BillShrink compared the new iPhone 4 to the Droid Incredible, the Evo 4G, and the Nexus One to see which one is the cheapest in total cost of ownership, and the results were somewhat surprising given the iPhone’s reputation as a money gobbler. If you opt for the cheapest data plan AT&T offers, the TCO for the iPhone 4 is the only one of the four devices that comes in under the $2,000 mark. But beware! That “cheapest data plan” conditional is a pretty tricky one.

The problem, which BillShrink and others have noted, is that pretty much everyone expects data usage on the whole to go up in the near future. After all, it’s not like there are going to be fewer cloud-based services or apps to stream media to and from your phone. In other words, you’re going to have to bet on low-level data usage for the next 24 months, and monitor your consumption carefully (via AT&T’s online account page or the free app for your iPhone) to make sure you don’t go over the limit.

The four phones in this comparison all differ significantly in features and in plan details, so it’s not a perfect apples to apples comparison. Check out the BillShrink post following their chart for more info on what each one can offer you.

“iPhone 4 vs EVO 4G: Total Cost of Ownership” [BillShrink]

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