Best prepaid bang for the buck?

[351fox]

I'm currently on a crossroads between the ZTE Warp from Boost (180.00) and the Motorola Triumph (188.00) on Virgin.I've being doing a bit of research throughout the site and it seems to always come down to biased opinions on each side,and horror stories about each phone. On the warp side the main issue is the constant rebooting which seems to affect a majority of the phones from what i've read,and the terrible recording quality/camera flash. While on the Triumph side it runs froyo (not sure if there has been an update as of today),allegedly has signal issues,light leakage,but the Triumph boasts hd recording quality and a much more thought out camera. I know this has probably been asked a ton of times but which would any of you prefer and why? Also if there are any other androids in the same prepaid "high end" (and i use that term loosely) market around the same price what are some opinions on those?

 

[B2L]

I'm currently on a crossroads between the ZTE Warp from Boost (180.00) and the Motorola Triumph (188.00) on Virgin.I've being doing a bit of research throughout the site and it seems to always come down to biased opinions on each side,and horror stories about each phone. On the warp side the main issue is the constant rebooting which seems to affect a majority of the phones from what i've read,and the terrible recording quality/camera flash. While on the Triumph side it runs froyo (not sure if there has been an update as of today),allegedly has signal issues,light leakage,but the Triumph boasts hd recording quality and a much more thought out camera. I know this has probably been asked a ton of times but which would any of you prefer and why? Also if there are any other androids in the same prepaid "high end" (and i use that term loosely) market around the same price what are some opinions on those?

Just a thought, but why choose Boost or Virgin Mobile?

I'm a prepaid user myself, but I would never switch to a carrier that wouldn't allow me to bring my own phone. If you were to buy a used GSM device, like the Nexus S (Around $180 used) you can purchase a SIM card from Simple Mobile, or Straight Talk and spend $40-45 a month for unlimited text, talk, and data.

If you are set on those two carriers, I would suggest the Triumph. My brother has one and he doesn't have many problems with it.

 

[pantlesspenguin]

If you're looking for a good device on prepaid, head to T-Mobile and sign up for one of their Monthly 4G plans. You can use ANY T-Mo phone on those plans. You could easily find a HTC Amaze for around $300, and if that's too steep for you I'd suggest the MyTouch 4G for around $100.

 

[351fox]

Just a thought, but why choose Boost or Virgin Mobile?

I'm a prepaid user myself, but I would never switch to a carrier that wouldn't allow me to bring my own phone. If you were to buy a used GSM device, like the Nexus S (Around $180 used) you can purchase a SIM card from Simple Mobile, or Straight Talk and spend $40-45 a month for unlimited text, talk, and data.

If you are set on those two carriers, I would suggest the Triumph. My brother has one and he doesn't have many problems with it.

Although I'm aware of straight talk and simple mobile I'm not familiar with their service in my area and I've used Virgin for the past two years on my blackberry and it works "ok" (certain areas I have little to no coverage) but that's only in small areas which I'm not usually in,my only gripe with the triumph is the weak signal strength that's been reported,I can probably deal with random reboots since my blackberry tends to do it regularly (which takes about ten minutes to reboot) but I will look into unlocked phones as you suggested

 

[ChampN252]

I will never again go prepaid. Just a different category of services. The local AT&T kept referring to them as second class phones, but that's beside the facts. The triumph was my favorite prepaid phone. Just needs better service. VM has horrible service in my eyes. My LG marquee had better service and faster internet. Both are under spirit, but run completely differently from what I'm read. That's why they don't carry the same phones. Triumph with better services is almost the best you can probably get from a prepaid. My major problem was the USB port dying. T-Mobile maybe a good look. I believe they give you a chance to return

 

[B2L]

Although I'm aware of straight talk and simple mobile I'm not familiar with their service in my area and I've used Virgin for the past two years on my blackberry and it works "ok" (certain areas I have little to no coverage) but that's only in small areas which I'm not usually in,my only gripe with the triumph is the weak signal strength that's been reported,I can probably deal with random reboots since my blackberry tends to do it regularly (which takes about ten minutes to reboot) but I will look into unlocked phones as you suggested

Do you have any friends with T-Mobile or AT&T service? If so ask them, Simple Mobile uses T-Mobile's network, and Straight Talk uses both AT&T's, and T-mobile's network depending on which 3G bands your phone is capable of using.

I've been on prepaid carriers for years and don't ever plan on signing a contract again.

Here are some coverage maps if you want to see what it's like in your area.

T-Mobile: http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/pcc.aspx
AT&T: AT&T 4G LTE - Get 4G Speed with AT&T 4G LTE & 4G HSPA+

 

[351fox]

If you're looking for a good device on prepaid, head to T-Mobile and sign up for one of their Monthly 4G plans. You can use ANY T-Mo phone on those plans. You could easily find a HTC Amaze for around $300, and if that's too steep for you I'd suggest the MyTouch 4G for around $100.

Not trying to spend too much as this is only an upgrade from a Blackberry 8530,but still trying to have something more than a basic android you know? Right now i'm looking into the t-mobile phones

I will never again go prepaid. Just a different category of services. The local AT&T kept referring to them as second class phones, but that's beside the facts. The triumph was my favorite prepaid phone. Just needs better service. VM has horrible service in my eyes. My LG marquee had better service and faster internet. Both are under spirit, but run completely differently from what I'm read. That's why they don't carry the same phones. Triumph with better services is almost the best you can probably get from a prepaid. My major problem was the USB port dying. T-Mobile maybe a good look. I believe they give you a chance to return

It's just a personal preference the unlimited packages I've seen for prepaid seem to sway me from a contract. For example my friend pays nearly one hundred dollars a month for his unlimited plan for his galaxy s,and I just cant bring myself to live with that kind of bill every month while I can get the same package in the 50-60$ range albeit i am not fully informed of all carriers unlimited packages,i'm just not comfortable with contracts

 

[351fox]

Do you have any friends with T-Mobile or AT&T service? If so ask them, Simple Mobile uses T-Mobile's network, and Straight Talk uses both AT&T's, and T-mobile's network depending on which 3G bands your phone is capable of using.

I've been on prepaid carriers for years and don't ever plan on signing a contract again.

Here are some coverage maps if you want to see what it's like in your area.

T-Mobile: Unsupported Browser
AT&T: AT&T 4G LTE - Get 4G Speed with AT&T 4G LTE & 4G HSPA+

both have solid coverage in my area,which is strange I always thought t-mobile had bad coverage around here but thanks for the input

 

[rui-no-onna]

If you're looking for a good device on prepaid, head to T-Mobile and sign up for one of their Monthly 4G plans. You can use ANY T-Mo phone on those plans. You could easily find a HTC Amaze for around $300, and if that's too steep for you I'd suggest the MyTouch 4G for around $100.

The Samsung Galaxy Nexus ($400 direct from Google) works on both AT&T and T-Mobile's 3G networks. Not many phones that can do that. If you're a heavy data user but not much of a talker, don't head to a T-Mobile store. Instead, go to Walmart or buy a SIM activation kit from T-Mobile's website. The Walmart or online-only Monthly 4G 100 Talk, Unlimited Text & Web (4G up to 5GB then throttled to 2G) for $30 is an awesome plan assuming you can get coverage.

Not trying to spend too much as this is only an upgrade from a Blackberry 8530,but still trying to have something more than a basic android you know? Right now i'm looking into the t-mobile phones

The Samsung Exhibit II 4G is a pretty decent phone for $200. It's basically a slightly downgraded T-Mobile version of the international Samsung Galaxy W. You could also find used Samsung Galaxy S 4G less than $200 nowadays but I haven't seen a lot of ROMs for those and it's still on Froyo 2.2 (no official Gingerbread 2.3).

If you can stretch your budget, though, the Galaxy Nexus is an awesome phone and its stock Android OS gives smoother performance compared to phones with faster specs. I remember reading a review mentioning the interface of the dual-core Galaxy Nexus runs smoother than the quad-core HTC One X. Of course, if you tend to run processor-intensive apps/games, the HTC One X is better (and quite a bit pricier).

 

[rui-no-onna]

both have solid coverage in my area,which is strange I always thought t-mobile had bad coverage around here but thanks for the input

Don't rely on the official coverage maps. They're not particularly accurate. According to the coverage maps, I'm supposed to be getting 4G where I work. In reality I get one bar of (intermittent) signal at 2G speed.

 

[leo9891]

Sorry to get off track a bit but, I would assume that the cellphone signal/service would be the same for both Virgin Mobile and Boost seeing as they are both owned by Sprint. So would they use the same cell towers and what not? Boost was originally Nextel's prepaid brand, while VM was Sprint's prepaid brand. Now Sprint owns Nextel so wouldn't they also get Boost aswell.

 

[351fox]

Sorry to get off track a bit but, I would assume that the cellphone signal/service would be the same for both Virgin Mobile and Boost seeing as they are both owned by Sprint. So would they use the same cell towers and what not? Boost was originally Nextel's prepaid brand, while VM was Sprint's prepaid brand. Now Sprint owns Nextel so wouldn't they also get Boost aswell.

That's what I always imagined it to be unless you had an iden phone? My friend has a boost phone and we both lose service in the same exact areas so unless thats a coincidence i would only imagine that they both ran on sprint

 

[351fox]

Also I do want a fairly large screen which is what drew me to the two original phones,if that thins down the herd in anyway.

 

[thebluedot]

I've been using Virgin after cutting the umbilical from the big red. I have had not complaints, I have just as good of service as I did with Verizon, and it's 35 a month. I even get decent reception in Cape May which is a beach town like 2 hours away from any major city.

 

[351fox]

I've been using Virgin after cutting the umbilical from the big red. I have had not complaints, I have just as good of service as I did with Verizon, and it's 35 a month. I even get decent reception in Cape May which is a beach town like 2 hours away from any major city.

Yep I live in that area and the closest city would be Atlantic City and my service is fine where I am

 

[351fox]

any thoughts on the htc inspire or lg optimus 3D? seems as if they go fairly cheap used

 

[Austrie]

Virgin Mobile is better than Boost in my own honest opinion. The Triumph tends to have hardware problems(poorely manufactured), like usb dieing and light leakage; but as long as your under warranty VM will always replace your phone as long as you send back your own phone. And our custom ROM development is a lot better than Boost phones. You can either get the Optimus V or the Triumph since their the best two. Though new phones are coming to VM & BM around summer time. Some Mid - High phones, 1 coming BM; and 1 coming VM(though there's rumors of up to 3 phones coming to VM around summer time. If you dont want to pay to much for the Triumph, you can buy the OV and wait for a better phones coming around summer.

 

[bob60626]

I had a Boost Sanyo Mirro (nice phone) for a while when I got my Optimus V. The Mirro seemed to get -slightly- better data reception.