Need Cell Phone Replacement ideas - destroyed before contract expired

[Percycat]

DH's cell phone fell out of his pocket going down a 10 story slide at a local museum. Other kids found it before he knew it was missing. We later found parts (less the memory card) scattered throughout the museum. Needless to say, the peices that were found do not equal a working phone and DH is in the market for a new phone.

Problem: We have Sprint service through as additional users on my mother's grandfathered contract, which provides unlimited data, text, phone for a around $50. My husband is a data hog. DH replaced his phone October 2014 and is not eligible for an upgrade for another 1.5 years. I don't know the specific phone, but it was a top line sprint LG phone in October that we paid about $200 in addition to signing 2 year contract. The phone was not insured -- I'm not sure if insurance would have helped because the condition of the various phone pieces found at separate locations indicates some of the damage was intentional.

Does anyone have ideas on how to set him up with a decent smart phone and lots of data without spending several hundred dollars on a phone or spending much more per month for phone service. I expect he will want Android. DH considered canceling his Sprint contract and getting a new contract with Verizon, but the service for his phone alone would be more than $100 per month and would not included unlimited data.

Can someone explain to me what means to buy an 'unlocked' phone and if we do this, could we use get it activated to use on our Sprint account?

I am at a loss. My DH is the techie in our house, but I want to be able to actively participate in discussing options because this is such a significant unplanned expense.

Thanks for your help.

[jiggaman]

You'll need to get details for a better answer but if he leaves Sprint I'm pretty sure he'll be hit with an Early Termination Fee of $350 since he didn't fulfill his 2 year contract. Your best option would be to just buy a Sprint phone and use it for 1.5 years but off contract it won't be cheap.

Each carrier locks their phones to their network (except for Verizon LTE phones which they are not allowed to lock). Unlocked means you can take the phone to any carrier, but there is a difference between GSM phones (AT&T and T-mobile) and CDMA phones (Sprint and Verizon) so you may not be able to use it anywhere you want.

Do you know how much data your DH uses in terms of GB per month? What is your budget for a new phone?

The best place for a used phone is probably Swappa.com. Most android people use it to buy off contract phones. A quick look says a Samsung Galaxy S5 goes for around $300.

[AngB]

I don't know if a Moto G would be too basic for him or not but that's what we use for our smart phones (Android) and I am on the internet on mine or 4G all the time. They are under $200 new from Motorola and when DS1 dropped DH's in the toilet, sans cover, I replaced it on Swappa for $130 and that included a memory card.

[khm]

I would log on to the account and check. It tells you how long until you are eligible. I think it's less than 2 years. They also have special offers a lot. They do want you to lease them now though.

What I would do though is check your local Facebook group or ask around for someone who may have an older model sitting around. Swappa also looks great. I have used eBay in the past and have had no issues. Just look for one that has a clear esn. Lots of sellers with lots of feedback. You should be fine. Do you have an old one? Just call to activate it to buy some time.

[vonfirmath]

Check out glyde.com if you want to buy a Sprint phone for him to continue to use.

[oneplustwo]

Another vote to track listings on Swappa. I bought my current iPhone there; would never have been able to afford it otherwise. You can look at Sprint Android phones on there and set up an alert to find out whenever new listings get posted. I found Swappa easy to use and felt I was less likely to get ripped off or run into problems than with ebay. A cell phone listed as being for the Sprint network is bound to be less expensive than an unlocked phone. You can find new, barely used, or well used phones on Swappa.

[lele]

Amazon sells used phones. I got an iphone in great condition from there. Check the amazon warehouse section.

[Percycat]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions! We will look at swappa, glyde, and amazon warehouse. I looked yesterday for reconditioned phones on sprint, but didn't see many options. I think we are also going to see if my father wants to upgrade his phone because I think he is eligible -- if so, we can take his old phone; if not, we may be able to use the upgrade.