Find the Best Cell Phone and Plan for You
PhoneDog's innovative comparison tool can help you save on cell phones and plans. Find the best phone and plan for you today with PhoneDog!
PhoneDog's innovative comparison tool can help you save on cell phones and plans. Find the best phone and plan for you today with PhoneDog!
Compare cell phone carriers in California to find the best cell phone carrier for your needs using PhoneDog. Compare cell phone carrier coverage maps in your area. Click or tap on the wireless carrier logos to view the coverage map for that carrier. Use our cell phone plan comparison tool to find and compare the wireless carrier plans, pricing, and more. The comparison tool includes major and minor carriers. The minor carriers and MVNOs run on the networks of one of the major carriers.
Most consumers are probably aware that mobile phone plans have become exceedingly commonplace and perhaps abundant, but that doesn't mean that every plan is equally appropriate for every situation. People’s lives vary greatly, and what works for one might not work for anyone else. With such a huge variety of needs, and a system that tries to meet as many of those needs as possible, it's vital that you find a plan that works optimally for your life. You don't want to pay for voice minutes, text messages, and data coverage that you aren't going to use, but you also don't want to limit your services to the point that overages become common. By using the comparison tools at PhoneDog, you can see a full range of cell phone plans in California and compare their offerings, obligations, and costs.
It is important to look at the most vital parts of a cell phone plan before you make a decision, and one of these parts is how good the coverage is in California. You need to know which plan has the best coverage before you make your final choice. Sure, you could find a plan where you would be paying an absolutely amazing monthly price, but what good will that do if you can’t get decent coverage where you live? Most national carriers strive to provide quality service in every city that they can, so your city is more than likely already covered. You simply need to check out the coverage map for each carrier to make sure your city gets reliable coverage before you choose them as your carrier.
Before figuring out the right cell phone carrier for you, you should take some time to consider the kind of plan you will want. Are you talking constantly on the phone, or do you only use your phone for emergencies? Do you text frequently or infrequently? What does your data usage look like? Do you spend a lot of time on the internet away from a wireless internet source? The three most important factors to consider when choosing a carrier service provider in California are data limits, minutes, and text messages.
To select the right service plan in California, simply compare the options using our easily accessible service. This will help you find out how to save money by switching to the optimal service provider for your specific needs. You can easily look them up for your area using our service, helping you save your money and time.
What kinds of plans are there out there? There are three basic plans out there. Some plans tailor towards individuals, others cater to families, and the final group requires that you make no long-term commitment, eschewing a contract for mobility.
Let's first talk about individual plans in California. These plans package all of your minutes, text messages, and data into a single plan for a single device. This kind of plan works well if you don't have a spouse or any children.
Family plans, by contrast, are useful for covering multiple cell phones for each member of your family. While these are generally more expensive, you will save money by bundling your family's plan together. Even if it's just you and your partner, you will still save money by switching to a family plan. Monthly fees will drop significantly if you're sharing the cost. How do family plans work? Family plans let you share your minutes, texts, and data with everyone on your plan, letting you pool your minutes together for optimal savings. However, make sure that you take your family's needs into account. If you have teenagers especially, make sure you set limits that are high enough so that you won't go over your monthly limit. If your kids run up your minutes or data, you can be facing big bills at the end of the month.
If you have a no-contract plan, these often work by letting you pre-pay for a certain amount of minutes or pay on a month-to-month basis with no long term commitments. However, sometimes these can charge you additional fees. On a prepaid phone, you will have to pay for the price of the phone as well, something that you'll also have to take into account with a pay by the month plan. Normally, if you commit to a contract, the cell phone company will subsidize a significant portion of your phone, although this typically only happens when you agree to a long term contract. However, such a deal can mean that you have access to the latest phones and devices, including the most recent smartphone models. No contract plans are a great option for residents of California.
Contract plans, by contrast, require you to sign up for two years or more ahead of time, although it's also sometimes possible to find single year plans. Payments are required every month, and you cannot break the contract without paying a heavily fee. Usually, the fee for breaking a long-term contract will be in proportion to the number of months left on the contract alongside an added penalty.
To choose the right plan in California, you should take the time to determine what your needs are. How many people will be on your plan? How many devices do you have? How much data do you plan to use? How many texts and calls will you be sending or receiving? Talk, text and data are often the most important factors to look at when deciding on a plan. These are the things most advertised by cell phone carriers.
Less expensive plans usually have limits on the amount of texts you can send or receive and the number of minutes you can use. If you plan on using your phone a lot to communicate with people over text or otherwise, unlimited plans will most likely be a much better option for you. Prepaid plans, on the other hand, could be a good choice for people who aren't sure how many texts or minutes they will use. With a prepaid plan, you'll just pay for more minutes once you've used the ones you had before.
Data usage has recently become a major factor when choosing a cell phone plan. With the development of smartphones, almost everybody with a cell phone uses data. Most cell phone carriers in California charge a large amount of money for data, and it is hard to find a truly unlimited plan. In most cases, a plan will say that unlimited data is offered even though there are hidden technicalities that keep you from actually having unlimited data. Usually, this is the case regarding high-speed data. Unlimited plans are starting to become more popular, however, so they may be easier to find in the near future.
All four of the following carriers offer coverage in California: AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile. There are even smaller companies, called MVNOs, which conduct their service under one or more of these four carriers. Your city is more than likely covered by one or all of these carriers.
AT&T is a popular wireless provider. They offer pretty much every type of cell phone plan that there is, such as contract and no contract plans, individual plans, and shared family plans. They also offer an unlimited cell phone plan.
Sprint is known for being one of the most affordable national cell phone carriers. They provide many types of plans with service in California, including an affordable unlimited one.
Verizon Wireless, another popular choice in California, offers family sharing, no contract, and individual plans. You can pick from an unlimited plan, shared data plan or a prepaid plan when you sign up. A shared data plan can be used by one individual or within a family and comes with unlimited talk and text. It also comes with a predetermined amount of data.
T-Mobile, known as the “un-carrier”, only offers plans that are no contract. Customers who choose T-Mobile will receive unlimited text, talk, and data, which is throttled at different levels, for one single price per month. Customers can choose from family cell phone plans to individual ones.
MVNOs, the aforementioned cell phone carriers, are another choice that can be compared with our comparison tool. These carriers are basically a sub-division of the national carriers and usually offer many deals for their plans which typically offer service in California as well.