meaning a bare minimum of annoying pre-installed aps. I personally prefer that over the heavily modified version of Android running on Samsung and LG devices.
OnePlus actually ran out of supply of its latest phone, the OnePlus 5T. However, the company is said to release its new device – the OnePlus 6 – soon.
Essential Phone is a good choice that you can't find in most stores.
The Essential Phone is one of the prettiest Android devices you can buy. In fact, the latest Ocean Depths Essential Phone is the most beautiful smartphone I've ever seen. It's also a great performer that runs on stock Android. And that's not to mention that at $500, it's also less expensive than the latest iPhone and Samsung devices.
You can actually find the Essential Phone in Sprint and Telus stores, so those customers will be aware of the Essential Phone's existence. But that leaves out a large chunk of customers that use Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. You should know, though, that the Essential Phone will work on those networks, too.
Huawei phones are popular most everywhere outside the USA.
Chinese telecom giant Huawei is a relative newcomer to the US market, and it makes some truly great devices that are insanely popular around the world.
You can buy the phones directly from Huawei, and they'll work just fine with US carriers that use the GSM standard, like AT&T and T-Mobile. Huawei's latest Mate 10 devices have limited support for carriers that use the CDMA standard, like Verizon and Sprint.
Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL come straight from the search giant.
Verizon customers will actually find Google's Pixel 2 phones at Verizon stores because Google has an agreement with Verizon.
But despite the fact that the Pixel 2 is also compatible with all the other carriers, you won't find it in AT&T, T-Mobile, or Sprint stores, nor will you find it in smaller regional carriers, either.
The reasons why you won't find every smartphone in your carrier smartphone varies.
Some phones might simply not work on certain carriers. They might be built with the GSM network in mind, which most carriers around the world use. In turn, they may not include the CDMA network standard used by Verizon and Sprint.
Some companies don't actually want their phones to be featured in carrier stores, as it would mean adding carrier bloatware apps, or following certain rules set by the carrier they may not agree with.
And then the are exclusive partnerships, which is entirely up to the phone maker and carriers. That's why the only brick-and-mortar stores to carry the Google Pixel 2 are Verizon's.
In Huawei's case, specifically, the US government is actively dissuading US carriers and retailers from offering the company's phones. According to the certain branches of the US government and officials, there are security concerns over Huawei and its alleged ties with the Chinese government. Huawei's CEO Richard Yu told Cnet in an interview that these accusations are "groundless."
