# Advice and experiences - looking for relatively cheap smartphone+service **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 29, 2016, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556 "2016-01-29T06:02:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/21 "2016-02-06T20:44:56Z")
> [@SmellMyWort](#): > > Your current carrier might have some Android offerings and then you’d be able to keep your number. … Actually you can keep your number even if you switch carriers - the companies fought that tooth and nail because it helped them lock in customers. We had cheap phones from T-Mobile for the kids and when we got Dweezil his first smartphone, on our Verizon family account, he had the option of porting over his number to Verizon. I encouraged him to take the new Verizon number because his old one used an overlay area code, while Verizon was able to give him a number in the traditional area code for our area. Since he rarely used the old phone, it was no big deal. When Moon Unit got her first smartphone, last fall, she really wanted to port the T-Mobile number over because she’d actually been using it. Interestingly it can be harder to keep the number if you stay _within_ Verizon. She initially had a monthly prepaid plan using an older phone we had, but when we got her a new one Verizon had a lot of trouble figuring out how to move that number to the newest phone without risking losing it. Took an hour on the phone with them to get them to figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/22 "2016-02-06T20:49:05Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Actually you can keep your number even if you switch carriers - the companies fought that tooth and nail because it helped them lock in customers. Yes, both companies are required to cooperate in this. See [FCC rules on portability](https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/keeping-your-telephone-number-when-changing-service-providers). ---
**Author:** ![BAHAMA\_MAMA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@BAHAMA\_MAMA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BAHAMA_MAMA)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/23 "2016-02-06T21:05:13Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > To be honest, i probably don’t really NEED a smartphone. > > For the last six years, i’ve had a $10 flip phone on a PAYG Virgin Mobile account, and it’s been all i really needed. I rarely talk on the phone, and rarely text, and i spend much of my day in front of a computer at work or at home. > > About the only time i really think it would be nice to have a smartphone is when we’re driving and would like to check traffic or directions, or when we’re visiting another city and want restaurant or entertainment recommendations while we’re out and about. > > Anyway, the other day my reliable old flip phone kicked the bucket, so i thought i might spring for a smartphone. I’m not interested in the top-of-the-line phones like iPhone 6 or the latest Samsung Galaxy. Ideally, i don’t want to pay for than 200 bucks (250 max) for a phone, and i want a cheap-ass plan that gives me talk and text, as well as 1 (or maybe 2) gigs of data. > > I know that some of the cheaper carriers like Cricket give up some features compared to the big companies like AT&T or Verizon, but from my reading they seem to provide just about everything i’m likely to need. I’ve looked at some reviews of phones, and there seem to be some pretty decent sets in the $200 range, as long as you’re willing to accept that you won’t get every one of the latest features. > > Anyway, any advice or recommendations would be most welcome. Like you, I don’t make that many cell phone calls or texts so I still have an old plan with Sprint that includes 300 anytime minutes and I pay $5/month for 300 text messages. Upgrading to a smart phone would make my monthly bill about 3 or 4 times more. So I recently went to Sprint and they offered me a Samsung Tab 4 TABLET for free. 1 GB of data costs me $15/month. It is the BEST!!! It is like having my laptop with me but so much easier to carry around. I LOVE IT! ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/24 "2016-02-11T02:10:24Z")
Checking back in. So, i went a little bit over budget on the phone, but i’m pretty happy with my decision. Despite saying at the very outset that i wasn’t looking for an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy, i actually ended up going with a Galaxy s5. I got a new one for $250, and they threw in one of those Otterbox cases that **astro** mentioned earlier in the thread. I was going to buy a case anyway, and they usually sell for between 20 and 30 bucks, so the phone cost about $225. It doesn’t work on the Band 12 LTE that **voltaire** mentioned, but that’s about it’s only downside. As for a plan, i’m signed up with the T-Mobile 100min talk / unlimited text / 5GB data plan that a couple of people recommended. Thanks to **Kiros** for showing me where to find the link. The main reason it took me so long to come back here was that it took the SIM card almost a full week to get here after i ordered it on the T-Mobile website. I’ve also got a 64GB microSD card in the phone for storing music, pictures, etc. Activation went fine, and i’m up and running. Still getting used to the phone itself. One thing that’s a little hard to adjust to is that the soft “Back” and “Recent” buttons are on opposite sides from my Android tablet. Makes navigation a bit slow until i get used to it. Thanks for all the advice, even if i couldn’t take all of it! ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2016, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/25 "2016-02-11T15:09:59Z")
Good choice. The S5 is actually better than the S6 models, which lack SD card slots and MHL output. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/26 "2016-02-16T04:03:20Z")
I’m using a Moto E 2nd generation that I got as part of a deal with FreedomPop. I move constantly back and forth between two cities, Kansas City and Chicago. FreedomPop works perfectly well in Kansas City, where it is registered, but does not work well in Chicago. It seems to only work on LTE in Chicago, and requires the data to be on. It was a hell of a deal - $149 for the phone, unlimited talk and text and .5 gigs of data a month for a whole year. My income is variable, and I liked having paid for the whole thing for a year in advance and not having a monthly bill. And now I own the unlocked phone that is perfectly fine for my needs. But I need to find a new deal, and I’m annoyed at FreedomPop’s “unlimited calling if you use our data” thing. I can deal with half a gig of data, as there is free WiFi nearly everywhere I go. > [@filmore](#): > > The [ringplus.net](https://ringplus.net/#plans) company has low cost plans with data, some as low as free! You can bring your own phone or get one of theirs. If you bring your own phone, you’ll need to make sure it will work on their network. You can enter the IMEI number to make sure it will work first. > > I’m using a Sprint Moto E prepaid phone I got at Best Buy for about $40 and it works great. I’ve checked that my phone will work with their system, but their web site is a confusing nightmare. Do you have a suggestion for my usage pattern? ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/27 "2016-02-16T04:41:19Z")
I think “bottom of the barrel” smart phones are all pretty good now…it’s not like two years ago where the cheap phones had a tiny screen and struggled to run any apps. I was in America for two weeks and it was much better value for me to just buy [this](http://tracfonereviewer.blogspot.com/2015/06/lg-power-l22c-tracfone-android-review.html) tracfone, and use it for two weeks, than a standalone sim card for my existing phone. The phone was $50 (though I see that was a limited offer) and I think it came with 8GB of data download. It’s fine running non-game apps, I can watch movies on it, camera is OK. Really no need to spend more than this if you’re reluctantly joining the smart phone world. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/28 "2016-02-16T05:20:17Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > I have been happy for the last couple of years on a $30/month plan from [T-Mobile](http://www.cnet.com/news/is-this-the-best-smartphone-plan-ever/). It is limited to 100 minutes of calls but unlimited texts and data (4Gig of LTE). > > I use it on an older iPhone I bought from a friend who wanted to upgrade. I offered $100 for the used phone and they jumped at it since it covered half their upgrade cost. > [@mhendo](#): > > I think you must be grandfathered in on that plan, because the article you linked to is over two years old, and i can find no evidence of the $30 plan on the T-Mobile site. It’s a shame, as it would be absolutely ideal for me, given how little i actually talk. > > Thanks again, everyone. I’m going to keep researching, taking all of your advice into account. Will be back with updates and maybe more questions. I guess this too late. The $30 Unlimited text & data/100 minute plan still exists but only via a SIM kit from [Walmart](http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-Complete-SIM-Kit/39081494). ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/29 "2016-02-16T05:22:21Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > I guess this too late. The $30 Unlimited text & data/100 minute plan still exists but only via a SIM kit from [Walmart](http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-Complete-SIM-Kit/39081494). Actually, if you check my most recent post (#24), you’ll see that i was wrong. Your plan is available on the website; it’s just a bit hard to find. **Kiros** showed me where to go, and i’m now signed up for it. You don’t have to go to WalMart; you can also activate online at T-Mobile. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/30 "2016-02-16T06:16:35Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > I think “bottom of the barrel” smart phones are all pretty good now…it’s not like two years ago where the cheap phones had a tiny screen and struggled to run any apps. > > I was in America for two weeks and it was much better value for me to just buy [this](http://tracfonereviewer.blogspot.com/2015/06/lg-power-l22c-tracfone-android-review.html) tracfone, and use it for two weeks, than a standalone sim card for my existing phone. The phone was $50 (though I see that was a limited offer) and I think it came with 8GB of data download. > It’s fine running non-game apps, I can watch movies on it, camera is OK. Really no need to spend more than this if you’re reluctantly joining the smart phone world. I have the [LG Sunset](http://tracfonereviewer.blogspot.com/2015/07/lg-sunset-review-tracfone-gsm-4g-lte.html?m=1), which is basically the same phone with the addition of 4G LTE. It is a very capable phone. It runs games just fine. In fact I have Sims FreePlay on my phone, which is pretty graphics intensive and uses quite a few Mb, and it runs flawlessly. Mine’s more expensive, I paid $99 for it, but it’s on sale now for $79. But the LG Power is a very capable phone, well worth the price if you’re not that interested in having 4G. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/31 "2016-02-16T12:09:41Z")
I just found this thread. I was going to suggest Metro PCS to the OP. We’ve had it for over 3 years. $55/month per person, no limits on anything. It rides on the TMobile network. We haven’t had any issues whatsoever, even when we’ve vacationed out of a metro area (wifi is spotty anyway in the mountains anyway so I’m not blaming our carrier). Anywhere else, no issue. My current phone is in the Galaxy family. It’s the nicest phone I’ve ever owned. My husband laughs because he claims I don’t do even one-tenth of what I could do with it. He’s an IT guy, so… ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/32 "2016-02-16T16:17:15Z")
If you use it sporadically, consider T-Mobile’s pay-as-you-go plans. We work from home, so rarely rely on our phones. I use the $3 per-day plan. It gets unlimited phone and text for the day and a bit of okay then crapulent web service. That’s an expensive plan if you use your phone a lot, but since we only activate it once or twice a month (if that), our _yearly_ expense for a cell phone is about a hundred bucks or so. Given the prevalence of wi-fi around, that cost is going down. I use it with my Samsung Galaxy III, a very inexpensive phone now. It does everything we want web- and app-wise, although again we don’t rely on it for games or a lot of processing. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/33 "2016-02-16T17:31:07Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I’ve checked that my phone will work with their system, but their web site is a confusing nightmare. Do you have a suggestion for my usage pattern? (Re: ringplus.net) The cheap plans don’t have a monthly fee. You pay a certain amount to open the account, like $20. That amount only gets used if you go over your monthly allotment or use the extra features like mms. If you don’t go over the monthly allotment, your balance is never reduced and you won’t have to pay. Essentially, you have a free phone. If your balance ever gets to 0, then they it charge it back up to whatever it’s supposed to be ($20 or whatever). It’s great for people who don’t use their phone much since you won’t have to pay anything other than your initial deposit. Often they have ringplus promos where you can get even better deals than they normally have. Typically these deals are only for _new_ lines. If you already have ringplus, you can’t switch over to the deal. So it’s worth watching the promo page for a while before signing up and sign up on a promo rather than their normal plan. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/34 "2016-02-16T23:03:57Z")
I recently got my college aged kid a Moto G from VirginMobile for $120.00. That kid really likes the phone and it seems rugged enough to survive for a while. The service is $35.00 a month. I’ve been using VirginMobile for the kids for two years and have been pleased with the service. No problems at all. I don’t buy the extra data- if the kids use up their data, they just move into the ‘slow lane’ so there are no ‘surprise’ bills. They (and I) are happy with that. I think you will enjoy having a smart phone. I didn’t think I needed one and now I use it all the time. For example, I was out of town last weekend and looking for a particular business in a strange city. I typed into Google “XYZ business near me” and the info popped right up- including a map. The map had GPS guidance, too, and directed me street-by-street to the store. I had downloaded a bunch of podcasts and piped them through my car sound system for the drive. Sweet! I also bought tickets for a show on my phone while there. When I arrived at the theater, other customers were being turned away as the show had sold out between the time I got tickets and showtime. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/35 "2016-02-19T05:26:09Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > (Re: ringplus.net) > > The cheap plans don’t have a monthly fee. You pay a certain amount to open the account, like $20. That amount only gets used if you go over your monthly allotment or use the extra features like mms. If you don’t go over the monthly allotment, your balance is never reduced and you won’t have to pay. Essentially, you have a free phone. If your balance ever gets to 0, then they it charge it back up to whatever it’s supposed to be ($20 or whatever). It’s great for people who don’t use their phone much since you won’t have to pay anything other than your initial deposit. I signed up for RingPlus, and found a plan with 1000 messages, 1000 minutes and a gig of data per month for free. The only annoying part is the “RingPlus Radio” where you listen to horribly compressed pop music instead of the phone you’re calling ringing. But I’m willing to deal with that annoyance for the savings. Who knows how long it will exist before they cancel it, but hey…it’s _free_. Given how much time I spend in areas with WiFi, I’m going to be hard-pressed to use even a gig of data. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/36 "2016-03-03T19:13:25Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Checking back in. > > So, i went a little bit over budget on the phone, but i’m pretty happy with my decision. Despite saying at the very outset that i wasn’t looking for an iPhone or a Samsung Galaxy, i actually ended up going with a Galaxy s5. I got a new one for $250, and they threw in one of those Otterbox cases that **astro** mentioned earlier in the thread. I was going to buy a case anyway, and they usually sell for between 20 and 30 bucks, so the phone cost about $225. It doesn’t work on the Band 12 LTE that **voltaire** mentioned, but that’s about it’s only downside. > > As for a plan, i’m signed up with the T-Mobile 100min talk / unlimited text / 5GB data plan that a couple of people recommended. Thanks to **Kiros** for showing me where to find the link. The main reason it took me so long to come back here was that it took the SIM card almost a full week to get here after i ordered it on the T-Mobile website. I’ve also got a 64GB microSD card in the phone for storing music, pictures, etc. > > Activation went fine, and i’m up and running. Still getting used to the phone itself. One thing that’s a little hard to adjust to is that the soft “Back” and “Recent” buttons are on opposite sides from my Android tablet. Makes navigation a bit slow until i get used to it. > > Thanks for all the advice, even if i couldn’t take all of it! I spotted this a bit late, but enjoy your new toy! I’ve got an S5 and it’s kinda huge, which I like - big display, and I carry a big purse so carrying it is not an issue. I actually have an Otterbox as well - but the Defender instead of the Commuter. The end result is something that feels rock-solid in my hand. If you don’t have a screen protector, even a peel-and-stick plastic one, get one - the screen doesn’t look quite as crisp but is perfectly usable and it can prevent or reduce scratches and chips. I’m quite sure I’d have shattered my former phone’s screen when I dropped it so that a sharp stone corner hit it - as a result, it has a chip right there but works fine. Some people like the tempered glass screen protectors - we actually got one for my daughter’s new phone, pried out the plastic screen cover part of her Otterbox Defender, and replaced it with the tempered glass. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2016, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/37 "2016-03-07T23:12:24Z")
Just a heads-up for anyone who’s in the market: as of today, Google’s Project Fi no longer requires an invitation; anyone can sign up. Even bigger news is that they’ve dramatically dropped the price of the Nexus 5X for new sign-ups. The 16GB has been reduced to $199, and the 32GB is now $249. That’s pretty amazing value for a phone that gets great reviews. I might get one for my wife, who is still on an old dumb phone. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/38 "2016-03-08T21:39:01Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Just a heads-up for anyone who’s in the market: as of today, Google’s Project Fi no longer requires an invitation; anyone can sign up. > > Even bigger news is that they’ve dramatically dropped the price of the Nexus 5X for new sign-ups. The 16GB has been reduced to $199, and the 32GB is now $249. That’s pretty amazing value for a phone that gets great reviews. I might get one for my wife, who is still on an old dumb phone. Is that with a 2 year contract? And if so, what effect does it have on the phone’s monthly cost? When my husband’s phone was stolen last summer, Verizon tried to persuade us to just buy him a new one (versus honoring the insurance we’d ordered, that they did not correctly establish). “It’s a free phone! Well OK there’s a 40 dollar activation fee”. He did not stress the fact that the extra 25 dollars a month for the connection fee added up to almost exactly our “savings” - paying cash for the phone would have been 650 dollars and no activation fee. 25/month for 2 years, + 40 dollars, = 640 dollars. Yep, we’d have saved 10 dollars over 2 years. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2016, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556/39 "2016-03-09T00:15:14Z")
No contract and, as far as i can tell, no minimum service time required. As long as you buy the phone on the Fi website (automatic activation), or buy it on the Google website and then activate it on Fi within 30 days, you get the cheap phone. As far as i can tell, nothing in the conditions says that you have to maintain the activation for any minimum amount of time. It seems like you could activate, and then switch carriers the following month. I guess Google is gambling on the fact that people will like their service and prices enough to stick around. And the prices are great, especially if your main need is for talk and text, and you often have access to wifi for internet stuff. $20 per month for unlimited talk, text, and international text. Data is $10/GB, with any unused data credited to your next account. So, if you’re on a 1GB level, but only use 450MB, your bill is $30 ($20 talk/text, plus $10 data), minus $5.50 for unused data that will be credited towards the next month’s bill. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/advice-and-experiences-looking-for-relatively-cheap-smartphone-service/744556.md?page=1)