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Buy.com

IS A PREPAID SMARTPHONE
RIGHT FOR YOU?




Is a prepaid cell phone right for you? Maybe, if you prefer not being stuck in a 1 or 2-year cell phone contract, without an activation fee, a cancellation fee or credit checks, it may be a good option.

 First, we need to answer the question-What's the difference between a prepaid phone plan and a monthly phone plan?" With a prepaid phone plan you pay for the minutes upfront, with a monthly phone plan you pay for minutes after you use them. Pre-Paid Phones are for the budget minded.

Benefits of a Prepaid Smartphone

Are there advantages of a prepaid phone? Though, prepaid phones are not everyone's cup of tea, it does offer others an opportunity to stay connected with loved ones at a reduced cost with out the hassle of having a contract. Here are some of the benefits:

  1. It offers a cell phone without going through credit checks or signing a 1 or 2 year contract 
  2. Long-distance calls may be cheaper than a landline phone
  3. You are accessible to family, friends, and your business
  4. Great if you're not a regular cell phone user
  5. You want to use it for emergencies or when you travel.
  6. On a tight budget.
  7. Don't want to be locked into a two year plan, that will have you pay early withdraw penalties.

 Prepaid Smartphone Features Available

Since this is a prepaid smartphone, will I have some of the same features as that of a smartphone under a contract. Yes. In fact, you can get most, if not all the features, that is offered on contract cell phone. Such as:
  • email capabilities
  • picture messaging
  • web browsing
  • text messaging
  • Bluetooth connectivity for communication headsets and music headphones
  • Custom ringtones and more.

But remember, these additional features are not without expense. Thus, you have to be aware of the plan you are buying into, before handing out the money. Here are some examples of the expense of some of the services (Note: this is estimations of what different services charge. Do you research and ask questions):
  1. The prepaid phone service typically cost more per minute than a regular cell phone. (10 cents per minute)
  2. The cost of text messaging can be: sending (10 cents) and receiving (5 cents) 
  3. Picture taking (25 cents)
  4. Some services require you to use your minutes up within a certain period of time. 
  5. Flat per minute rates. However be aware that they may charge you either: 1)a $1 access fee a day whether you use the phone or not; or 2) they charge a $1 access fee for the days you use the phone-even if you use it for 5 minutes-the $1 is tacked on.
My advice is simple, it's wise to compare rates. And, if you have any questions, do not be shy about asking. Remember, it's your money that is paying for the service.


 Cell Phone Companies that Offer Prepaid Smarphones

Below are some of the companies that offer prepaid phones, as well as, a taste of their available plans.

Tracfone - With Tracfone you will need to decide what type of service you want, be it Airtime Card or No Contract Monthly. They offer no contracts, credit checks, activation charges or cancellation fees.

They offers different brands to satisfy customers needs:
  • TracFone-The TracFone is for light users that want the lowest-out-of-pocket costs
  • NET10-The NET10 is for medium to heavy users that wish to have more minutes for their money.
  • Straight Talk- This brand is for anyone that wants everything you need in a cell phone without a contract
These phones are sold at Walmart and StraightTalk.com.


AT&T - At&T's Pay-As-You-Go GoPhone plans allows you to pay in advance for what you need. the GoPhone offers no contract, no credit check, you can refill your minutes 24/7, and you can keep your number.

Through AT&T you can choose a daily, monthly or by the minute plan. Here are some of the available plans:
  • $50 Unlimited Plan - This plan includes unlimited text and talk, plus, unlimited Web access on eligible phones. Also check some available ways to communicate to International areas fro Mexico and Canada. Sorry, doesn't include talk and the per minute charges for text are high.
  • $25 Monthly Plan- Includes unlimited text messaging nationwide, with 250 minutes of talk time per month.
  • $2 Unlimited Plan - Let's you pay only on the days that you use your phone. This charge is accessed for calls made or received.


Sprint Pre-Paid -  Sprint is now teaming up with Wal-Mart to offer a new prepaid mobile for consumers who don't use their cell phones much. It's called Common Cents Prepaid Phone. The charges are 7 cents per minute for phone calls and 7 cents per text message. Wal-Mart is planning on offering the phones, which will range from $20 to $70.

Sprint is going to be giving their customers a break on their billing by rounding downward. Thus, is you have a phone call that is 1 minute 46 seconds, they will round it to 1 minute. To add more minutes to your account they will allow you to pay with a phone card or through PayPal.

Verizon Pre-Paid -- Verizon is offering more of a variety of pre-paid plans for those individuals who do not want to be locked into a contract. As of 2011 the following plans are available:
  1. $50 Unlimited Plan-This includes unlimited text, talk and web. The basic phones that they supply are media center cable, with voice and messaging.
  2. PrePaid Daily Plans- Verizon's daily plan includes unlimited talk for $1.99 a day, only for the days that you use it. So if you talk once on that day, you're charged $1.99 for that day.
  3. 3G Prepaid Plans for Data Packages, Tablets. For smartphones and blackberries monthly access is available on a minutes basis. Comparative to the contract plans, it's about the same. Only difference is the availability of the specific phone of your choice.

    Tablet - Plans for the tablet includes no activation fee or reconnection fee, and no overage fees. For 1 gig of memory it runs around $20 a month. And price goes up as the gigs go up.

Virgin Mobile- Virgin Mobile offers prepaid phones, with no contract. Your no contact phone can include unlimited web, data, messaging, email with talk minutes. Virgin Mobile USA has access to the Sprint Nationwide Network.

There are a lot of plans to choose from, but do you want to pay the price.

Beyond Talk for BlackBerry

If you decide on a Beyond Talk Plan for BlackBerry(r), you will, of course, have to purchase a Virgin Mobile BlackBerry(r) Smartphone. This plan offers unlimited web, data messaging, email and hundreds of talk minutes for around $35.

PayLo

  1. Talk and text for $30 a month. Includes 1500 minutes, 1500 messages, 30 mb of web access
  2. Talk for $20, with 400 minutes. However messages and web access will cost you.
  3. Basic Rate-Basic Rate cost $20. You charges for minutes talked, messages cent and web access.

When choosing a plan, it would be wise to know exactly what you are looking for and, what you are willing to pay. If your plan runs out of minutes before the end of the month you will be charged for the additional minutes, text or web usage, or you will have to restart your plan.


Pre-Paid Phones may be the way to go if you are an infrequent talker or you are on a strict budget. But as I said above, be sure to read the fine print, and know what you are getting before you commit.


Copyright © 2005-2012 All Rights Reserved My Affiliate Place-Pre-paid phones Right For You