Android without Unlimited Data Plan

[rodrigorajao]

I wanna buy a Samsung Galaxy S, but I need to know if it's economically feasible to run an Android phone without unlimited 3G plan.

The reason is I live in a country where unlimited 3G is ridiculously expensive, so I'm still limping along on EDGE. I don't use the Web on my phone too much so that's suits me OK. PC sync is far, far more important to me.

What I usually do on my smartphone is:

- talk
- contacts
- calendar
- video
- music
- FM radio
- SOME very basic internet surfing and email
- GPS/Google maps

My last smartphone was a WinMo-powered Samsung Omnia, which was stolen. I figured since I'm getting a new phone, I might as well get one with a new OS. Can I make the switch to Android without burning a hole in my pocket? Will I lose too much functionality and might be better off on WinMo or Symbian or iOS4?

 

[AdamKaoru]

Following the same usage patterns you really shouldn't incur much additional data usage.

In terms of functionality the best alternative for WinMo for you is probably Android. iOS4 doesn't really offer as much customization or options as you're used to, and Symbian is a piece of crap. I would strongly advise you don't get another WinMo phone.

 

[lunatic59]

The problem with Android and iOS is that data consumption is so easy, you don't think about it until too late. I think it's possible to use your phone the way you want it on limited data as long as you watch yourself. Keep the browsing to sites without much multimedia content and don't do much downloading unless connected to WiFi. The only big data hog might be the GPS/Maps depending on the amount of use and the number of layers.

If you had Goggle Maps on the Omnia, then the use should be the same.

Just to give you an example, I had a WinMo phone prior to getting a Nexus one. I would average under 20MB/month. The first month I got the Nexus, my use shot up to almost 150MB. The next month it was close to half a gigabyte.