Tracfone smartphone?

Maddie2

Maddie2

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 21, 2004
I see that Tracfone now has smartphones. Does anyone know anything about these? Do they really compare in function to iphones & similar?
 
I've had a couple of them, and they are just as functional as any other smartphone from any other provider. I currently have the Alcatel One Pop something or other with the 5 inch screen. It works great and stands up quite well to the Iphones. Maybe the camera is not as good, but adequate for me.
 
They are just charge for data, and texting in a funny way. You used one unit of call time per # MB of data
And something with texting Works great on Wi Fi
 
I switched DD13 to a Tracfone smartphone. I find it confusing but she gets along on it okay. The minutes are done differently. Say you have 1000 minutes when you change phones. Previously that was all in one bucket and texts took .3 minutes. With the smartphone, you will now have 1000 minutes of talk, 1000 texts, and 1000 MB of data.

It has not worked out too well for DD13 to have a whole minute taken away for each text. Basically she is getting 1/3 the text allowance she used to. And I've read you can't go back to a dumb phone after you switch. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. She has TONS of talk time left though! She doesn't use the data on it much.
 


bjscheel said:
I switched DD13 to a Tracfone smartphone. I find it confusing but she gets along on it okay. The minutes are done differently. Say you have 1000 minutes when you change phones. Previously that was all in one bucket and texts took .3 minutes. With the smartphone, you will now have 1000 minutes of talk, 1000 texts, and 1000 MB of data.

It has not worked out too well for DD13 to have a whole minute taken away for each text. Basically she is getting 1/3 the text allowance she used to. And I've read you can't go back to a dumb phone after you switch. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. She has TONS of talk time left though! She doesn't use the data on it much.
Click to expand...

I had them same problem with the way they do the talk,text and data I would use all my text mins in a week and have to keep adding more mins and now have thousands of talk mins that I will never use.
 
vaDisneyGuy said:
I had them same problem with the way they do the talk,text and data I would use all my text mins in a week and have to keep adding more mins and now have thousands of talk mins that I will never use.
Click to expand...

Hey, after seeing this it reminded me to check DD's balance, then when I saw she was getting a little low, I clicked on Buy Airtime. There's now an option to buy 1000 texts for $10...that didn't use to be there! This will be a potential solution to our problem. Now, to find out if a triple minute phone will get 1000 texts or 3000 for that $10.

Part of DD's problem is a girl who texts her repeatedly even when DD has told her to stop and that she doesn't have unlimited texting. She stops for a while, but then comes back. Tracfone doesn't have a way to block, and DD doesn't want to change her number (girl would eventually find the new number out anyway). It's irritating.
 
PS to the OP, you can also Bring Your Own Phone to Tracfone and last I knew on howardforums they were saying they would take an iPhone 4 if it is an old Verizon phone. I'm waiting for them to allow iPhone 5 and then one of us can start using DH's old phone.
http://tracfonewireless.com/byop/


DD13 has the LG Optimus Dynamic II. You can buy them from shopcelldeals on Amazon for a better price or for the same price but with included minutes so that's what I have done.
 


bjscheel, I didn't know about the option to just buy texts, so thanks for that. I just bought them from their site for my DD's triple minute phone. But she only got 1000 texts not the 3000. I just sent them an email. I hope it triples!!
 
runwad said:
bjscheel, I didn't know about the option to just buy texts, so thanks for that. I just bought them from their site for my DD's triple minute phone. But she only got 1000 texts not the 3000. I just sent them an email. I hope it triples!!
Click to expand...

Ugh, keep us posted...I will need to get DD some. 1000 for $10 is not too bad, but 3000 would be better!
 
Its a no go. I got this reply:


Thank you for your interest in TracFone Wireless. We are responding to your recent inqui

Please be informed that your phone includes Triple Minutes For Life and it only apply for minutes cards not for text or data cards.

I decided to respond back with a cut and paste of the reply from tracfone mark to see if they'd do me the courtsey of the extra minutes given their mistake.
 
I haven't seena phone from tracfone that compares to an iphone..... but I haven't researched too much b/c there are cheaper ways to get/use a smartphone than tracfone.... by the time you pay extra for each bit of data or minute you use it's not such a bargain for kids,b/c they tend to NOT want to save anything,and want to use a lot like their friends....just IMHO
 
Ah well, still glad they offer the extra text card. Will be interesting to see what they say about the forum post.

hsmamato2 said:
I haven't seena phone from tracfone that compares to an iphone..... but I haven't researched too much b/c there are cheaper ways to get/use a smartphone than tracfone.... by the time you pay extra for each bit of data or minute you use it's not such a bargain for kids,b/c they tend to NOT want to save anything,and want to use a lot like their friends....just IMHO
Click to expand...

It depends on the kid for sure. For DD16 I can get the one year of service for $99 on a triple minutes $18 phone and she doesn't come close to using all of her minutes up. She goes days without using her phone. So she's covered for about $8/month. Tracfone doesn't have any spectacular smartphones themselves, but you can bring your own phone if it's Verizon. I'm thinking of getting her a used iPhone now- I checked last night and DH's iPhone 5 checked out as compatible so I might use it and if it works out okay, get the DDs used iPhones to put on Tracfone. DD13 is a heavier texter, but on the other hand has barely used any of the data on her Tracfone smartphone, so it's still a decent deal for her and cheaper than $40/month for unlimited at Straight Talk, or adding her to DH's Verizon.
 
Nope they're still not going to honor what was on their forum:

We apologized for the wrong information that was provided. However,we cannot provide you any compensation. Please be informed that the 1000 text card will not tripled.
 
runwad said:
Its a no go. I got this reply:


Thank you for your interest in TracFone Wireless. We are responding to your recent inqui

Please be informed that your phone includes Triple Minutes For Life and it only apply for minutes cards not for text or data cards.

I decided to respond back with a cut and paste of the reply from tracfone mark to see if they'd do me the courtsey of the extra minutes given their mistake.
Click to expand...

In looking at Tracfone's website, they are selling smartphones which specifically state 3x Talk, 3x text, and 3x data. http://www.tracfone-orders.com/bpdi...ferral|utmcct=/byop/&__utmv=-&__utmk=20114556
 
When you buy the regular cards of Talk/Text/Data or annual service cards, they are tripled on a triple minutes phone. But the data only cards and text only cards are different- you don't get days of service, only minutes- and I can see them not tripling on those.

I got an email from Tracfone that the SIM card for DH's old iPhone was shipped, though the tracking sends me to a FedEx package to Indiana in 2013, so...I hope it really is coming!
 
I have the Motorola Tracfone smartfone and it is pretty good, but not perfect. The storage is somewhat small. I purchased a microSD card and moved as much as possible to it and I still seem to be running out of room for apps. It isn't awful, but a bit annoying. Also, the camera does not have any sort of focus. It's good, but again, not perfect. Otherwise, it is really great. The talk, text and data minutes are all separate. I've been running out of data faster than anything, but it is still by far cheaper than any plan we could get through a traditional cell company.
 
I'd suggest taking a look at other prepaid carrier options. I personally use Cricket Wireless. It's $35/mo for unlimited talk/text and 2.5GB of 4G LTE data.
 
staceyeileen said:
I'd suggest taking a look at other prepaid carrier options. I personally use Cricket Wireless. It's $35/mo for unlimited talk/text and 2.5GB of 4G LTE data.
Click to expand...

I have the same with Virgin Mobile. And with them you can set up autopay so you're never late with payment. And being no contract I can cancel or get a new phone whenever I want. :)
 
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