Well, I’ve been wanting to do this for awhile, and now I’ve finally done it: disregard same-color and refurbished and limited-edition versions of the same phone, and count up which carrier has the best selection of cell phones…
The top honor looks to go to Verizon at the moment. At the moment meaning that all carriers change their offerings on phones very quickly so a small lead might become a small defecit quickly. But anyhow, with a whopping 26 models of phone to pick from on the regular side, 8 smartphone models, 4 blackberries and 8 aircards, for 40 phone\smartphone\blackberry models total (counting the two push-to-talk enabled phones not mentioned above), VZW is the leader in choice…for the moment. Their prepaid section, however, is by no means first, with just six phones to choose from.
Second place looks to be a tie between AT&T and Sprint. AT&T actually may have more phones, and thus be first, but I was so confused by their bunches of multi-colored and refurbished models scattered throughout the phone buying page that I may have missed one or two. Anyhow, AT&T looks to have 24 regular phone models for sale, eight smartphones, five Blackberries and four aircards, for thirty-seven total models phone-wise. Pretty good, considering AT&T’s phone selection seems to be cheaper than VZW’s, especially in the area of smartphones. You can get a Treo 680 for $70 refurbished, or a Samsung Blackjack for just $30. The prepaid area is quite huge as well…again I may have missed a few models, or maybe overcounted, but the number looks to be 20 there. Oh, and a very large portion of AT&T’s phones are 3G-enabled. The same can’t be said of Verizon and Sprint’s offerings, though the proportion of 3G phones isn’t too bad on their respective services, and unlike AT&T’s network, the CDMA 3G network works in a LOT of places and is darn fast 🙂
So, on to Sprint. At first glance, they have a paltry 12 “regular” phones. But to that you have to add 10 Nextel iDEN phones, two of which are smart (one Blackberry, one Windows Mobile device that also has GSM capability for overseas). And three hybrid CDMA\iDEN handsets that give you both walkie-talkie and all the cool CDMA features in one handset. Add eight CDMA smartphones and 4 CDMA Blackberries to the mix…and a choice between seven aircards if you need ’em…and you get a magnificent 37 models to choose from. Geesh, the choices…do I want to pay an arm and a leg for the world’s highest-tech, fastest-data, instant-communications walkie talkie phone (the Motorola ic902) or do I want a freebie Samsung cameraphone? How about an HTC PDA? Would you like that with or without a keyboard? Okay, that’ll be right out to you…oh and if you need to go overseas Sprint will rent you a GSM phone or three. Or use your fancy new Blackberry 8830. But all major CDMA carriers have that ‘un.
But wait…there’s more…Sprint doesn’t have its own branded prepaid service, but it does have Virgin Mobile, with 11 phones, and Boost Mobile, with 2. Plus, if you want, 2 more from Boost Unlimited, for a magnificent total of 15!
Last among the carriers, due to a near-complete lack of smartphones as of yet (I suppose because their 3G network ain’t there quite yet and 2.75G smartphones are sooo out of style…no wait the iPhone is 2.75G), is T-Mobile. But hey, you could actually buy one of their phones without a contract and your wallet would live to tell the tale. I think AT&T and Alltel are also okay at that sorta thing. But back to T-Mobile. They have a decent 22 phones of the regular sort on tap, plus their three Sidekick devices…which you could call “smartphones” if you wanted I suppose. They have four Blackberries (e-mail is fine with non-3G connectivity…heck, that’s why you even have a Blackberry or two on iDEN) and an abysmal (in my opinion…oh and now I remember…T-Mobile doesn’t sell Treos and that’s why there is a lack of smartphones…maybe) three smartphones available. That’s just 32 phones…and if you want an aircard (don’t know why…internet speed on T-Mobile is maybe twice dialup, probably worse) your choice is simple…there’s only one. The prepaid side of things is simply pathetic…just four phones available. Then again, their FlexPlan converts any plan, if you buy the phone without the discount, into a prepaid plan, and you can use whatever phone you want with whatever feature you want that way. Or put a phone, at full price, onto T-Mobile To Go. So you could say they have the best prepaid phone selection of anyone.
Now to the last carrier…nah I’ll put in one more below this one as far as mainstream carriers go. Anyway, Alltel is significantly lower than the above carriers in postpaid lineup, with just 13 regular phonne models, 5 smartphones and 2 blackberries, for just 20 total. Oh, and four aircards. But hey, their phones generally work well and quality should be there though quantity isn’t. And you get thirteen prepaid phones t pick from, from low-end to high-end. Cool.
What the heck, I’ll do two more biggies. Second-to-last, US Cellular clocks in at fifteen “normal” phones strong, if you call a bag phone a normal phone. Two Blackberries and the Motorola Q later…yes, just one smartphone due to USCC’s mere 1xRTT network (think T-Mobile speed, maybe just a tad slower)…and you get just eighteen models to choose from. Weak. Three prepaid phones? Gimme a break.
Last, let’s get Qwest in here. They resell Sprint. Maybe their extra phones should be credited to Sprint’s account, giving that carrier domination in the area of phone selection. Anyhow, you get a choice between nine decent phones for Qwest service, plus three smartphones, for a total of just twelve. Meh, at least they’re okay phones. Oh, and seven of them are Qwwest-only if you’re comparing the lineup to Sprint. So if they’re counted Sprint comes out as the clear choice leader when it comes to cellular selection. Interesting.
Now for the honorable mentions. Or dishonorable: the unlimited carriers. No smartphones here anymore. CricKet has just elevevn models to choose from. The same as Pocket, a Texas-based unlimited carrier that services where I live…and has about one-tenth the number of customers. MetroPCS is a little better, with 13 phones and color choice on one of ’em. Heard of Cleartalk PCS? Didn’t think so…they’re also unlimited, and sell just eight phone models, looks like. All this looks pretty pitiful when you consider the local carrier in my area, Five Star Wireless, has ten phones to choose from, plus maybe a Treo, and their 2.5G CDMA network, while simply amazing coverage-wise, can’t cover more than 200,000 people…and I’ll bet only 10-20,000 are using Five Star as their provider directly.
Well, hope this has enlightened you to…something. Just thought I’d do a little research and see what came up, and the above is what happened. Maybe it’ll be of use to someone, though PLEASE don’t choose your carrier just because it has more hones available than anyone else. Choose it if it gives the features you want with the coverage you need at a price you’re willing to pay. 🙂