We’ve got a lot of sources out there. For the past five years, we’ve dominated coverage of all the carriers. Sprint was the first.
So when Sprint decided to finally ship a somewhat open, Linux-driven, modern Palm phone… it wasn’t a question of who was going to review it first.
And now, for the first (full) review of the (final) Palm Pre.
Palm hasn’t been known for Sprint integration. Most of Sprint’s Palm phones come somewhat desolate of Sprint service integration. This is a major reason why Sprint gets a bad reputation in the wireless industry. Tech-savvy people grab a Treo, turn it on, and don’t find Sprint Navigation. They don’t find Sprint TV. They don’t find a Music Store. And while niche devices like the Treo 800w and Pro finally checked the boxes… the implementation fell silent. Everyone was already waiting for the Pre.
Thankfully, the Pre does Sprint integration right. Sprint TV excels on the Palm Pre. It’s not clear if the Pre is using a newer, higher-resolution H.264 connection… or if Palm’s playback software has hardware acceleration. But, it’s great. And, unlike SlingPlayer… doesn’t “harm the AT&T Sprint network.” Unlike AT&T, Sprint doesn’t violate FCC rulings and limit what you can do with your device.
And that shows with the Pre. Sprint Navigation is just the beginning… the app portfolio service on the Pre appears more extensible than iPhone. However, Palm didn’t let too much slip out about it; all apps have been removed from the store. Palm says they’ll add the service back on launch day, so we can’t put their app store to the test… yet.
Probably the worst feature that we had experience with, was USB mode. Copying to the device was slow… slower than ActiveSync was over USB 2.0. It almost reminded us of iPhone OS 2.0, before Apple updated the sync process to, well, work.
Amazon MP3 does work already… and it’s a welcomed relief from the Sprint Outsourced Music Store. Palm put their foot down, and it paid off here. Having a music store on-par with the iPhone is key for a device like Pre… and while iPhone’s iPod software makes iPhone better for controlling music… we were happy with the shopping experience.
And yes, music does play in the background.
Surprisingly, nobody on the team was happy with YouTube. While Sprint TV was a treat, YouTube was limited to searching. It’s not clear if this is going to be quickly updated, but the player software is minimalistic at best.
Facebook integration also appears to suffer from first-instance issues. The application supports a minimal set of the Facebook API, limiting users to a 2007-style interface, with only profile and contact information. Chat is nowhere to be found.
Other Sprint apps, such as Nascar Mobile, were also surprises… in that they weren’t terrible. Usually these outsourced apps run slowly and don’t update properly. Not so on the Pre.
Messaging is a delicate subject for many. The Pre not only has a capacitive display (which yes, is very much capacitive… unlike the Touch Pro, it loves a human’s touch)… but it also has a keyboard. Typing on the Pre, like any smartphone, is sure to be the subject of many arguments. Some will say that iPhone’s multi-touch approach is better… others will say the Pre is better.
We really love how the debate puts Apple’s Steve Jobs, and (formerly) Apple’s John Rubenstein at odds. When asked if Apple thought about adding a physical keyboard to iPhone, Jobs dismissed the idea flatly, citing the team’s unified decision to move ahead with multi-touch. The first device with Rubenstein (the “father of the iPod and iPhone”) as chairman of Palm… has a physical keyboard. It cauterizes rumors that he stood out as the most major opposition to the lack of a physical keyboard on iPhone.
Still, we aren’t alone in thinking it takes some acquiring to get acquainted to typing and messaging on the Pre. Every early user we’ve talked to agreed that the interface requires jumping through menus in an odd manner… especially when toggling between windows and apps.
Lingering Questions for Palm
We’re still left with some questions. With the webOS SDK still not fully unveiled… we’re left asking Palm what they’ll let people do with the device.
iPhone limits software to what they can do with background apps.
Android limits software to not run Linux software directly.
BlackBerry limits software all over the place.
Palm Pre? Well, we don’t know what limits will be there.
Obviously, for webOS software, a lot of apps are breaking the rules internally. A lot of these apps are Linux-coded from the bottom to the top. Will Palm let other developers have the same level of access? We think it’s going to be a deal-breaker if they don’t. As Apple learned with iPhone, limiting all the toys to their own software, leaves everyone else taking their toys elsewhere.
Lingering Questions for Sprint
Unfortunately, we’re pointing the most anger here at Sprint.
Once again, Sprint proclaims that another device requires Everything Plans. That is misinformation, plain and simple. The Palm Pre, like the Samsung Instinct, could run on any modern Sprint plan. Sprint simply would need to require the presence of a Power Vision Pack, in order to activate the device.
Even the hard of hearing, and data-only customers, are simply told to chose another phone. It makes us sick… and here’s why.
Instead, Sprint is requiring people to buy a top-revenue Everything Plan. Our memo to Sprint: It may just kill Palm, thanks.
Why might it kill Palm? Tech-savvy people like their old plans. They hate when people try to kick them off… and they’ll respond by going elsewhere.
With most of the tech savvy people refusing to get the Pre, on Everything Plan hostage terms, there won’t be many people rallying the success of the Pre.
Now, you might respond that while Sprint is in the wrong for deceiving people, that the Palm Eos will be coming to AT&T. We’re just left wondering if the Pre will fail because of these hostage-terms plan requirements, and if anyone will buy a Pre in the interim? Will Palm live long enough to ship the Eos?
Sprint, wise up and drop this ridiculous plan requirement. The Pre is an excellent device, but isn’t worth higher per-month pricing. Those customers can, and will, get a Wi-Fi enabled Windows phone, and sling Wi-Fi to the iPod touch. Such a shame too, because the Pre is Sprint’s converged solution. Only those on Everything plans will be able to use it.
Closing Thoughts
Barring any last-minute snags, which seem unlikely at this point, we’ve reviewed the final version of the Pre. There is the potential, as previously reported, that Sprint could pull their escrow of the firmware if they find anything show-stopping. We doubt that will happen at this point, and expect the device to be sold in early June.
Minor Update: Hours after posting this review, Sprint confirmed the June 6th launch date for the Pre.
We are holding off on casting judgment on a few areas, which we outlined previously. Palm’s App Catalog is not open yet, and we won’t touch the sync servers for calendars and contacts until they go live. MechaWorks is intimately familiar with cloud computing, and we understand that it is in an active state of development still. We aren’t even using those apps yet, so we don’t get any first impressions from servers that aren’t final.
The Pre is a beautiful device. We love it, we love to hold it, we love to use it. Sprint, please don’t kill the golden goose (for Sprint, or for Palm). Let everyone with an unlimited data plan use the Pre… it’s better, but not enough to fork over an additional $20 to $40 per month. For an extra $960 (over the course of two years), we’d rather have an iPod touch, plus a couple of netbooks (sipping Wi-Fi from any old Windows phone).
@ Cell Dude
My position regarding $14 million CEO D.H., relative to Forsee, he is an improvement, that is all, remember he came from ATT.
I agree that “whatever CEO is in charge, they have their work cut out for them” but that is precisely their job.
Customer service has improved…, their style of delivery has changed, they are polite, instead of rude, but not much in substance, the unchallenged “Administrative Fees” with no end in sight, errors in billing, false charges, Sprint DRM songs that you can not dowload, yet the cost is the same, they charge your minutes from when it starts ringing before the call connects, until you hang up after the call is completed!
In other words the only time they will not charge you is if the call does not connect.
They are stealing minutes everyday, so lets say you make a call, and it rings 30 seconds before pick up, they answer, you talk for 58 seconds and the party hangs up, it will stop the count not instantly but seconds later.
Meaning 30 seconds (before) + 58 seconds (the call) + minimum 2-3 seconds (after the end), putting you squarely into 2minutes, instead of 58 seconds —> 1 minute!!
Now multiply that extra minute by 49 million (minutes/customers), that translates into over 816,666 hours a day,
That is if everyone only made one call @ only 1 minute a call per account, in just a 24hour period alone!!
If you recall, years ago at the beginning of the Cell history,they used to have a time log in the phone, which would tell keep track of the lengh of the call, this way you could keep track of your minutes, which I used to log daily so I would not exceed my minutes, and at the end of the month I would do a side by side, and discover the rip off charges!
At that time they would say, “we charge by minutes, not by seconds”, but add to that the above practise, and will not take long to see the size of this scam!
Maybe someday the FCC will halt these abuses, not every carrier practises this. Like a Ponzi sceam, not everybody catches these practises, and that is exactly what they count on.
Thank You
After Palm dropped sync support for OSX, leaving all of my data bound and gagged in several non-functional Palm devices, and a proprietary database on a Mac I swore I would never buy another Palm device. Then Sprint STOLE $175.00 from me. Just charged a credit card they weren’t authorized to, but since I had had a Sprint account MasterCard refused to backcharge them and they got away with larceny. I’d been a Sprint customer for over a decade, had lots of technical problems, billing problems (always in Sprint’s favor), etc. But violating our contract and then stealing from me was the last straw.
Palm + Sprint = the worst possible combination.
Much as I hate to admit it, AT&T + Apple pretty much just works. And I know where my data is now. I may be getting wallet raped now, but at least it’s something I agreed to up front and haven’t had any shady charges appearing on my AT&T bills.
Your mileage may vary, but my advice is to be wary.
Would you pay $30 for a Pro Pack? That’s the equivalent of what ATT is doing with the iPhone. Suppose they let grandfathered subs keep thier plan only if you get the re-named Pre-mium Pack, I would’ve jumped on it
@ Don Louie
Any option that provides “fair equal access”, would be a positive step,
the question is if and when, Sprint sees the light, and changes policy!
Thank You
@ Chris: someone stole your review – http://www.palluxo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=385:review-palm-pre-from-sprint&catid=90:blogs&Itemid=284
[…] The review has been stolen from PhoneNews – Review: Palm Pre (Sprint) | PhoneNews.com […]
F1, is that a yes or no? This should have been the option within weeks/months of the Everything plans coming out as a percussor to the Instinct
@Don Louie
I hope this is not wishful thinking, but, in reading the leaked palm pre document that F1
showed above. I believe there will be a SOC (some data pack code) available at a later
data that can be added to some business plans giving pre access.
It also stated that employees could get the pre at a later date.
It remains to be seen which plans could get such a SOC added or how much it may cost.
I’ve been hoping they do this since the Instinct came out. I usually adopted the new plans whenever it saved me money or gave me more minutes, preferably both but when the instinct came I out I had already switched becase of the savings, lost minutes which I think I need now. Had a Power Pack 2100 (3 lines), Ultimate Pack, Nav Pack, Vision and unlimited fam text so I can see where the grandfathered plans complaining comes from because2 of phones covered any device they would ever come out with but switched anyway. Maybe they will wise up and let the old plans get the new phones, only if you get the Pro data pack
@ Don Louie
Any option that provides “fair equal accessâ€, would be a positive step,
the question is if and when, Sprint sees the light, and changes policy!
Would I like letting people keep their legacy plan, and add a “Data Pack” as an option, so they can at least buy the phone they want?
Well, yes!
Although in these rough economic times, it is not wise to raise prices,
also remember 4G is supposed to be coming, which will use far more Data!
Which is why, I rather keep my Fair & Flexible 700, until 4G makes it to L.A.!
Thank You
Good one f1. I will pay more when technology warrants the upgrade. Hence when they start the 4g network. As of now I don’t wish to pay more for a service that is exactly the same as what I have.
I would love the pre but the internet on it is the same as the internet on my touch diamond. I will just wait till the pro 2 or diamond 2 if they are forcing the plan on the pre.
This is actually going to hurt palm more than sprint. Sprint has other phones that will keep customers happy. Palm doesn’t have that much to work with.
Lets hope that whatever sprint does is a smart move. In the end customers will have the last word since they are the ones who pay the money.
GOOD LUCK SPRINT!
As of now I am still happy with my diamond and my sero plan.
Chris: Hook a brother up. I read what you said about trying it out and taking it back but I don’t think its to much to ask if it does its main function well. Its a phone. What is the voice quality like? We understand it is subjective. Its not the only subjective thing you will have said. You don’t have to get too technical. Good, bad or average. Compare it to another sprint phone making a call from the same place or something. Come on man!
Thanks
Juan, we’ve been around the block a lot on stuff like that. Subjectively saying YouTube lacks features is one thing… but we still remember the Sanyo VM4500 debates that raged on the our Sprint forum, for months. Half the people said the call quality was the worst ever, and the other half loved it.
And, the obligatory iPhone reference… same deal there. Half the people say the earpiece is terrible, the other half found it exceptional.
It just isn’t that simple, it’s a personal decision. And while half the people out there hate that we won’t be like the drive-bys, the other have have been applauding us for doing the right thing, and not taking personal biases into the review.
We’ll continue to call out the drive-by reviewers that add filler, and inject their personal preferences into their reviews. They may get adorned by their fellow drive-by’ers… but readers of PhoneNews.com are too smart to waste time listening to that background noise.
So Boy Genius Report (BGR) is trying to steal your thunder claiming to be the first to review the Palm Pre. They have posted up yesterday that they are the first blog to post about the phone. But I know that in fact you guys have posted last week about the phone. Can you believe the nerve of those guys…LOL
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2009/05/28/palm-pre-first-hands-on/#more-26233
they might not have the first review on the web
…they’re just the only ones who can actually prove it.
I wonder which one will be more of a ” full ” review…
[…] may claim to have the first review of the Palm Pre, but remember, you read on PhoneNews.com first… Trackback | Permalink […]
First these companies force you in a contract to make money, now they want to force you to pay $100+ a month on a plan just because you want a decent phone. Pretty soon every phone is going to require $100+ plan. In the beginning people would spend hundreds, even thousands on outrages fees from overages. These companies were making out like fat cats! At the same time people were raising hell about the fees and they got a clue and started showing constraint to overages. These companies are fighting back with a forced more expensive plan to make up for it. Pretty soon everything that comes out is going to require higher monthly fees for stuff you really don’t need. The Industry has already brainwashed us into thinking that you have to have a contract on everything you purchase, now some people are already brainwashed about these forced plans. Some brainwashed bloggers here, are sticking up for the cell phone companies by saying we shouldn’t complain. Sprint owes us a decent phone, why should people with comfortable plans have to pay a higher monthly fee just to get it?
Nice, balanced review. Just twitted it.
I am one of those Sprint Free & Clear Plan holders from way back in the day. I was not happy with the Instinct plan requirements and I am very unhappy about the same plan requirements being pushed on the Palm Pre. A data add on package for the Palm Pre would be a better option for Sprint because…legacy plan holders are happy about keeping their calling plan and Sprint is happy because of revenue coming from Palm Pre data add ons. Both sides happy…Sprint….I hope you are listening!!!
[…] Eric Lin publicly made a foul-four-letter-word-strewn commentary about our PhoneNews.com nabbing the first review of the Palm Pre, we realized animosity was alive and well in the mobile […]
I read the article, I understand your frustration — but you have to understand ours. 1. your didn’t produce any new photos of the pre you were reviewing. 2. your review didn’t reveal anything that was known months ago 3. The purpose of a review is to get that person’s thought on whatever they are reviewing. Your review was very uninformative. That’s like reading a review for a movie and only getting “the movie was had special effects and a lot of action — there was some points in the movie that had drama, but if you really want to know about the movie go see it” — that review gave no information of what the person that of the movie — when people see the word review they want to know if the reviewer liked or disliked what they are reviewing and why!
Mike, obviously you didn’t read the review fully. Your claims aren’t correct, and as we noted on our blog, we posted the photos previously.
Please re-read the article before posting further.
I have read and re-read your review and obviously you guys didn’t do something right if you got shafted by BOYGENIUS as they are the site that is getting recognized as the 1st Palm Pre Review.
Mike, if your argument is that we didn’t shut down the site, and turn it into an announcement that BGR lied… that’s about all we could have done further.
Oh, wait, we did that: https://phone.news/blog/hello-we-arent-walt-mossberg…-492.html
Boy Genius Report lied, it’s that simple. The argument in your last post is a terrible false premise in logic.
If we lied all the time about getting first-reports, people would give us credit for them too. Problem is, our morals and ethics are a bit to high to “win” that way.
I happen to agree with MOST of this review. I think the Pre is a great device for several of the reasons chris pointed out. Sprint TV, Apps store, and the touchscreen ( Which I must say IS THE BEST out there) are great. But what about the email Wow its fast! Camera and Music playing abilities amazing! But as for the phone not being brought – forget about it…
I love the UI and OS. I love the way it looks. I said the same thing about the HTC Touch. I guess I don’t have to tell you how that turned out. So PLEASE stay here and write about what you experience with this phone ASAP. I want to hear everything. Had I been smart enough to read the blogs for a couple of weeks after that disaster I’d have saved myself some bucks. I’ll be here hanging on your every word (for at LEAST a month). Good luck.
got mine!!! my WONDERFUL hubby didnt want me there by myself & my 8 yr old did NOT want to get up at 5 am & go, so he went by himself. I was surprised cuz he told me Monday he was soooo sick of hearing me talk about that effin phone!! lol – he got there at 6am there were 2 cars in the lot but nobody in line.
at 7:30 i told him to go start the line – sure enough a few more people followed. Our BB had 10 & I (technically my husband) was first in line.
BB rep came out at 9 and gave “line tix” and started the paperwork.
The first one they tried to activate was defective so sorry to the person who was #10 and didnt get a pre!!
I got mine and will be playing with it for the rest of the day (at least)!!!! Talk more at http://www.PalmPreForum.org see ya there.
[…] Sprint Despite the complaints of a vocal minority to our world-first Palm Pre review, Sprint appears to have […]
[…] able to use the device as a modem, though in practice it is slower than a dedicated aircard. In the world-first review of the Pre, my editor in chief at PhoneNews blasted Sprint for excluding relay customers […]
Got mine on release day and boy…..**SPEECHLESS**…..went from in-stink to this phone. I don’t think there anything i don’t like…other than i can’t change the notification alert, but an update will come out to change that (hopefully)
<<<<<*****Talk more at see ya there.*****>>>>>
I totally agree about the plans. Get this I HAVE a DATA PAK on 3 of my 5 phones – my plan is the FAMILY 1400 – just like the FAMILY 1500 – the 100 mintues. I PAY a total with fees taxes etc 168.00 per mos. I pay 9.99 for each of my extra three phones – the 2 main phones and one of the 3 have unltd text, web browsing, email, pic mail and THEY WILL NOT let me upgrade to the PRE. I am looking for a new carrier. UGH!
wow complain complain complain. no one is forcing anyone to get the pre and no one is forcing anyone to change their plans. If you dont wanna change your plan then the Pre is not for you. Good luck finding another carrier with a comparable price plan that gives you all the features that the sprint price plans give you. oh and fyi you could get the $129.99 everything data share 1500 and 1 extra line for $20.00. hmm 149.99 or 168.00? maybe someone should start doing math classes again?
oh and edit on above post with taxes your still only looking at around 180.00 ish
I purchased the Pre on June 12th…. While I am pleased with the the phone itself, battery life is AWFUL! I charge my phone overnight & the phone is dead by 2pm… Ridiculous. I am considering exchanging the phone for a treo simply for battery life. Who wants to carry a charger around everywhere they go?
Dude – I can do math. I pay 168 TOTAL now. They want me to Pay 129.99 just for the plan and then 19.99 for each addtl line – I have 3 extra lines. 19.99 x 3 = 59.97 + 129.99 =189.96 of course you’ll have to add on about $40 for taxes and fees which leaves me a new gand total of 229.96. I will have gained 100 extra shared minutes is all. As I stated earlier I already have unltd text, email, web browsing, sprint tv, on demand, sprint music. Of course as you stated no one is forcing me to get the Pre – I was just excited that sprint finally got a phone that seems really cool and because I am a long time customer with 5 phones I was going to get it, but now I’m not. I was also happy to see that others shared the frustration with their DATA PLANS and that I wasn’t misunderstanding what Sprint is telling me. I’m not sure why you’re on the forum, but it’s a free country : )
Patty, if you talk to the stor manager I’m sure they give you a 15%-20% discount and if they won’t if you calmly exlpain this to Account Services, they will. Bite thebullet or move on
Like Don said if you have been with sprint for a long time then you are probably eligible for some sort of discount. you should also see if your company participates in their discounts program usually you can get good discounts. I get irritated by comments like “I am looking for a new carrier. UGH!” simply because you cant have it your way. you are right its a free country and you can go somewhere else however you wont be staying at $168 with 5 lines with all of the features that you currently have.
oh and by the way unless you have one of the 30 dollar data packs you are not getting free sprint nav, or Sprint TV premier those are 2 extra stand alone $10.00 per month per feature subscriptions that are included with the $129.99 price plan. Look at it this way if all 5 phones are capable of sprint tv and sprint nav you are getting $100.00 per month free included with the price plan
@Patty – The discount is a red herring. You can probably get a 25% discount on your current plan.
The is Allient Credit Union where sprint gives a 25% discount to members of that credit union.
That Credit Union is open to a lot of people including anyone that belongs to the PTA.
Whith 5 lines, you may have kids and may be a member of a PTA.
So, to compare a plan with no discount to a plan with a discount is like comparing apples
to oranges.
I was just on a ridiculously long phone call with customer retention regarding my contract with Sprint and the new Pre. I have been a Sprint customer for almost 4 years. I have since then added 2 lines on to my phone (2 new customers for them!). I used my full upgrade in December for the Centro (previously having the Treo) – obviously not knowing the Pre would be coming out. Knowing that new Sprint customers can buy the phone for $199 – I called wondering what kind of deal I could get on this phone – even with the willingness to sign ANOTHER 2 year agreement… Bottom line? I am SOL. According to the representative I spoke with it is a “contract Sprint has with Palm” stating the only deal an existing customer will get is through their upgrade.. Otherwise I’m paying over $500 for a phone through a company I’ve been loyal to for this long? More than disappointing. What I’m hearing from this employee is that the company cares more about signing new people up than keeping the ones who have been with them for years.
I could cancel my Sprint account, sign up with AT&T and buy an I-Phone for cheaper. Two thumbs down, Sprint.
Why is it sprints fault that YOU used your upgraded elligibillity? Why blame a company who has SET rules and guidelines? Do you think AT&T would let you go from the Iphone 3G to the I Phone 3G S even if you have been with them for years? Nope and go read their forums there are a bunch of people mad because they wont let them upgrade for the cheap price.
Just for the record:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/17/atandt-relents-a-little-lets-iphone-3g-customers-with-upcoming-up/
Fact: Over the 1st weekend of release:
Sprint sold 50.000 units of Pre while,
AT&T sold 1.000.000 units of iPhones!
As I said many times before, this is part of the broader “smart” marketing strategy of Sprint, by eliminating it’s own base of none “Everything Plan” accounts, getting the fraction of the $ possible!
Sheer genius!
Thank You
Hmm lets see I phone sold WORLD wide, Pre sold in US Only…….. apples to oranges buddy…
@ Dan
I sent you a reply about 40 minutes ago on my Sprint phone, I hit reply and it said it sent it to cprice@phonenews!!!!
I don’t understand why a “reply” has to go somewhere else, I am curious how long it will take for the message to get trans/posted on here! Why sent people an email notification, if the response goes somewhere else??
I am sending this via a EeePC 900, direct input on this blog.
Thank You
@ Dan
Here is the copy of my response to you, originaly sent one hour ago:
Agreed, on that you have a valid point, however, was that Apple’s fault, or Palm’s marketing decision? Still, if any one has the breakdown of the sales figures, kindly share it with us.
How many units were sold in the U.S. alone? This way we get “them” Apples and Oranges straight !
P.S.
On a different subject,I don’t now why, but Yahoo and Opera 9.6 combined become a complete nightmare, it took over 20 minutes, for me to log in into the Yahoo account, get to my sent folder, copy the above message, any other page loads in seconds, but not so Yahoo email, loading speed drops to 5-6kbs!
Thank You
It was more Palm decision i think. the choice to only produce $50,000 units and distribute them is decided by the manufacturer.
Actually, I went to the sprint store yesterday and you don’t have to get the everything plan. I share a plan w/ my mom (don’t judge) and i could get 1500 minutes plus unlimited messaging PLUS umlimited data for 129.99 a month for 2 people. that 189.99 if it was the everything plan…. just saying.
@lilly
Are you sure you got the Palm Pre? I know my wife and I had to upgrade to everything plan just to get the Pre.
If you go to sprint.com and look at the list of phones, under the pre it says “about plans for this phone”. click there and you will see that you can use it with the $99.99 everything plan, everything Data plan 900 for $89.99, Everything Data 450 for $69.99, Simply everything family $189.99 for 2 and $89.99meach added phone, everything data family 3000 for $169.99 for 2 phones $20 each added phone, everything data family 1500 for $129.99 for 2 phones $20 each added phone, and a business essentials plan also. So those of you paying for the everything plan need to look at sprints website, then call and change your plans. I asked before the pre came out what plans were required to have this phone and I was NEVER told ONLY the everything plan $99.99. They told me the family data plans would be fine with this phone. Like I said, the info I just posted here I got from the sprint site just now as I typed. So please go take a look and change things around to save yourselves some money.