How to Find the Best No Contract Smartphone Plans in 2015 – Part 2

Last updated 8/14/2015

This is the second part of our How to Find the Best No Contract Smartphone Plan 2015 article.

NET10 Wireless

Tracfone owns NET10 Wireless. NET10 Wireless has more plans but not the latest Smartphones like its sister company, Straight Talk. NET10 has family plans available.

Coverage – Uses all four networks (CDMA + GSM) depending on the phone and your area.

Best Plans –Unlimited monthly plans. $35/mo Unlimited Talk, Text, and Web (up to 500MB high-speed); $50 gets you 5GB of high-speed data. $5 off discount each month when you sign up for auto-pay - No Contract Smartphone Plans.

Smartphone Selection – A small variety of phones including the Samsung Galaxy S6, but no iPhones.

Bring Your Own – Allows certain GSM and CDMA Smartphones to be brought over.

NET10 is best when:

• On a budget
• Want unlimited with a good mix of smartphone selections

Ting

Ting uses the Sprint Network (CDMA) and lets you customize your account with different levels of talk, text, and web plus a $6 monthly fee. Roaming onto Verizon and other networks with no extra cost.

Coverage – Uses Sprint Network. Not the best.

Best Plans –Customizable based on your needs. Reports a $23 average monthly bill per device for its customers.

Smartphone Selection – Decent variety including various Motorola and HTC phones along with different generations of the Samsung Galaxy and iPhone.

Bring Your Own – Current list - Works with many Sprint Phones except Blackberry, PTT, +WebOS. Does not work with GSM Phones. Some iPhones are in beta.

Ting is best when:

• You are on a budget
• You are consistent with your monthly usage

Freedom Pop

FreedomPop offers a variety of devices where you pay for the device and get Free monthly allotment of Data. For example: Freedom Pop now offer smartphones like the HTC EVO 4G ($179). The phone comes with a Basic 200 monthly plan for Free every month. The plan includes 200 Voice minutes, 500 Texts, 500MB 4G/3G Data on the Sprint network.

Freedom Pop also offers an Unlimited Talk and Text with 500MB for a low $11/Month.

Coverage - Okay to very good depending on your area. We have experienced dead spots. Check their coverage maps

Best Plan - Free!

Smartphone Selection - 6 different phone options--slightly older versions of phones like the HTC Evo 4G or Samsung Galaxy S2 through 4. They also have hotspots and tablets.

Bring your device - You need to buy a phone or mobile hotspot from them. Other phones will not work.

Freedom Pop is best when:

• You want to pay once and get Free Monthly Service
• Willing to pay for Freedom Pop devices
• Looking to get some extra data without having to pay a lot out of pocket each month
• Sprint has good coverage in your area

Republic Wireless

Republic Wireless started in 2013 and is focused on very inexpensive Smartphones and plans. They use Wi-Fi whenever possible to plans start as low as $5/month. Good ground-breaking price of $199 for the high priced Moto X Smartphone.

Coverage – Anywhere Wi-Fi is Available, plus optionally falls back to Sprint.

Best Plans -$5 Unlimited Talk, Text, and Web via Wi-Fi only; $10 Base Plan with Unlimited Cell Talk and Text, $25 with Unlimited Talk, Text, and 1GB Data, and $55 unlimited Wi-Fi, Talk, Text + 3 GB Data.

Smartphone Choices – Three choices: the Moto G, the Moto E, and the Moto X.

Bring Your Own Device – Not available. Must buy their phones.

Republic Wireless is best when:

• You are on a tight budget
• You do not care for phone selections

Tracfone

Tracfone uses CDMA and GSM technology depending on the location. Most of their CDMA phones end in C, IE LG 505C.  GSM phones end in G, IE LG 840G. Tracfone focuses on low cost, non-Smartphone, and airtime cards. Must buy separate data cards. Will not roam where home network has coverage.

Coverage –Uses mostly Sprint and Sometimes Verizon Network on CDMA, depending on where it is sold. GSM versions use AT&T or T-Mobile. Get the type of phone that has the best coverage when you live, work, and play.

Best Plan –Individual +Family, 50min/30 days - $9.99.

Smartphone Selection –Limited selection of basic phones and Android phones.

Bring Your Own –Yes. CDMA phones only (Non-LTE Verizon, Sprint, Boost, Virgin). No iPhones or Blackberry Smartphones from Verizon. They later expanded it to GSM phones for use on their AT&T network when you buy this AT&T Compatible SIM kit.

Tracfone is best when:

• You are on a budget
• Don’t use a phone much
• Don’t need the latest technology

AT&T Wireless

AT&T Wireless sells no annual contract AT&T Mobile Share wireless service at a similar price as Cricket but without unlimited data. A credit check may be required. This is only worthwhile if you're going to share data with multiple people. (They charge $25/mo extra on each additional non-contract line). If you are sharing data we suggest to go with the $70/mo for unlimited talk and text with 4GB of data. Cheapest plan is a $20/mo plan for 300MB with unlimited talk and text. AT&T has a reasonable amount of coverage nationwide. They are one of the most reliable wireless networks to be on.

AT&T Prepaid GoPhone plans include $60 for 2GB with unlimited talk, text ($5 more than AT&T Mobile Share). Additional GB of data is available for $10/GB.

Coverage - Good to very good depending on your area. Check their coverage maps

Best Plan - $55/mo Unlimited Talk and Text and 2GB Data; $70/mo for 4GB

Smartphone Selection - From Samsung Galaxy S4 through $170 Android phone. Does not include iPhones, but you can buy a phone from Apple or eBay and add a SIM card.

Bring your device -Free SIM Cards for GSM phones including iPhones that are unlocked. LTE support is also available.

AT&T is best when:

• Sharing a plan with family
• Speed
• Reliability
• Smartphone versatility

Verizon

Verizon has the best coverage nationwide making them one of the most reliable networks. Verizon Prepaid does not offer unlimited data like some of the cheaper options reviewed here. Smartphone selection for no-contract plans is limited and does not include the latest phones.

In July 2014, Verizon introduced the 4G LTE ALLSET No Annual contract Plan.

Coverage - Good to very good depending on your area. Check their coverage maps

Best Plan - $45 per month for unlimited talk, text, and 500MB Data; Add $5 for 500MB more data, $10 for 1GB more, or $20 for $3GB more.

Smartphone Selection – Decent selection of no-contract Smartphones from $149. Refurbished smartphones save you money.

Bring your device - You need to buy a phone or mobile hotspot from Verizon. Other GSM phones will not work. Some used Smartphones from eBay may work if they are not banned.

Verizon is best when:

• Reliability
• Speed
• Network Coverage
• Budget not tight

Sprint

Sprint markets an Unlimited prepaid plan with no mention of throttling, but you will have to watch out for their off-network roaming usage limits. The off-network roaming usage allotment is small and can easily be used up in a few days. It is hard to recommend Sprint. Look at Boost Mobile instead.

Coverage - Good to very good depending on your area. Check their coverage maps

Best Plan - $35 per month for unlimited talk, text, and 1GB data.

Smartphone Selection – As You Go Smartphone selection has improved from before, but no iPhones. Some slightly older Samsung and Android smartphones.

Bring your device - You need to buy a phone from them. Other phones will not work.

Sprint is best when:

• You want Unlimited Data without throttling
• You have reliable Sprint Coverage
• You can accept the limited Smartphone Selection

Other Carriers

Page Plus – Uses Verizon Network. $39.95 Unlimited Talk, Text, 500MB Data; $55 for 2.5GB. $29.95 for 1200 minutes, 3000 texts, 500MB Data. No unlimited data plans.

PTel – Uses T-Mobile Network. $30 Unlimited Talk, Text, Web (throttle after 2.5MB/mo)

Selectel Wireless – New. Similar to Page Plus.

GoSmart Mobile – Owned by T-Mobile. $45 Unlimited Talk, Text, Web (throttle after 5GB)

EcoMobile – Uses Sprint Network. $50 Unlimited Talk, Text, 3GB Web; $60 for Unlimited 4G Data.

PureTalkUSA – AT&T Network. $43.95 Unlimited Talk and Text with 1GB Data

H2O Wireless – AT&T Network. $40 Unlimited Talk, Text, 1GB Data. $60 gets you unlimited data. (Probably Throttled) Sells older iPhone and really old Android phones.

Red Pocket Mobile – AT&T Network. $59.99 Unlimited Talk and Text with 3GB Data

Air Voice Wireless – AT&T Network. $30 Unlimited Talk and Text with 500MB Data and offers the Samsung Galaxy S3 and older phones for sale.

ChitChatMobile - Sprint Network. $19.99 Unlimited talk and text. $20 600MB 3G/4G WiMAX Data. Use Sprint smartphones.

Conclusion

The consumer has the most control with prepaid, no contract Smartphone plans. You can switch carriers or Smartphones at any time. Review the details above + select the one that fits your needs. We recommend trying at least two or three different services for a month and pick the one best for you. Take Price, Coverage, Smartphone Selection, and monthly Bandwidth Allotment into consideration. The best thing about no-contract plans is that you can stop using the service at any time.

6 responses to “How to Find the Best No Contract Smartphone Plans in 2015 – Part 2”

1. Sharon Balbi says:

   August 14, 2015 at 2:33 AM

   Re your 2 part article on the best no contract smartphone plans in 2015, you stated that TracFone uses only CDMA phones. This is an error. I have owned a Samsung S390G phone
   since it was first shown on HSN in July of 2012. It is a GSM phone using 3G and Wi-fi on the
   AT&T and T-Mobile networks. Athough 3G phone calls sound very good, the phone has very
   limited capabilities and is not even an Android phone. It is one of those phones using Java
   apps. It was promoted as being an android phone, which was easy to do because everyone
   thinks android, when they hear the words “Samsung cell phone”. If anyone just wants a phone
   for conversations-buy it-otherwise beware ! Thanks for writing these columns. They are very
   helpful for sorting through the myriad of carriers and plans.
   Best Regards,
   Sharon Balbi

   Reply
   • norman says:

     August 14, 2015 at 10:38 AM

     Appreciate the update. We’ve updated the article. There is now a SIM Kit for bring your own GSM phone to Tracfone finally!

     Reply
2. David says:

   August 17, 2015 at 12:51 PM

   Your Ting information needs to be updated. They now support T-mobile GSM network connectivity. The best phone is the Oneplus One smart phone.

   Reply
3. Elsa says:

   August 18, 2015 at 11:36 AM

   Could you check out Consumer Cellular and add it to your comparisons? It’s a great company with really flexible cheap plans. I’d used them for years, and many months, I have been on the $15.00 plan. I believe they are highly rated by Consumer’s magazine.
   Thanks for all your helpful information.

   Reply
   • norman says:

     August 18, 2015 at 5:23 PM

     Consumer Cellular is in Part 1 of this article:

     http://www.buyvia.com/blog/find-best-contract-smartphone-plans-part-1/

     Reply
4. Meagan says:

   March 18, 2016 at 11:52 AM

   After reading part 1 and then switching over to finish part 2, I may consider switching to a prepaid. Every prepaid runs off of towers of the larger networks anyway. And most are also owned by those larger networks so you really aren’t losing much except the extra fees from what I am reading!

   Reply