Apple iPhone 4 (Virgin Mobile)

Apple's iPhone 4 is an oldie, but it's still good. If you're looking for the absolute cheapest way to run iOS apps on a smartphone long term, Virgin's iPhone 4 will deliver. It costs $100 less than the 4S, and it works with a $35/month data plan. But at $549 up front, there's still too wide a price gap between it and Virgin's Android phone lineup.

The iPhone 4 on Virgin Mobile is the same model Sprint and Verizon offer, running on Sprint's network. Read our Verizon iPhone 4 ($99, 4 stars) review for details. (The Verizon iPhone 4 is pictured in the slideshow below.) The main differences between the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S ($649, 3.5 stars), which costs $100 more, are the latter has a faster dual-core processor, a better camera, and the Siri voice assistant.

We generally recommend that you buy the 4S because over the two years most people own their phones, the $100 isn't a huge price difference. And the iPhone 4 already won't get some of the features in the new upcoming iOS 6: For instance, you won't get turn-by-turn navigation or FaceTime over 3G.

But the iPhone 4 is still an excellent device, largely because of its sharp Retina display and iOS. The application library available in Apple's App Store is just terrific, with a huge number of attractive, well-polished apps. And the platform has always been easy to use.

A Really Cheap iPhone
Here's how the math works out: The $549.99 8GB iPhone 4S on Virgin Mobile works with the carrier's $35/month Beyond Talk plan, which offers 300 minutes of talk and 2.5GB of 3G data. Virgin, thrillingly, has no contracts, so you can switch out your phone any time you want.

Measured over two years, Virgin's iPhone 4 is much cheaper than competing plans from Sprint, Verizon, or AT&T. The Virgin iPhone with the $35/month plan costs $1,389.99 over two years. Sprint's model is cheaper up front at $99.99 but requires an $80/month plan with a two-year contract, so it's $2,019.99. AT&T's and Verizon's service plans are even more expensive.

Cricket sells the iPhone 4 for $399.99 with a $55/month plan, making it $1,719.99 over two years, but Cricket's iPhone is only offered in a limited number of cities. Virgin sells its iPhones nationwide.

And remember, you get the same nationwide performance as Sprint. That has its up sides and its down sides. The up side is a relatively consistent network. The down side is the slowest 3G network in the nation, as measured by our 30-city network speed tests. Since the iPhone doesn't support any form of 4G, you're stuck in the slow lane.

Virgin's iPhone 4 Costs Too Much
The iPhone is a brilliant cultural touchstone with an unmatched library of high-quality apps. But you'll be paying too much of a premium over other Virgin phones to enjoy it.

The Editors' Choice HTC EVO V 4G (4 stars) is $299.99 with the same service plan. That's a $250 savings for a fast Android 4.0 phone with a similar-resolution screen, dual-core processor and lots of apps. (Ignore the 3D stuff, it's a gimmick.)?

Most importantly, the EVO V 4G can hit Clearwire's WiMAX network. If you live in a city where that's available, it's a huge speed difference. When we tested the EVO V 4G, we found the 4G network to be up to eight times as fast as the 3G network.

The HTC One V costs $100 less. It's $350 less than the iPhone. Consider the One V the "iPhone 4" to the EVO V 4G's "iPhone 4S."? It's a lower-powered phone, with a single-core processor and no 4G, but it's also elegant and runs Android 4.0.

The iPhone deserves to be in the top rank of smartphones, but it isn't $350 better than the HTC One V. This isn't even the top of the line iPhone, although you're paying a top-of-the-line price when compared to phones on other platforms.

If you really want to run iOS apps, remember that you can also run them on an iPod touch ($199.99, 5 stars), although that device has no built-in 3G capability.

Conclusions
The Virgin Mobile iPhone 4 is the least expensive iPhone model available, if you factor in the cost of the service plan. But while it's a good phone, like its sibling the 4S on Virgin, it's just much too expensive than other good phones on the market. Prices may drop after a new iPhone comes out this fall, though.?Apple made its mark in the wireless world by providing a high-quality product at a competitive price. These no-contract iPhones only qualify if you think no other phone competes.

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