CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Smartphones and tablets top many Christmas wish lists, but if you are a last-minute shopper, before you buy you need to research more than just the phone itself.
Retailers estimate that roughly one in three holiday shoppers will buy electronics this year.
While it is not as exciting as tearing the wrapping paper off a new gadget, you need to research service providers and data plans for those devices too.
Consumer Reports recently surveyed more than 63,000 smartphone users.
According to the survey, the average American household spent more than $1,500 on smartphones and smartphone service in 2012.
Some families used twice as much and unlimited data plans are becoming harder to find, but there are some ways you can trim your data usage and your bill.
Link into Wi- Fi for:
-- Video streams
-- Video calls
-- Video uploads
-- Music streams
-- Online games.
WSOC
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