Newbie question - want cheap US phone (talk, text) that roams in Canada, India

[rfranzq]

[5.14]: MVNOs for international travelers
Tru - www.truphone.com
Piranha Mobile - www.piranha-mobile.com
World SIM - www.worldsim.com
Lycamobile- www.lycamobile.us

I think you should seriously consider Piranha Mobile.
It has the best prices for Canada and India of the above
international SIM card providers.

Also, the simplest phone for your uses will save you money in the long term.
When, in the future, you decide to get a 'better' phone, the small price you
paid for the prior phone will not have much effect when you know what you will
want in the future.

[HansCT]

What he said ^^^

I'm not sure what that is, but bear in mind that soon CDMA-only Verizon and Sprint devices will *not* be able to roam in Canada at all. Sometime later this year Telus will shut down the western half of Canada's CDMA network and another year or three down the road Bell will shut down the eastern half. The only Verizon phones that will work up here will be ones that can roam on 3G HSPA or LTE.

Didn't know that. If only VZW would do the same - I look forward to the possibility for LTE-only service with them while in the US + GSM for worldwide using the same phone (ideally the same SIM).

And no I'm not gonna hold my breath.

[cmstlist]

So here's another dumb question. I went to the T-Mobile site ( http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/sim-card ) to make sure that the Moto E would work with their cheap pay as you go plan. I saw many other Motorola phones listed but not Moto E. Is that an oversight?

That just means they don't sell it. It would definitely work.

There are 3G compatible dumb phones available on T-Mobile too. If you do away with the need for Europe compatibility there are models with 850/1900/1700 3G that are cheap enough and would guarantee it to remain usable in USA and Canada. T-Mobile in particular is really in a rush to cannibalize their 2G spectrum for 3G and LTE, so a 2G only phone on their network would see service rapidly degrade.


Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[ahimsa]

Thanks to everyone for all your great input!

Special thanks for explaining the compatibility list for T-Mobile (that link I posted). I didn't know it was only for phones that they sell, not a full compatibility list. I feel more confident about going shopping for a new phone now.

I'm going to stick with the idea of getting one phone (at least 3G) and using different SIM cards.

I'm still on the fence about dumb phone vs. smart phone. I might get a smart phone even though I'm not going to sign up for data if the built-in apps (the ones not dependent on internet access) look useful or interesting.

Final edit: I think the mind thing I need is to go shopping and ask more questions. Thanks again!

[SnowyWhite]

I'm still on the fence about dumb phone vs. smart phone. I might get a smart phone even though I'm not going to sign up for data if the built-in apps (the ones not dependent on internet access) look useful or interesting.

You don't need to use cellular data to use any of the apps on a smartphone.
If you have access to Wi-Fi you can use all of the apps.
That's what I do.
I don't have a data plan on my phones at all.
Since I am near Wi-Fi almost constantly I don't find having or paying for cellular data to be necessary for my needs.
I'm using T-Mobiles cheapest plans for talk only.
I use Google Voice for texting for free.

Sent from my Wonderful LG Optimus L90

[NexusWarrior]

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Source: http://www.mobal.com/mobalfreedom/

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