I recently made the switch from Tracfone to Virgin Mobile's Beyond Talk plan. Yeah I know thats a big switch plus the wonderment regarding why I was ever on Tracfone. Until recently Tracfone made a lot of sense for me. I didn't have to people often, and I was able to have face to face conversations with my loved ones. This isn't possible since moving to Winona. My Tracfone bills were close to $600 a year. It was absolutely ridiculous. So I have made the switch to Virgin Mobile.
I know there are better prepaid options out there, Straight Talk wireless bundled with a Nexus 4 is a popular one, but in my area that would mean a nice phone without any data service, and constant dropped calls.
Virgin Mobile's service is provided through Sprint which not only has my family has had a great history with, but has pretty good service in the area as well. Shortly after getting activated I discovered that our towers were being upgraded for 4G LTE support and the 3G data would be slow until the upgrade was finished in July. That part was kind of a disapointment, but also good to know.
Phone
I originally ended up getting the Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE for $250. A pretty good deal and quite a respectable phone. The best part was the LTE support, coupled with Jelly Bean, and NFC capabilities. But as I neared the end of my first month with the phone it's several flaws seemed to leap out at me more and more. I screen was too small for my liking, the microphone was in a bad location, where I would consistently cover it. The phone was heavy, and thicker than i expected it to be, and the capacitive keys gave no feedback. Don't get me wrong the Galaxy Victory is a good little phone, but also a lower end phone.
I finally made the switch to the Galaxy S2 before my first month was up. I bought the phone at Radioshack so I was able to return it no questions asked. Almost immediately after switching which was done for me in store. Great service I have to say. I was reminded the high end products don't stop being good because their old. The Galaxy S2 is still a very respectable phone, as well as being the highest end Android phone Virgin Mobile offers.
Sure I am giving up LTE support this fall, but what of it? The enhancements Sprint is making to their 3G network is putting it on par with the rest of the networks again. The only thing I think I will miss is the NFC capabilities in conjunction with Google Wallet.
I don't think that any of Virgin Mobiles phones are bad. I think that finding one that fits your needs is important though, don't short change yourself if you know you won't be happy with a phone. In my case I expected the new phone to be better than last years Galaxy. I was wrong, but for my own reasons.
Virgin Mobile offers quality phones at reasonable prices. Anybody who tells you that Verizon or AT&T has cheaper phones doesn't know what no contract means.
Service
I've been using Virgin mobile for some time now and I have to say I am not disappointed by their coverage. I haven't had any dropped calls or any missed text messages, but data has been a bit troublesome. On the Galaxy Victory I could hardly get any bars in my building.
Despite having very few bars call quality has been amazing. I can't same much as to texting because I use Google Voice exclusively. This is more of a continuity issue, rather than preference.
The data reception was quite poor, and it didn't help that the incremental upgrades to the Sprint towers in our area were taking out data service sporadically. Ever since switching phones I haven't had any connectivity problems I get a consistent 2-3 bars in my building which I admit would stifle any signal. The upgrades to the local towers haven't been helping and the RadioShack employee told me to expect periodic network problems until mid July, when the upgrades should be finished.
Back in my home town of Thief River Falls, service is hilariously inadequate, I can't even get service in my parents house, and yet walk 50 yards towards town and I have 3 bars and working data. It appears that sprint has a single tower to cover our quant town of just 8660. Voice and Text works fine, which has resulted in the use of Google Voice Access numbers now attached to my contacts to ensure clear and reliable communication. I am still quite happy with Virgin mobile, and I don't regret my choice. It is still much less expensive than continuing service on Tracfone.
Would I recommend Virgin Mobile? Yes I would but only if you can't find a better solution your area. Straighttalk from Walmart is fantastic if you don't mind buying an unlocked phone and can get service from AT&T or T-Mobile where you travel. Virgin mobile is very good at providing phones at very reasonable rates.
I know there are better prepaid options out there, Straight Talk wireless bundled with a Nexus 4 is a popular one, but in my area that would mean a nice phone without any data service, and constant dropped calls.
Virgin Mobile's service is provided through Sprint which not only has my family has had a great history with, but has pretty good service in the area as well. Shortly after getting activated I discovered that our towers were being upgraded for 4G LTE support and the 3G data would be slow until the upgrade was finished in July. That part was kind of a disapointment, but also good to know.
Phone
I originally ended up getting the Samsung Galaxy Victory 4G LTE for $250. A pretty good deal and quite a respectable phone. The best part was the LTE support, coupled with Jelly Bean, and NFC capabilities. But as I neared the end of my first month with the phone it's several flaws seemed to leap out at me more and more. I screen was too small for my liking, the microphone was in a bad location, where I would consistently cover it. The phone was heavy, and thicker than i expected it to be, and the capacitive keys gave no feedback. Don't get me wrong the Galaxy Victory is a good little phone, but also a lower end phone.
Sure I am giving up LTE support this fall, but what of it? The enhancements Sprint is making to their 3G network is putting it on par with the rest of the networks again. The only thing I think I will miss is the NFC capabilities in conjunction with Google Wallet.
I don't think that any of Virgin Mobiles phones are bad. I think that finding one that fits your needs is important though, don't short change yourself if you know you won't be happy with a phone. In my case I expected the new phone to be better than last years Galaxy. I was wrong, but for my own reasons.
Virgin Mobile offers quality phones at reasonable prices. Anybody who tells you that Verizon or AT&T has cheaper phones doesn't know what no contract means.
Service
I've been using Virgin mobile for some time now and I have to say I am not disappointed by their coverage. I haven't had any dropped calls or any missed text messages, but data has been a bit troublesome. On the Galaxy Victory I could hardly get any bars in my building.
Despite having very few bars call quality has been amazing. I can't same much as to texting because I use Google Voice exclusively. This is more of a continuity issue, rather than preference.
The data reception was quite poor, and it didn't help that the incremental upgrades to the Sprint towers in our area were taking out data service sporadically. Ever since switching phones I haven't had any connectivity problems I get a consistent 2-3 bars in my building which I admit would stifle any signal. The upgrades to the local towers haven't been helping and the RadioShack employee told me to expect periodic network problems until mid July, when the upgrades should be finished.
Back in my home town of Thief River Falls, service is hilariously inadequate, I can't even get service in my parents house, and yet walk 50 yards towards town and I have 3 bars and working data. It appears that sprint has a single tower to cover our quant town of just 8660. Voice and Text works fine, which has resulted in the use of Google Voice Access numbers now attached to my contacts to ensure clear and reliable communication. I am still quite happy with Virgin mobile, and I don't regret my choice. It is still much less expensive than continuing service on Tracfone.
Would I recommend Virgin Mobile? Yes I would but only if you can't find a better solution your area. Straighttalk from Walmart is fantastic if you don't mind buying an unlocked phone and can get service from AT&T or T-Mobile where you travel. Virgin mobile is very good at providing phones at very reasonable rates.
