Phone Help for an Old Man !!!

[Milton]

I have been using tracfone for a long time and am pleased with the service they have.I have always used the free phones but now am just about forced to buy a newer phone.What are the suggestions for a phone less than $200(actually closer to $100 is best) for me and my wife.I need a phone for hospital apps,internet and phone calls.Any help?

 

[Onomea]

You can get an Amazon smart phone (android) for less than $100. If you are an Apple guy, you might be able to find a used/older one for less than $100, but it would take some searching.

Just checked CraigsList. In my area, you can find used iPhones for less than $100. (But, if unfamiliar with iPhones, you need to be careful. You need one that is unlocked. That is critical.)

 

[Milton]

Thank you very much! I will be honest with you the only Apple I know about is one you eat! My cell phone knowledge is close to zero.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Are you using an Android Phone?
You most likely are, there are numerous makers who use the Android operating system.
Only Apple Phones use the Apple IOS.
There are a bunch of Android choices, including the already mentioned Amazon phone.
I just looked at the Tracfone Site.
They have a number of new and reconditioned phones under $100.

 

[Ματθιας]

First off, I freely admit that I'm cheap and a minimalist. I don't see the point of paying a big bucks for a phone that I'm not even going to come close to using all of its capabilities or for service features I'm not going to use.

That being said, I've been with Net10 for 15+ years and have been very happy with their service. They seen to be affiliated with Tracfone.

Anyway, when I had to upgrade from my dumb phone to a smartphone, I bought a new Samsung J3 Orbit for $50 off the Net10 site. I pay $20 a month. That phone does everything I need it to do and more. I even got to keep my old number!

If you're with tracfone, and buy from tracfone you may be able to keep/transfer your number to your new phone - call customer service to see if you can do that.

It looks like tracfone has Father's Day specials.

 

[Hair Trigger]

I went from a stupid flip phone (lousy camera and the 3X key press to text) to an i12. Like driving a Model T for half your life and then trading it for a Rolls Royce. I try not to think of how much I paid for the phone; but the camera is better than my Nikon DSLR, and there's lots of stuff I never considered how convenient it is to have.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

Me too!
The Camera is a major reason to have a good smartphone.
The Toyota with the home made hatch, the spring percolating water on a rock shelf, with water Hyacinths growing in a white precipitate , and other things I don't have a picture!
That was the old me, pre smartphone me.
I had cameras! Just not with me when I needed them.

 

[Jon651]

I have been using tracfone for a long time and am pleased with the service they have.I have always used the free phones but now am just about forced to buy a newer phone.What are the suggestions for a phone less than $200(actually closer to $100 is best) for me and my wife.I need a phone for hospital apps,internet and phone calls.Any help?

From what I am reading into your request, you seem to need a very basic "smart" phone if you want to use apps and get on the internet. Here are a few words of caution about buying an older smart phone for you to consider:

Older phones have older versions of the software that makes them run. You can still get Android phones with Android 4 on them - they are up to Android 11 now, by the way, so unless you are careful you may end up with a phone that won't run the apps you need. Also, they don't get security updates or patches, which could put any data on your phone at risk. Normally this may not be an issue - unless you want to buy something online, pay with a credit card, or do any online banking. My advice - look for something that runs nothing older than "Android 9" - it will still be older but more likely to securely run what you need.

Older phones use older generations of cellular service. As those legacy services are phased out (or are not replaced as towers are upgraded) you may lose coverage in some areas. This is where you hear the terms "G2", "G3", etc. My advice is to look for a phone that offers "G4-LTE" which is the most common service right now. "G5" is starting to come out but "G4-LTE" will be around for a long while yet.

You don't have to shop for a phone and new cellular service at the same time, but don't make a commitment to one until you've decided on both. Older phones used two different frequency ranges - CDMA and GSM, and typically one will not work (or at least not work well) on the other service. All that has pretty much gone by the wayside with newer technologies and "unlocked" phones, but if you are shopping for an older phone it is still a concern. Verify with your prospective cell provider that the phone you are interested in will work with their service before you spend the money.

Yes, you can keep your old phone number. It's called "porting" your old number to your new service, and whatever company you go with will know what you are talking about. In addition, when buying an older phone I recommend choosing a "flagship" model instead of something that was lower-grade when it came out. That way you will get the best bang-for-your-buck for the generation of phone you are buying.

And I am sorry for being so wordy, so I will provide you with an example of a phone that meets your requirements plus the qualifications I've listed. This is actually a not very old phone that is brand new with a factory warranty so you don't have to worry about and hidden problems with a refurb. This is only one example, but there are dozens and dozens more...

https://electronics.woot.com/offers/google-pixel-3-64gb-unlocked-2?ref=w_cnt_lnd_cat_elec_2_1

 

[MTC(SS)Ret]

I have been with Metro PCS for a long time, going from a basic flip phone to the Android smart phone I have now. It is a "basic" smart phone I have had for about 5 years and the camera isn't as good as the newer phones, but as far as using the internet and downloading Apps it works just fine. It was state of the art when wife and I switched out phones and paid $200 for both phones. Since we signed up with Metro PCS about 15 years ago we have paid $61 a month for 2 lines with unlimited everything. Not saying there isn't better options out there, just my experience with Metro has been trouble free.

 

[Fishslayer]

I bought the Tracfone $25 smartphone from Walmart. The camera is only a slight upgrade from a potato but it does what I need very reliably. Talk & text.

 

[pasound]

I have a Tracfone Samsung Galaxy A01 I bought at Walmart a couple of years ago. Decent battery life, good screen size, decent apps, and a good camera. It gets regular Android updates, unlike earlier Tracfone versions. Barely raised my Tracfone monthly bill.

 

[Milton]

I really appreciate the offered help.I will see what is suggested and not hurry into this!

 

[Ogandydancer]

I have an iPhone SE which I got from Straight Talk for about $140.00 but, that was asale peice don't know if they still have them like that or not. Have been with Straight Talk for about 5 years they use all the big ones towers Verizon, ATT, T-Mo and Sprint which is now part of T-Mo. Around $39.00 per month for unlimited talk and text and 5 Gb's of data. Straight TAlk is a division of TracFone.

 

[Bigjason]

I bet you will like Samsung product

 

[glenwolde]

Another vote for Samsung phones. Looks like they have the A10e and A11 at or under $100. I have an A10e that I got from Cricket. I used to have Tracfone but was kind of forced to give it up when I needed a much higher cap on my internet usage. We lived in our RV for a while and used our phones as our internet connection. It's not practical to do that with Tracfone.

 

[s&wchad]

The Mrs. has a top of the line smartphone from work, but I refuse to pay $600 a year for service and $500-$1000 for a cell phone. I've also never had cable TV. That savings amounts to tens of thousands of dollars over the past 30 years. I've got better things to do with all that money.

I currently have a Tracfone flip phone that has a decent camera and is Bluetooth compatible. I had to upgrade my previous flip phone a few years back, because it wouldn't sync with my truck. The new phone cost me $20 shipped, direct from Tracfone and included double minutes for life.

I've been with them for a long time. I was buying 400 minutes a year ($110) which would keep my service active for 12 months, and they would double the airtime. A number of years ago, I started buying their "additional year of airtime" special (no minutes) for about $60. Last time I re-upped, I bought 400 minutes plus two additional years service. It works out to $6.39 a month and keeps the service active for three years.

I currently have about 4400 minutes on it and the service is good through 7-26-2023. As you can tell, I don't use it a lot and keep it turned off when I'm not making or expecting a call.

One unexpected bonus of my phone is the service area. My cheap little flip phone gets good reception at deer camp and on the ranch we hunt outside of Bill Wyoming. A lot of the guys I hunt with have expensive smartphones and they often need to borrow my phone to call home!