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Smartphones Invade the Prepaid Market
jfruh writes "When tech geeks debate the state of the smartphone world, they usually focus on the iPhone and its high-end Android rivals from the major carriers. But Android is rapidly entering the lower-end world of contractless prepaid phones that you can buy at 7-11 or Wal-Mart. 63 percent of prepaid phones sold in 2011 were smartphones, and while they might not offer cutting-edge hardware or easy customization, they do provide a smartphone experience without an onerous contract."
As soon as my early termination fee is low enough, I'm shitcanning AT&T and getting a pre-paid android. Probably going to go with Virgin Mobile. I've had success with them in the past.
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How is this news? I have had a Samsung Precedent from Wallmart (Sprint network, CDMA) for 4 months now... Decent phone... But you have to root it and install custom mods to get full use of it. Stock only hase android 2.2.3 if i remember... I am running AreaRom's 2.3.7 now... So much smoother.
You fall and receive 6334 damage.
You die.
Chickety-china, the chinese chicken.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Buy used 3GS for ~$150. Get GoPhone SIM. Insert in phone. Change APN if you want data. It takes three seconds.
Prepaid smartphone. No onerous contract. No jailbreak required. Works fine with iTunes and App Store.
I did a lot of research on this before Christmas for gifts for my kids. The best deal I could find is Virgin's LG Optimus V Android phone. Walmart sells these phones for $99, no contract. For $99 you get a heck of a lot - all the standard smartphone stuff - GPS, Wifi, accelerometer, capacitive multi touch screen, 3 megapixel camera, SD slot, etc. Now just as-is, with no service, you essentially have an Android equivalent to the iPod Touch. Netflix, youtube, pandora, etc, all play great over Wifi. My Walmart hasn't been able to keep these in stock for months. They'll get several in, and they are gone the next day.
Then on top of that you can get service for $35 for 30 days, no contract. Unlimited data, unlimited texting, and 300 minutes of talk time. For my kids that is perfect. They mainly text and consume data. No standard carrier can come close to touching that with any contract plans. Literally, you're looking at DOUBLE monthly rates for the same plan (and you're going to have a data cap). For $50 a month you also get unlimited talk time.
So this is the route I went for my two children that are old enough to need / use a cellphone, and it's worked out great.
One note is that last week texting stopped working for almost a full 24 hours on all Virgin phones in my area. Neither sending or receiving would work. Then suddenly all the texting flooded both in and out when it started working again. I've never seen that happen with a contract carrier before.
Better known as 318230.
Decent phone, and very cheap plan.
True, Virgin Mobile USA's $35 per month smartphone plan is "very cheap" compared to what the premium carriers charge, but it's still a lot more than the same carrier's cheapest dumbphone plan at $7 per month. I'd think the carriers would offer some way to gradually transition from a dumbphone to a smartphone. But Virgin Mobile USA's cheapest smartphone plan still provides ten times more voice minutes per month than I foresee using, given that most of my calls that aren't related to arranging a ride can wait for a land line whose bill I split with another member of the household. For someone who wants a smartphone as an upgrade from the combination of a dumbphone and PDA but isn't yet ready to pay $336 more per year, what U.S. carrier do you recommend? T-Mobile?
It depends on your timing.
I used to hate cell phones back when it was "OMG what if you needed an Emergency call?" Stupid pieces of junk.
Then I found an option to convert an iPhone to an AT&T GoPhone plan. Saved me $1500 so far. Because I never call anyone, but i dial my bank, and it doesn't autodial in my pocket and it had a calculator and Shredder (Chess) Mobile. End of Line.
Total Fees: about $300 per year.
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Im not sure if they still offer the plan, but Walmart sells the Samsung Exhibit II 4G phone for ~$200. I picked up 2 for me and my girlfriend and they work very well with my tmobile employee account. When I bought these phones Walmart had a prepaid plan that offered 100mins, unlimited text and data for $30 a month. That is/was a helluva deal considering you could get your voip app of choice and effectively turn unlimited data into unlimited minutes.
Buy used 3GS for ~$150. Get GoPhone SIM.
I've read horror stories of being "slammed" to an expensive data plan once someone puts a SIM for a voice-only plan into a smartphone. Has AT&T stopped doing this, or has it never applied to GoPhone?
Here in India, you can only buy unlocked phone. Carrier subsidies aren't available. So the prices of phones are very high. Because of this you don't see many smartphones. Iphones are almost non existent, cheap android phones are seen more though. I have a prepaid connection, non sms pack, no data pack, only 0.6 USD a month. With everything activated I have to spend just 3.6 USD a month. :D
I've had an android phone (HTC Desire) on prepaid for nearly 2 years now. I've had mobile contracts three times over the years - twice in Australia and once in Britain - and every time i left the country long before the contract expired, and had to pay it out. I'll never get a contract again! Prepaid's cheaper anyway.
The article implies that if you go pre-paid, you have to put-up with a low-end phone. Why? Can't you get a top-end unlocked Samsung Galaxy S2 to use with your pre-paid? Sure, it will cost you 600 dollar. But you will not have to pay 80 dollar/month on your plan. And the best: if they screw you, you can just dump them and switch provider while keeping your phone.
The ability to change carriers easily is great for competition. Look at how it worked in Europe: you can get a line at zero cost per month. Add 4 euros per month and you have unlimited calls within your network. 10 euros/month for data plan. And some give you at the same time an airbag for a maximum of 40 euros/month, so you never pay more than that no matter what. If people moved out of the big carriers, same thing will happen in the US.
In actually free parts of the world, we can buy any smartphone without any contracts. Obviously, initial cost is higher but usually worth in the long run.
I knew I couldn't be the only one. Granted, I live in the Philippines now, but I am from the States
I have a Nokia N9 that I bought outright and just go pre-paid on it, previously had a Galaxy S. One of the best things for me about pre-paid here is that I can just turn the network on, use it and turn it off. There's a set fee of 5 pesos/15 minutes of use. I rarely use it with all the WIFI around, but when I need it that's pretty cheap and easy to do and the coverage here is very good. Now if only the American providers would adopt something more like this rather than forcing smart phone owners to an "unlimited" contract.