Does customer service play into your decision of which phone carrier to choose? That can make an important difference in an otherwise obvious decision. Take for instance, Virgin Mobile. On Friday we discussed Virgin Mobile and the Motorola Triumph as an excellent combination for a prepaid Android user. But if customer service plays a role in your decision, you might think twice, or thrice, about going with Virgin. They ranked quite poorly in the most recent J.D. Power and Associates survey, which measured customer care in the prepaid wireless industry. What’s most surprising is that Boost Mobile won the award by no small measure. That’s not surprising because of Boost itself, but rather because both Boost and Virgin are owned by Sprint. Boost has made a big name for itself with a $50 monthly unlimited plan. That covers talk, text, web, 411, email — everything, for $50 per month, with no added fees or taxes. That makes it pretty easy for a smartphone user. Boost runs on two networks, Sprint’s CDMA and Nextel’s iDEN, and has one Android phone on each. The CDMA network is much faster, as it’s your typical 3G network. The iDEN network is a bit slower, but has the push-to-talk feature that made Boost famous in the first place. What’s even better about Boost’s $50 plan is that your bill gets reduced by $5 per month for every six on-time payments. Keep paying your bill on time, and after 18 months you’ll pay just $35 per month for unlimited use of your Android. 
Boost currently has two Android handsets. The Samsung Prevail is part of the Galaxy S series, so it should be familiar to many Android geeks. For those unfamiliar, it features a 3.2-inch touchscreen, a 2-megapixel camera, and runs Android 2.2. In many ways that makes it like a Galaxy S lite. That’s just fine for Boost, though. As a prepaid carrier it does not offer a subsidy on its phones, so a normal Galaxy S, such as Sprint’s Epic 4G, would cost a considerably sum. But because it’s kind of a stripped down version it comes at a cheaper price tag, just $179.99. For those who prefer the push-to-talk iDEN network, Boost also offers the Motorola i1. It’s an older model, featuring few features beyond a 5-megapixel camera. IT also runs Android 1.6, a mostly obsolete version of the OS. The iDEN network runs slowly, so heavy data users will become nothing but frustrated with the device. Still, for those who need push-to-talk, there are certainly worse options from Boost and iDEN. Boost doesn’t figure to keep their lineup skimpy for much longer. The Samsung SPH-M930 just passed through the FCC about a week after we saw some leaked photos of it. This one figures to be higher end, featuring a fast processor and the latest version of Android. It will be more expensive, too, but likely worth the cost.
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