Should I switch from Verizon to Sprint and pay the penalty?

[NYC Guy]

I am a long time Big Red customer mostly due to their excellent coverage wherever I go in the USA. I travel to LA, Chicago & Miami/West Palm Beach a few times a year. I used to be on AT&T and live on the upper westside of Manhattan where I experienced dropped calls using AT&T on a regular basis which is why I jumped to Verizon many years ago.

Lately I have been dissatified with Verizon's customer service, stripped down phones and higher prices. I know that Sprint is not known for exorbitant prices and will be lower than Verizon if I match up the plans. Sprint usually offers you more in the exact same phone and usually has more functional & user friendly cases (eg. HTC Touch & Touch Pro) On the other hand I also know that Sprint has never had a good reputation for customer service.

What is pushing me to switch is the ongoing problems I have experienced with my XV6900 (HTC Touch). I have had three phones replaced in a year and lately have had to do two hard resets and reprogram the phone in the last 6 weeks due to software problems on their official 6.1 ROM. All that Verizon's customer service department has offered to do is give me another 6900 which I have rejected as I am tired of having the same headache over and over again.

My contract is up next June and if I port my number over to Sprint now I would have to pay Big Red's early termination fee. The next phone I am looking to buy is the HTC Touch Pro 2 and as you know both carriers will be carrying that model.

So what are the pros and cons of switching before my contract is up?