You're probably not buying the best smartphone that you actually want

If you're living in the United States, chances are good that you're buying your smartphone from your carrier.

Indeed, 90% of Americans buy their mobile devices directly from their carrier, according to telecommunications giant Huawei.

If that figure is accurate, it means that 90% of Americans aren't getting the full choice of fantastic smartphones out there. I just visited a carrier store selling phones and carrier plans, and was met with an appallingly limited selection of devices that its customers had to choose from. Some locations have better selections than others, but almost no single store carries every single phone available.

wireless carrier store US Sure, I saw the most popular smartphones like the latest iPhones and Samsung devices at the store I visited, and there were some LG, HTC, and Motorola phones there, too. And those are really great smartphones.

But there's a lot more choice out there that you should consider before paying several hundreds of dollars for a new device. You might not be buying the best phone overall — a phone you can't buy at your carrier's store might better fit your needs.

I bring this up because I personally recommend a lot of phones that you won't find in carrier stores. It's a shame that potentially 90% of you aren't exposed to a wider selection of truly great devices. Not everyone who buys a smartphone follows the minutae of the tech industry to find the exact right device for them.

Check out some of the smartphones – some available today, some coming soon– you should consider buying that you won't find at your carrier's store:

You don't have much to worry about if you're an iPhone-only kind of person.

If you're device of choice is, and always will be, iPhone, you don't have much to worry about. iPhones are in every carrier store everywhere, and you probably know exactly what you're looking for.

Still, just in case you might consider switching to Android, it's worth checking out the more exotic smartphones that you won't find in your carrier's store.

OnePlus smartphones are an amazing value.

If Americans weren't so willing to spend close to $1,000 on a new smartphone – and if they didn't buy from their carriers as often as they do – I'd estimate that you'd see a lot more people walking on the street using OnePlus smartphones.

OnePlus smartphones are the smartphone to buy if you value sleek looks, stock Android, astounding and unbeatable performance, and a value-driven price tag. On several levels, OnePlus devices are better than Samsung phones. They have better performance and they're significantly cheaper, too, costing in the $500 range.

To top it off, OnePlus devices also run a very clean version of Android that looks and works almost identically to the "pure" version of the operating system, meaning a bare minimum of annoying pre-installed aps. I personally prefer that over the heavily modified version of Android running on Samsung and LG devices.

OnePlus actually ran out of supply of its latest phone, the OnePlus 5T. However, the company is said to release its new device – the OnePlus 6 – soon.

Essential Phone is a good choice that you can't find in most stores.

The Essential Phone is one of the prettiest Android devices you can buy. In fact, the latest Ocean Depths Essential Phone is the most beautiful smartphone I've ever seen. It's also a great performer that runs on stock Android. And that's not to mention that at $500, it's also less expensive than the latest iPhone and Samsung devices.

You can actually find the Essential Phone in Sprint and Telus stores, so those customers will be aware of the Essential Phone's existence. But that leaves out a large chunk of customers that use Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. You should know, though, that the Essential Phone will work on those networks, too.

You can buy the Essential Phone from the company's website.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider