what is the best prepaid cell phone out there to choose from with unlimited text and talk esp. no contracts ?

Answer 1

It depends on your priorities, budget, and usage. Tracfone and T-Mobile tend to be the most economical for those who are able to keep their usage low. Neither service charges by the month, so as long as you have minutes available and airtime available, you'll have active service for an extended time, without any further charge.

T-Mobile has a Gold Rewards program that gives a year of service time when one spends a cumulative total of $100 on their airtime. T-mobile's rates currently can be as low as 10 cents per minute, or $100 for 1000 minutes. Texting, however, is more expensive than other services, and costs a full minute of talk time. A great benefit of the T-Mobile service is that one can use any T-Mobile phone, for example a Sidekick or an unlocked iPhone, for their service.

Tracfone is another excellent choice, roughly the same price as T-Mobile, perhaps a bit less expensive. Most new Tracfones are available with 'Double Minutes for Life,' so 400 minutes (retail price $39.99 at most locations), will cost roughly 40 dollars, the same price as T-Mobile, around 10 cents per minute. An advantage for texters, however, is that tracfone only bills text messages at 0.3 minutes, less than one third as expensive as T-Mobile. Further, Tracfone always has various promotions running, that add 10-30 bonus minutes with each recharge, so a savvy shopper can get an extra 3 dollars of free talk time with each recharge, lowering the cost further. A major drawback to the Tracfone system is that the phones are proprietary, and one must purchase a Tracfone phone. Although these are inexpensive, for users desiring qwerty keyboards, slide phones, or advanced features, there are no very advanced phones available. Another point to consider: Tracfone service is based on service time, and talk time. So, for someone who uses a phone very little, there is the possibility of needing to purchase new talk time before it is needed, in order to keep service active.

Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and others have prepaid plans also, but their plans tend not to be like T-Mobile or Tracfone, where one buys minutes and keeps them until they are used. These plans tend to be monthly plans, without a contract obligation. Thus, a user still has a bill every month, but can discontinue use whenever they want without a penalty. These tend to be the same cost as contract plans, but a user must purchase a phone. $19.99-49.99 per month is typical, with prices similar to T-Mobile and Tracfone when broken down by the minute, but with steep overage charges if the monthly limits are exceeded. Phone types are not limited as with Tracfone, and there is a greater variety available.

Answer 2

Virgin Mobile

The best prepaid cell phone out there (meaning the cheapest) to choose from with unlimited text and talk and no contracts seems to be Cricket. The next best deal seems to be Metro PCS.