Prepaid Smartphones
Best and Cheap Choices

DEAL ALERTS:

iPhone SE for $139 + Free Shipping at StraightTalk.com. Valid 6/1-6/30.

• If you want the "best" phone in a prepaid format, be happy because both Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile have announced that they will carry the Samsung Galaxy S5 in the second quarter of 2014. That means pretty close to the launch date in April 2014. Won't be cheap, but certainly it will be the best prepaid smartphone on the market. Just a matter of weeks!
• News from Virgin Mobile today. You can get the LG Optimus F3 which is a nice phone for sure. You will pay $179.99.
• Boost Mobile news also. They now have the Samsung Galaxy Prevail II which is going to cost you $179.99.
• Okay some great Galaxy S4 prepaid news. MetroPCS has it available now. To get one of the best smartphones, it's not cheap. You will pay $549 for a contract free model. It's available in 8 markets including: Boston, Atlanta, Dallas-Ft.Worth, Las Vegas, New York, Harford, Conn. Philadelphic and San Franciso. More cities coming!
• Metro PCS just tweeted the ultimate teaser. Safe to say that it's the Samsung Galaxy S4 coming next week! Full details are just days away. This release will blow the doors off any limitations people thought of when it comes to prepaid phones. See the tweet here.
• Aio Wireless, a prepaid company run by AT&T, is rolling out 4G LTE service in some areas. There will be a free over-the-air update which makes the SIM card 4G LTE capable. A quick recap about Aio Wireless, they offer plan from $25 to $80 per month. They operate in the following markets: Naples, Ft. Myers, Houston, Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville and Gainesville, Fla. Aio will be expanding rapidly according to a recent press release sent out.
• Deal alert! Right now at Republic Wireless, you can get their one and only smartphone, the Motorola Defy XT for just $199. After that, their plan is just $19/month which is unlimited everything. No contract! If it's a secondary line, you can enter ADDALINE at checkout and get it for $149. The Defy XT isn't a cutting edge phone. It's okay and more than decent with all things considered. It's not top end, but look at the price and the cost of the plan! Check it out here.

Older Updates and News:

June 10 - We're going to be detailing a popular prepaid carrier Red Pocket which uses the AT&T network. Overall a terrific number of positive comments and recommendations from people. Shame on us for not profiling them yet! You can Bring Your Own Device or choose from their phones. Plan wise, for $50/month you're getting 500MB of data, and for $60/month you're getting 1GB of data. Coming right up!

May 24 - AT&T GoPhone (prepaid service) just got a whole lot better. You can now use data on 4G enabled phones (inluding the iPhone) while part of the GoPhone pay as you go service. More details here.

May 22 - Breaking news! Cricket is going to be offering the beastly Samsung Galaxy S4. If you want the best prepaid smartphone, clearly this is the one. More details coming!

May 19 - Verizon has just announced some new 3G prepaid plans. For $60, you get 2GB of data (used to be 500MB) and for $70 you get 4GB of data (used to be 2GB). This is effective immediately for anyone already signed up on those plans. If you're just signing up, these new limits go into effect starting June 6th.

May 13 - There is an interesting new comer to the pay as you go market. The company is Zact and their main selling point is in fully customizable plans. They run on the Sprint network. Zact gives you ultimate flexibility because you can control voice, text and data. You can change your limits as you go and even allow for parental customization such as curfews and app restrictions. In case you're wondering what phones they offer, they have either the LG Viper 4G LTE ($499) or the LG Optimus Elite ($199). Pre order now and ship in June. Comparison wise, Zact is similar to Ting for control over your plan. See their site here.

May 9 - Rejoice! More competition has just came to the marketplace. Aio Wireless is launching and it owned by AT&T. Guess what else? Prepaid iPhone 5 folks! More details and a new page upcoming!

April 24 - The merger between T-Mobile and Metro PCS has been approved by shareholders. What does this mean for the brand? Hard to say at this moment. What we can say is that there are around 9 million prepaid customers of Metro PCS.

April 23 - Cricket wireless has just added some nice new prepaid family plans and updated iPhone plans. See out main Cricket phones page for more details!

March 15 - Big news. The best prepaid smartphone is going to be the Samsung Galaxy S4 and it's going to be available from Ting! More details coming up soon. Pre orders will start in a few weeks according to Ting.

February 6 - Get ready for another prepaid company! This one sounds interesting. Solavei offers up unlimited voice, text and 4G data (up to 4GB per month or you get throttled to 2G speed). Solavei uses the T-Mobile 4G network so you can use your own unlocked GSM phones such as AT&T iPhone. See official Solavei website for details.

February 1 - Do you like Verizon? They are starting up prepaid smartphone plans today using 3G. Prices include $60 for 500MB of data and the $70 plan gets you 2GB of data. There is a reduced number of phones available for these plans but it might be worth having a look. See more details here.

January 8 - Breaking News: Walmart Straight Talk bringing prepaid iPhone 5 plans starting January 11.

January 5 - Add other big player to the pay as you go scene. Sprint is launching "Sprint as you go" which is their official prepaid service. For smartphones, it's not cheap but does offer unlimited without caps for $70/month. That said you cannot wi-fi tether with that plan. Their smartphones include the Samsung Victory $250 and the LG Optimus Elite for $150. More details coming soon!

December 23 - Things are now getting interesting! How about GoSmart Mobile prepaid by T-Mobile? Yes, it is coming soon. We are seeing sometime in 2013 as the closest estimate availability. You can pay $30 per month with no data (yes we can't say that's great for smartphones) but unlimited voice and text. If you do want data (yes we all want and need it) then you can get unlimied 2G data for $35 per month or unlimited 3G data for $45. Read more on FierceWireless.

October 1 - ATT pay as you go just got a bit better. They have just announced a new plan for $65 per month. The plan includes 1GB of data and unlimited taking and texting. You can also get a new prepaid Android smartphone, the Fusion 2 starting October 7 at just $99. Details coming up!

September 28 - Cricket Mobile is getting the ZTE Engage for $250. Quick specs: Android 4.0, 4-inch (800 x 480), 8MP rear camera, front facing camera, 1.4GHz processor and 1,900mAh battery. It's available on October 2.

September 26 - More details about the new pay as you go smartphone for Boost Mobile. The LG Venice is going to cost you $220 and will be available on October 10th. It comes with Android Ice Cream Sandwich, 4.3-inch screen, 1GHz processor, 5MP rear camera and has a WVGA screen.

Republic Wireless have found a small number of customers who are having issues with their Motorola Defy XT single-band smartphone which uses the 1,900MHz network from Sprint. The issue is with roaming when in areas not covered by the 1,900MHz band. Republic Wireless is offering various solutions including them working with Motorola to get a dual-band Defy XT with the added 800MHz antenna. Expect that newer version later this year. If you need more details, read up on the situation and resolutions on Republic Wireless.

September 23 - Another enty into the prepaid smartphone market. Solavei which is a T-Mobile MVNO, you can BYOD or you can buy either a HTC One X, Wildfire S or ZTE Origin. You pay $49/month for unlimited everything. New Solavei page coming soon!

September 21 - A new smartphone coming to Boost Mobile. The LG Venice is coming (it's actually a LG Optimus L7 with a different name). No price or release date is available just yet.

September 20 - A new 4G LTE smartphone the ZTE Anthem. The price is $219 after a mail in rebate. No release date is available just yet.

September 19 - Boost Mobile announces the ZTE Warp Sequent for $200.

September 13 - Who saw this coming? Prepaid iPhone 5 coming to Cricket Wireless at the end of September. Wow! We will need to update our "best prepaid smartphone" listings.

September 7 - Another MVNO with smartphone plans is coming soon. UltraMobile is going to use T-Mobile's network. You will bring your own device and they will sell you a SIM card. Wondering about data? It's going to cost you $49/month for unlimited text and talk along with 1GB of 4G speed data.

September 6 - Want the Samsung Galaxy S2 from Boost Mobile? It's available now for $369.

September 5 - One of the best prepaid smartphones, especially if you're taking price into consideration, is the recently T-Mobile no-contact Samsung Galaxy S2 4G. It's a great smartphone and it's exclusive to Wal Mart right now. It's coming to Boost Mobile any day also. Yes it's not the Galaxy S3, but it's a terrific smartphone with great battery life. You can get it from Wal Mart (currently sold out online) for $299 when combined with a T-Mobile Monthly 4G no annual contract plan of $30/month or higher. Boost Mobile will be selling it for $360.

September 4 - It's official. Radio Shack No Contract Wireless is real and we have details here. Metro PCS adds LG Motion 4G LTE smartphone for $149.

September 3 - Ting gets 4G LTE starting now! Check out their blog post and use their coverage map here to see if their 4G LTE is in your area!

September 1 - Add another smartphone to the Virgin Mobile line-up. This time it's the Kyocera Rise. Details on our dedicated Virgin Mobile page!

August 28 - MetroPCS is quickly becoming a big player in the prepaid Android smartphone business. They have just added the LG Motion 4G and the Coolpad Quattro 4G. Both are available for $99 right now. Check our dedicated MetroPCS page for details.

August 27 - More leaks from the Radio Shack prepaid service. The prepaid smartphone plans will be either $50/month with 1GB of data or the $60/month with 2.5GB of data. Check out our new Radio Shack prepaid page for more details and updates here. Nothing has been officially announced by Radio Shack but it does appear the information is accurate. Not official, but very credible.

August 22 - The hits keep on coming! Boost Mobile is in the news today. They have some great news phones coming in the first part of September. Get ready for the Samsung Galaxy S2 4G (Android 4.0) on September 6 for $360 and the Samsung Galaxy Rush (Android 4.0) on late September for $150. More details coming on our specific Boost Mobile page!

We're not done! Virgin Mobile USA has announced the Samsung Galaxy Reverb for $250. Pre orders will start on August 29th. More details on our Virgin page soon!

August 21 - More great news. That debate about what is the best prepaid smartphone? It's clear for Android smartphones the Samsung Galaxy S3 is the best. Right? Well the fact is we here that MetroPCS is going to have it available coming soon! More details coming soon.

Also another leak about Radio Shack prepaid. It may be called Radio Shack No Contract Wireless. That's a long name but we've seen some leaked images which show that as their naming choice. It's also using "Powered By Cricket" as part of the promotional and marketing documents.

August 13 - We've seen some interesting prepaid options lately. There is a hot new rumor of a new competitor entering the market. Are you ready for Radio Shack Mobile? It does appear that they are coming very soon and there have been some leaks regarding this. It appears that Radio Shack Mobile will be associated with Cricket Wireless and carry very similar smartphones and prices. There is nothing official, but strong indications are that they will have the following smartphones available in prepaid no contract: HTC One V, Huawei Mercury, and Huawei Pillar are all strong possibilities. We welcome any news of increased availability of prepaid smartphones and plans. Having Radio Shack onboard will further the pay as you go smartphone market. The more competition, the better the pricing. That's why we're excited about this latest Radio Shack rumor. Stay tuned for more details!

Summary of Current Prepaid Smartphones:

The listings are updated and we have provided links to the official websites and some smartphones we have linked to specific product pages and deals.

Carrier	Available Smartphones
	ATT Avail (ZTE Avail) Samsung Galaxy Appeal ATT Fusion (Huawei U8652)
	iPhone 4S iPhone 4 HTC Evo V HTC One V LG Optimus Elite Chaser LG Optimus Slider Venture LG Optimus V BlackBerry Curve 8530 Samsung Intercept Motorola Triumph LG Optimus Slider HTC Wildfire S
	Samsung Galaxy S Blaze 4G Nokia Lumia 710 myTouch Q Samsung Galaxy S 4G Samsung Gravity Smart Samsung Galaxy Exhibit 4G T-Mobile Prism Samsung Dart T-Mobile Comet
	ZTE Warp Sequent Kyocera Hydro BlackBerry Curve 9310 HTC EVO Design 4G Samsung Prevail BlackBerry Curve 8530 Samsung Transform Ultra ZTE Warp Samsung Replenish LG Marquee
	ZTE Anthem Coolpad Quattro 4G LG Motion 4G LG Optimus M+ Samsung Galaxy S Lightray 4G LG Esteem LG Connect 4G Samsung Galaxy Attain 4G Huawei Activa 4G HTC Wildfire S ZTE Score M Samsung Admire BlackBerry Curve 8530 Huawei M835 Huawei M835 tokidoki Edition
	Huawei Ascend Q ZTE Engage Alcatel Authority ZTE X500 Score BlackBerry Curve 8530 Huawei Ascend II
	LG Optimus Zip ZTE Merit Samsung Galaxy Proclaim Huawei Ascend II LG Optimus Q LG Optimus Black Samsung Galaxy Precedent
	Palm Pixi Samsung M820 Galaxy Prevail
	LG Optimus S Samsung Transform Samsung Conquer HTC Detail Samsung Galaxy S II Motorola Photon
	LG Optimus Q LG Optimus Net
	HTC EVO BlackBerry Curve 8330
	BlackBerry Curve 8330 BlackBerry Curve 8530 BlackBerry Storm 9530 BlackBerry Storm2 9550 BlackBerry Tour 9630 BlackBerry Bold 9650 Palm® Pre Plus Palm Pixi Plus DROID by Motorola Motorola DEVOUR™ DROID X by Motorola DROID 2 by Motorola DROID Eris™ by HTC DROID Incredible by HTC LG Ally™
	Express LG Optimus LG Optimus Purple Samsung Replenish Pink Samsung Replenish Black HTC Hero Kyocera Milano Sanyo Zio
	iPhone 3GS Huawei 8800 Motorola Bravo
	Samsung Gem Samsung Admire BlackBerry Curve 9330 HTC Merge Motorola Milestone Plus Samsung Showcase BlackBerry Bold Motorola Milestone X2 LG Ignite BlackBerry Bold 9930 Sony Xperia Play HTC 7 Pro
	iPhone 3GS Motorola Bravo HTC Status LG Phoenix Sharp FX Plus Motorola Backflip Palm Pixi Plus
	Motorola Citrus Kyocera Milano C5121
	Samsung Galaxy S II LG Optimus S Samsung Transform Palm Pixi
	Motorola Electrify 2 Samsung Galaxy S2 Samsung Galaxy S2 White Motorola Defy XT LG Slendor HTC One V Huawei Ascend 2 Samsung Repp HTC Merge Samsung Galaxy S3 White or Blue

July 7 - Sound the trumpets! Another prepaid iPhone option is here. Now nTelos has entered the fray. We think it's about time to have a price comparison between the options as now we have three available prepaid iPhone options including: Virgin Mobile, Cricket Wireless and nTelos. Check out details on our specific prepaid iPhone page.

June 28 - Get the iPhone from Virgin Mobile now! Currently available is the iPhone 4 8GB and the iPhone 4S 16GB, both available in black or white. Remember with Virgin Mobile you can save $5 per month if you choose automatic payments. Check it out.

June 23 - It's a big day in the world of prepaid smartphones. We've pretty much been following the pay as you go smartphone scene since it started. The most common question was where can you get a prepaid iphone. There is now an answer! Cricket wireless is now shipping the prepaid iPhone 4S and iPhone 4.

Your other option is with Virgin Mobile who have prepaid iPhone 4S models starting June 29. You can get a data plan for as low as $30 which is pretty much the best option out there currently. They have full details up now.

June 13 - Great news for people looking for the best prepaid smartphone. It's the iPhone 4 and 4s right? Well Virgin Mobile will

be offering both prepaid iPhone 4 and prepaid iPhone 4s starting on June 29th. We have full details on our prepaid iPhone specific page here. When you crunch the numbers in comparison to other companies with contract iPhones, you will save good money going prepaid with the Virgin Mobile offering.

May 31 - It's what you all want. A full fledged prepaid iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. I have great news for you. Yes! Cricket Wireless will be selling the prepaid iPhone 4S with 16GB for $500 and a 8GB iPhone 4 for $400. They are both available with the $55 unlimited everything plan. Check out more details on our prepaid iPhone page here and our Cricket Wireless page here. Official Cricket Wireless details here. Oh, release date is June 22.

May 21 - There is a new prepaid wireless company entering the market. They are Voyager Mobile and we like what we see so far. We are just putting together a page specific to their smartphones and prepaid plans. They will be using the Sprint network. They have some incredible prepaid smartphones including: Samsung Replenish, LG Optimus S, Samsung Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch, Motorola XPRT, Samsung Conquer 4G, HTC Arrive, and Samsung Transform Ultra. Their prepaid smartphone plan is $39 per month plus tax for unlimited internet, talk and text.

May 18 - If you're looking for a prepaid slider smartphone, Virgin Mobile has just launched the $179 LG Optimus Slider. Based on the few reviews so far, it has a great keyboard, not so great camera, a bit heavy and a bit thick.

MAY 8 - Big news from Virgin Mobile prepaid. They are just announcing their first 4G LTE smartphone, the HTC Evo 4G. It will be released on May 31 for a price of $299. This is big news from one of the best prepaid smartphone providers! More details and images to come!

The 4G WiMAX news continues with Boost Mobile now adding a new smartphone, the HTC EVO Design 4G. It's going to cost you $299 and will be available in June.

April 30 - When we said the prepaid smartphone business is picking up we mean it! Today, US Cellular announced that they will be offering a new service in almost 500 Walmart stores. It's both US Cellular and Alltel Wireless joinging together. Yes, they are going to have an Android smartphone available which is the Samsung Repp. No details on prepaid data plans other than they said they have "multiple data options and plans". All plans are nationwide with no roaming charges. We like it! More details to come. Read more on US Celluar.

Verizon, on May 1, is introducing the smartphone Samsung Illusion for $169 which is powered by Android OS. Wondering about the prepaid plan? It's $80 a month for unlimited talk and text along with 1GB of data. Not exactly cheap is it? This plan is right now going to be exlusive to the Samsung Illusion. It will be available at Best Buy, Walmart, Target and Radio Shack.

[ click here for all our previous news updates ]