Buying a new smart phone for dummies

[bcm119]

I'm fairly tech savvy, but for whatever reason I have absolutely no idea what the savvy way of buying a new smart phone is. I'm on a verizon plan with my partner, with an employer discount, so I want to stick with that. And I'm an android guy, so no Apple suggestions please. I just broke a Pixel 3a (no insurance, past warranty etc) and I liked that phone so something like that would be fine.

I don't want to spend 20 minutes in a small verizon store with other people (I'm not vacc'ed yet).

What's my next move... If I order one online is it easy to transfer it over? Is Costco a good option? TIA

[Too Tall]

I'm fairly tech savvy, but for whatever reason I have absolutely no idea what the savvy way of buying a new smart phone is. I'm on a verizon plan with my partner, with an employer discount, so I want to stick with that. And I'm an android guy, so no Apple suggestions please. I just broke a Pixel 3a (no insurance, past warranty etc) and I liked that phone so something like that would be fine.

I don't want to spend 20 minutes in a small verizon store with other people (I'm not vacc'ed yet).

What's my next move... If I order one online is it easy to transfer it over? Is Costco a good option? TIA

Xfinity and yes it is duck soup to switch over. They send you a chip. Install the chip and done. F.Y.I. XFINITY is Verizon, you get full advantage of all their cell towers. I made the move last year and never looked back.

[davids]

I'd get the Pixel 4a 5G, direct from Verizon. In fact that's my plan, a few months down the road.

[zachateseverything]

I'm fairly tech savvy, but for whatever reason I have absolutely no idea what the savvy way of buying a new smart phone is. I'm on a verizon plan with my partner, with an employer discount, so I want to stick with that. And I'm an android guy, so no Apple suggestions please. I just broke a Pixel 3a (no insurance, past warranty etc) and I liked that phone so something like that would be fine.

I don't want to spend 20 minutes in a small verizon store with other people (I'm not vacc'ed yet).

What's my next move... If I order one online is it easy to transfer it over? Is Costco a good option? TIA

if you don't want to change providers you should just be able to buy a phone, move your sim card over, and notify your provider of the new device. if you buy direct from verizon it's likely even easier.

I would just go with another pixel in a form factor you can deal with and not sweat the details. if you aren't a power user all "naked" android phones are going to be about the same.

[robin3mj]

I have Verizon and a couple years ago when the dual-line iPhones came out, I took the opportunity to put my personal and my work line (which have different billing accounts) onto the same phone, and with a five minute call to tech support, it couldn’t have been easier.

[ides1056]

Is any phone better than another for navigation?

[sk_tle]

Is any phone better than another for navigation?

It is more about the apps than the phones. There are apps much more interesting and powerful for hiking / off road cycling but as much as I hate giving them my data google maps is still the king for general non-specialized navigation on urban/roads. I generally abide to the speed limits and don't want to be that guy zipping past your kids in your neighborhood street to be 5minutes earlier but some people use waze for driving because it warns about speed limit radars and give alternate routes. I haven't checked but I think that google added the features into maps. Google own waze so you basically give your data to the same company anyway.

[ides1056]

I am thinking for bicycle only. Still in the analog world in this regard.