Total Cost of Ownership for Motorola DROID on Verizon

One of the biggest selling points of the Motorola DROID is that it’ll be on the Verizon network. We’ve all seen Verizon commercials–America’s most reliable network, can you hear me now?, there’s a map for that–Big Red likes to market themselves as being everywhere. And most Verizon customers we run into seem to be more than satisfied with their network’s reception. The one sticking point with Verizon? Price.

As prices for unlimited voice+messaging+data plans are shrinking thanks to the likes of Sprint and T-Mobile, rate plans on Verizon are still sky high. So with Android finally coming to Verizon with the DROID, how will the price look when compared to Android phones already in existence such as the T-Mobile myTouch 3G and the Sprint HTC Hero? Why let’s find out!

In order to level the playing field, we’re going to use two different rate plans for each device. The first look will be given to the overall cheapest rate plan (with 2-year contract) we can find on their respective websites. The second chart will show the price of unlimited voice + messaging + data plans for each device on their respective carriers. We know that T-Mobile just introduced their Even More Plus (contract-free) option but since it doesn’t include a 2-year contract, we chose to ignore those plans for the purpose of this study.

Who has the best bang for your buck? Who’s the most expensive? Who’s the cheapest?

Hit the jump for the full results!

Surprisingly, the Verizon Motorola DROID does a decent job in the ‘cheapest plan’ battle at $74.98/month. The Sprint HTC Hero and T-Mobile myTouch 3G come in at $69.99 and $79.99, respectively. But Verizon’s low price comes with a catch, Sprint’s ‘cheapest plan’ offers free unlimited calling to any mobile carrier and unlimited messaging. T-Mobile’s comes with 500 whenever minutes and unlimited messaging. Verizon trails them with only 450 whenever minutes and 250 messages. But for users who only use an average amount of minutes and messages, the monthly cost of the Verizon Motorola DROID is somewhat justifiable considering you’ll be on “America’s Most Reliable Network”.

It’s in the unlimited packages where the Verizon Motorola DROID falters, it’s nearly a $1000 (over 2 years) more expensive than the same unlimited options on the Sprint HTC Hero and T-Mobile myTouch 3G. For heavy users who need the unlimited monthly minutes and messages, the Verizon Motorola DROID is just priced too high.

In the end, we can understand users choosing the ‘cheapest plan’ method for the Verizon Motorola DROID. You’ll have to make certain allowances with regard to minutes and messaging, but you’ll get the safety net of being on America’s biggest carrier and the maps that come with it. However, when it comes to unlimited packages, we strongly suggest you look towards Sprint or T-Mobile. $1000, even spread over 2 years, is nothing to blink at.

In all honesty, the Sprint ‘cheapest plan’ is probably the best plan in this study. It has the cheapest monthly rate with the best added features–in short, it’s the best bang for your buck. We’ll have to see if having the best Android phone and best rate plans on the market will make it the number one Android device or if the Verizon Motorola DROID, priced as it is, will steal the show.

Here are the full charts: