As the title suggests, in the morning I am returning my Space Gray iPhone 5S.
Don't get me wrong, I love the phone. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. It's brilliant. It has far surpassed my expectations coming from my old iPhone 4S.
So why return it?
I have 3 days to return the phone to my place of purchase, Best Buy, to get my activation fee refunded. I didn't mind waiting in line to purchase it. I don't mind going back to my iPhone 4S for a little while if need be.
See, I'm on Sprint. The data speed has always been a problem, but now the problem has absolutely and definitely reared its ugly head. My whole purpose in upgrading to an iPhone 5 or 5C or 5S was solely to take advantage of 4G LTE. You'd think with all the blabbering their marketing and their customer service departments have done I'd be able to receive it, but no.
I've checked maps on Sensorly and s4gru.com and while there've been many fleeting glimpses of LTE signals they must have only been a testing phase because I can't pick anything up.
So this reverts me to the argument as old as time:
What good is Sprint's unlimited data if you can't use it?
I joined Sprint about 3 1/2 years ago from Verizon out of sheer cost. I wasn't using a smartphone yet, and this was an opportunity to save money *and* get a smartphone for myself. I jumped at the chance.
And now I'm sick to my stomach. I'm ready to pay a $100 ETF for 2 of the 4 family lines on the account and go running to Verizon in a second. I've considered AT&T but the difference in price is miniscule. I'd rather have a better network.
Again, what good is unlimited data if you just can't use it?
I busted my rear off to go crazy and use as much data as I could last billing cycle and I barely used over 1 GB. Half of that is because I didn't have a good signal for my 20 minute commute to/from work, and half of that is because I have a wifi signal at both home and work after I get there.
So, whenever I'm on the go, essentially, I don't have a "smartphone". I have a severely gimped iPhone 5S. And even a 4S for that matter.
It's an absolute sin that Apple even allows Sprint to use the iPhone on their network. It's like trying to run a marathon without legs. Can it be done? Sure. But by the time you get to the finish line, everyone else will be at home sleeping.
The price difference appears to be roughly $20 per month.
For $20 a month, or $240 per year, I'd rather have a smartphone I can actually take full advantage of rather than a gimpy, limping data network.
If I didn't want data bandwidth, I wouldn't have a smartphone period. I'd use an iTouch in conjunction with an old flip style Razr or something.
Tradeoffs:
Verizon:
- More expensive (20 per month)
+ Unlimited minutes
+ Much better coverage
+ Much faster data
- Limited data
Sprint:
+ Slightly cheaper
- 1500 minutes shared through the account
- Acceptable coverage
- Nonexistant data
+ Unlimited data
I'm not going to continue to pour money into a bankrupt company so they can sit back and have customer service promise and promise and promise me that 4G is "right around the corner" for another 2 years.
Hopefully I can convince my family the same (the other 3 lines) otherwise I'm getting my own plan on Verizon.
Sigh. Rant mode off.
This was a public service announcement from a somewhat tipsy soon to be former Sprint customer.
Friends don't let friends have terrible data speed on their iPhone.
It's a disservice to us all.
