In yesterday’s piece on the Google Galaxy S4, commenter TurboFool asked me an interesting question: “Are you completely unaware if [sic] the huge market of prepaid SIM-only carriers so many of us are switching to now?” As the guy who also runs Prepaid Reviews, I’m certainly aware that these services exist. At the same time, I’m not sure I’d spend $650 on a device like the S4 and bring it to one of these carriers.
(His point about stock Android stands, though. I know plenty of people who rooted their Galaxy S3 models just to get rid of the TouchWiz UI.)
The problem with the SIM-only deals is that they typically do not offer LTE speeds. A few T-Mobile MVNOs have said they will offer LTE when T-Mobile makes it available to them, but there’s no guarantee on that. There are, to be sure, a few MVNOs that offer HSPA speeds of 21 or 42 MBPS, and those can provide speeds that can at least compete in LTE’s ballpark (and depending on your region might be your best bet). So yes, there are options beyond the Big Four. I’m just not sure if I consider them ideal.
Yet SIM-only deals aren’y the only prepaid ones to be had these days. In recent years Straight Talk, a Tracfone brand, has taken off in a major way. That’ll happen when you offer unlimited everything for $45, and a reasonable plan for $30 per month. Make no mistake: unlimited data is absolutely not unlimited on Straight Talk. They throttle speeds for excessive users. But it’s still tough to ignore the price tag for monthly service.
Right now Straight Talk is running a promotion for free ground shipping on any phone order over $29.99. If you’re going for the $45 plan, you won’t find much worth buying under $30, so there’s your free shipping. They have an array of models, from the Galaxy S3 on down. They also have deals with the Big Four networks, so you might get a Verizon-network phone, rather than a T-Mobile one.
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