Best Cellphone Plans Without A Contract

There are a lot of reasons why someone might choose a "No Contract" Cellphone plan. And a lot of cellphone carriers (ATT, Verizon, Tmobile, etc) actually WANT you to jump on board their new price plans. The catch is that, overtime, you end up paying for your cellphone of choice via a series of monthly "installments" that get added into your monthly phone bill. Doing so, often times, results in you paying more for the device than it was initially worth. Which is why they want you on these plans. Well, that and the fact, that they know if you are "locked in" and can't get the phone you want from them, you're going to go elsewhere. So by letting you upgrade every 6 months instead of once every 2 years, they're hoping to retain you as a customer, and keep you locked in to always paying these monthly installments for your latest/greatest device.

So knowing that, are there reasons when this might actually be a good deal for someone as opposed to the standard 2 year contract? Do you think that these main cellphone carriers will do away with their 2 year contract plans and force everyone to move into the new contract free options?

Also, aside from the "bigname" contenders in the market, there are many no-contract phone plans that allow you to bring in your own device which is typically an older phone OR, if you have the cash, your BEST bet is to buy a phone from the carrier out of contract - you will end up paying about $300-$500 up front, but the benefit is that you will have a monthly phone bill of only $20-$50 dollars instead of $100-$200 from the "big boys". These companies also offer their own line of phones that you can purchase, but most are always 5-6 years behind the technology and style of the latest and greatest phones they know we all want.

In my personal experience, I had Straight Talk from Walmart with a Galaxy Note 2 (ATT) that I purchased out of contract (through ATT). I loved the service. Unlimited data, unlimited talk and text, 40 bucks a month, and had a phone that I loved. But, eventually, as time went on, I found myself wanting a new phone, and this time, I did not have the cash to purchase it outright. I got it for free with a 2 year plan from ATT, which was less than about 6 months ago, and I already regret the decision and wish I'd kept my old plan (still have the old phone.) I already really want the new Iphone. I stupidly do not do my research and purchased my new phone without seeing what else was out there, coming down the line. I got the Nokia Lumia, cuz I wanted a nice camera phone. It does take excellent pics. But now my monthly bill is back up to over $100 a month (taxes, fees, etc. They always say its like 60 a month or something, but by time they get done adding in this or that, it's always much higher!)

Prior to joining Straight Talk, I had verizon, and my bill similarly was always over $100 each month. Now, with their new plans, they add those installment fees for your device into your monthly payments and so your bill goes up to maybe $150-$200 for a single line. I don't know anyone that could afford that every month. But these plans have been out for awhile now, so they must be selling well?

I have yet to try them, but the latest Sprint commercials definitely have me tempted/interested. They will lock you into a monthly rate that's HALF of what you pay right now, so if you pay 100 a month, they'll let you join for 50 a month, they'll also pay your early termination fee if you're currently in a contract, but you must sell them your old device, and agree to their new, no contract, installment plans with "qualifying" phones from sprint which more than negate the promised monthly savings in their installment fees.

What do you prefer:

• Standard 2 year contract
• No Contract Installment Plan Option
• No Contract "Older" phone / bring your own device / lesser advanced phone from smaller carrier like Boost, Straight Talk, Rebel, etc.

 

The one that I used (Straight Talk) (aka Walmart's brand) used the same towers as the main carriers. You bought a "starter kit" that matched whatever "brand" of phone you had such as ATT, Verizon, Sprint, or Tmobile. (at the time (about 3 years ago) those were the only carriers being offered). You kept your phone AND your "coverage" (aka reception) It had a special sim chip that used your carrier's own towers. So if you switched from Verizon, you were on Verizon's network (same speed, same coverage map, etc), same goes for ATT and the others. It was a really nice system. I never had to contact customer support so I can't speak anything about that. But the signal strength itself was identical to the others.

Many of the "no contract" phones only go onto Sprint network (such as virgin mobile and I think boost mobile maybe? or that one may be Verizon I dunno.). I don't know about where you live, but here, out of the main carriers, Sprint has the worst reception and speed or quality of signal strength, so many of the no contract options, similarly perform as dismally since they use Sprint's Network. Tmobile is also pretty weak here. Verizon and ATT are about equal. I was with Verizon for about 11 years before switching to ATT.

If I had it do redo, I'd buy the phone out of contract that I wanted, and then I would go pick up a Straight Talk sim matching my carrier for the new phone. That's what I plan to do when I get enough saved up to purchase the iphone 6 or maybe 7 will be out by then haha.