Have to agree with you there. I've used carrier phones and their unlocked versions, and will NEVER buy a carrier branded phone again. They are so incredibly worse than the unbranded unlocked versions it's amazing. My unlocked E71-2 has better battery life, stability, easier firmware upgrades, no restrictions on adding software, all the hardware actually works (yes, Verizon and to a lesser extent AT&T both deliberately cripple the hardware so you have to subscribe to their non voice services, GPS for example, and several bluetooth profiles that allow file exchange, stereo bluetooth and whatnot) than AT&T's E71x, it's flat no contest. Carrier branded and firmware phones are *horrible* compared to unlocked phones.
Too bad Americans are so clueless when it comes to what really can be offered when their phones aren't ruled by evil wireless corporate overlords who only care about how much they can fleece the public for.
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Have to agree with you there. I've used carrier phones and their unlocked versions, and will NEVER buy a carrier branded phone again. They are so incredibly worse than the unbranded unlocked versions it's amazing. My unlocked E71-2 has better battery life, stability, easier firmware upgrades, no restrictions on adding software, all the hardware actually works (yes, Verizon and to a lesser extent AT&T both deliberately cripple the hardware so you have to subscribe to their non voice services, GPS for example, and several bluetooth profiles that allow file exchange, stereo bluetooth and whatnot) than AT&T's E71x, it's flat no contest. Carrier branded and firmware phones are *horrible* compared to unlocked phones.
Too bad Americans are so clueless when it comes to what really can be offered when their phones aren't ruled by evil wireless corporate overlords who only care about how much they can fleece the public for.