Smartphones -- locked or unlocked?

[ny biker]

Just to follow up -- I know that when the phone I wanted came out on the market last fall, I read that the unlocked version worked on all major carriers including Verizon. However when I looked again last month, that was no longer the case. So either something changed with the unlocked version or the reviews I read last fall were not accurate. I did prefer the unlocked phone, mostly so I wouldn't have to deal with the apps that Verizon pre-installs and that you can't uninstall. When the phone is new they don't make a difference, but when it gets old and starts to slow down -- and I do keep phones until they're old and slow -- those apps add to the slowness by running cached processes for no reason. I also liked the idea of being able to switch carriers if that becomes financially desirable down the road.

As for the afore-mentioned holiday promotions and the actual purchase and setup of the phone, it can best be summed up as all's well that end's well. I dealt with numerous Verizon employees, through the website chat, by phone and in a corporate-owned store. They were all excellent, very helpful, way more helpful than I have grown to expect from a utility. I also visited two "authorized retail" stores which were the opposite of helpful. I understand that people have to make a living, and maybe they're all not all bad, but the ones I dealt with overcharged, plain and simple, and did not have good service. At one of them, they expected me to sign the purchase agreement without knowing how much they were going to (over)charge me.

Ultimately Verizon gave me a sizeable promotional discount when I told them I was unhappy that I've been their customer for nearly 20 years yet I didn't qualify for any of the many discounts they were offering. They also waived the activation fee when I told them about about the frustrating experience trying to buy from one of the authorized retailers. I did have trouble trying to follow the instructions on their website for transferring information from the old phone to the new one. I ended up going to a corporate store for help with that.

The whole experience makes me more likely to stay with Verizon. And overall I like the new phone quite a bit. It's a Motorola, as was the last one. It's not the most popular or best-reviewed phone on the market, but it's very good and the battery life is fantastic.

p.s. I knew I'd have to buy a new case for the new phone, but ended up also needing a new car charger with a usb-c plug. And now I need a new purse! Even though my phone is nowhere near the largest one available, it is too big for the phone pocket inside all my old purses. I didn't even try to fit it in the top tube bag on my bike -- it will live in the handlebar bag instead. I will have to find a larger zip-top bag to protect it when rain is in the forecast.