Buying phone outright for T-Mobile: 5 or 4S?

Hi everyone,

I've got a nice & cheap T-Mobile plan, and I'm Sitting on a once-spectacular, now-mediocre Nexus One. I work in web development and am invested in Apple's ecosystem (iPad 2, 2011 Mac Mini, and 2012 MB Air 13"), and the phone is really the last Android holdout.

My girlfriend has had an iPhone 4 for the better part of a year, and I've been impressed with what I've seen. I like the size and heft. It feels solid in the hand and almost never drops calls.

I don't use phones much in my day-to-day, but I feel like there's a potential that I'm not seeing with my clogged up, aging phone. What I hate most about it is the audio quality in recorded video. I love playing music and going to shows, and documenting those experiences is very important to me. The Nexus One has never really felt serviceable on this front.

I realize that I may be facing some slow network speeds while T-Mobile continues their refarming process, but I'm rarely outside of wifi networks, so I don't see this affecting me much, so long as calls can connect.

My question is, if I'm buying a phone at full price from Apple, I'm thinking of going for either a 32gb iPhone 5 or a 16gb iPhone 4S. The biggest concern is durability between the two, as I'd like to carry it without a case. It seems that the 4s weight and size might be less prone to accidental mishaps. I've had the Nexus One for close to three years, so I'm not interested in jumping from phone to phone. I just want something solid that will provide great multimedia capabilities. So, with all this in mind, would it make sense to go for a 4S for $550 (a bit leery on the 16gb space limitation, though), or is the iPhone 5 32gb for $200 more a better bang for the buck?

The 16gb 4s is $550 at the apple store and the 32gb iPhone 5 is ~$200 more, at $750, correct? So, I would be paying more for the 5. I would certainly enjoy paying less if the 4S is a better value at their current price points, but I've not had a lot of exposure to either model, so any advice on that is welcome.

Also, would the AT&T 5 have a better connectivity future on T-Mobile's upgraded network, or would both models function fairly similarly, in terms of data speeds?

I work from home and am rarely outside of wifi range, so the initial slower T-Mobile data speeds don't scare me that much. Having the Nexus One, it's been beyond serviceable in the time I've owned it and very durable, but the lack of integration with my other devices and limited on board phone space has rendered my phone basically useless for anything aside from calls.

Regarding the capacity choices (16gb on 4S and 32gb on 5), it was purely based on the inventory I had seen in Apple's online store. I'd like to buy the phone new, and I don't have a good track record with reselling. I tend to hold on to these gadgets well beyond their sell-by dates, anyway (still have a PowerBook G4 12" that's going strong).

I currently have 16gb sd slot in my Nexus One, but it's constantly jammed with multimedia, apps, and email, so I would ideally have at least 32gb in my next phone.

I'd certainly consider a good android device, but I had been very impressed by my girlfriend's photo/video capturing on the 4, and I'm also interested in seeing if the Apple integration will help me get to pull it out of my pocket more often.

The iPad upgrade is an interesting choice, but I really dont like the idea of another data plan or carrier. I'm content with T-Mobile, so far, especially for the price.

Yah, I see what you're saying, but the high outright price will add up to savings over the life of the phone (no matter which model) on a discounted monthly plan. Honestly, the 4 would be a nice upgrade over my current situation, so latest and greatest isn't of much concern, so long as the media capabilities are stellar.

Actually, looking at Straight Talk today, and that seems like a great deal with potentially better connectivity for an even lower price point than where I'm at now. Anyone have experience on this? Can it be utilized overseas? I notice an international pan, but that seems to be for calls only, rather than actually traveling abroad.