1) No Commitment. This is a big one for a lot of people. Many cell phone customers get roped into a contract deal and continue on for years because they keep coming back for whatever high-end phone is offered in the latest low cost subsidized phone deal. For instance, with Verizon Wireless, customers may get excited about the Samsung Galaxy S4 or the new iPhone 5, and decide that they want to get the phone at a very discounted rate, and will sign a new contract just for the privilege of using this new phone.
With prepaid phone plans, there is no commitment and no contract so you can leave at any time. But, that being said, you are going to pay more upfront for a brand new phone. This is why it’s a good idea to get a slightly older phone or take advantage of a really good deal. Deals pop up quite often on prepaid plans because they need to compete with all of the other providers out there. This leads me to the second reason to consider prepaid cell phone plans.
2) Great Deals. The beautiful thing about prepaid phone plans is that you can often find really good deals on great phones. For instance, right now you can find pretty good offers on the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S3, two of the best selling phones from last year. You might be wondering why you can get a pretty good deal on these phones from prepaid providers. The reason is that they are both about a year old and there are newer versions of the phones coming out, the iPhone 5S and Samsung Galaxy S4. See how this works? If you are smart about it, you can find a solid deal on a slightly older but brand new smartphone. Now you have your prepaid smartphone, but just how good are prepaid plans? Let’s move on to point three.
3) Unlimited Plans. Most of the prepaid phone companies that offer high end smartphones have unlimited plans. This makes sense because smartphones need a lot of data and texting capabilities. Otherwise, what’s the point? Companies like Boost Mobile (Sprint owned), Virgin Mobile (Sprint owned), Straight Talk Wireless (America Movil owned), and Cricket all have unlimited phone plans that operate with their better quality phones like iPhone 5 (at the moment all of the providers above have the iPhone 5).
4) Great Phone Selection. I touched on this above already, but I’d like to highlight it once more here. Prepaid cell phone companies are now providing really good phones for use on their plans. It hasn’t always been this way. Three years ago, you would not have been that impressed with the smartphone selection most pay as you go companies had in their lineups. They were older phones and just not impressive. You would be more likely to find an older Motorola flip phone a few years out of date rather than anything too desirable. This has changed, and now that you can own an iPhone 5 with out contract, the rules of the game are never going to be the same. More selection-between prepaid companies and contract companies-is a really good thing for people looking for the plan and phone that works best for them.
5) Save Money. You won’t typically save money on the actual phone you use with your prepaid plan unless you’re opting for a lower end phone, in which case you can get a very good deal. For instance, with Boost Mobile, you can get a low end Kyocera smartphone and save a bunch of money. You can get a Tracfone of Cricket flip phone and save bunch of money. It really depends on what kind of phone you want. Even though you may pay full price for your prepaid smartphone, you will probably save money on your prepaid plan. With Virgin Mobile’s iPhone 5, you can pay only $35 per month for 300 anytime minutes and unlimited data. For 1200 minutes, you’re going to pay $45, which is just about equivalent with the unlimited plans you can get from Boost Mobile, Cricket, Straight Talk, and Net10.
Conclusion: Should You Buy a Prepaid Phone?
My answer to this question is that it totally depends on what you’re looking for out of your cell phone. Just like I wouldn’t be able to recommend a minivan or a sedan to someone who I don’t know unless I know what they’re looking for, I can’t tell you with any conviction whether or not you should buy a prepaid phone. What I do know and what I hope you’ve pulled from this article is that there have never been more prepaid options than there are now. One of the reasons people used to NOT buy prepaid phones is that they couldn’t get the new high end phones with this type of plan.
However, that trend is starting to disappear as more and more high end phones like iPhone and HTC One V are being made available with prepaid plans. I would take a look at what you pay for your cell phone bill every month and decide whether or not you could save by switching to a prepaid plan. For instance, if you are paying $80 per month to Verizon to use your iPhone 5, but you rarely pick up the phone to call anyone, you might save money by using the Virgin Mobile unlimited plan with 300 talk time minutes for only $35 per month. Of course, you need to check the coverage of the phone plan to see if it works for you. This is the type of analysis I think will help you make the appropriate decision in regards to your next cell phone purchase.