Phone for tween

[mozar]

My dad wants to get a cell phone for my sister so he can coordinate with her when she is with her mother. He and her mother are separated. He wants to be able to call her but gps and texting are not that important. My dad is elderly so he relies on me for navigating cellphones and tech, he is also very price sentitive (read: cheap) and he thinks my sister will be able to outwit any parental controls on the phone.

1: gabb phone.
Pros: It looks like a smartphone but does not have any ability to download apps.
Cons: I don't think he wants to deal with another monthly plan that he has to pay for. Plan is $20 a month.
https://gabbwireless.com/

2: tracfone
Pros: if I understand correctly it is a pay as you go phone, so you buy minutes instead of paying a set price every month. My dad is "old school" and prefers this method over a monthly payment.
Cons: I think it can do too much? The screen looks pretty good and it looks like you could watch youtube pretty easily. And you can download apps like tik tok.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088N6KHHD/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

3. nokia
Pros: You can get on the internet but it's so annoying i think my sister would give up
Cons: It looks like a monthly plan where we would have to find a carrier. That sounds tricky to configure everything and I would be the one doing the work. And its 3G and it looks like only At&T has a strong 3g network.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075FL4H89/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=A1CJUIHPYEM8JL&th=1

4. My dad has boost mobile. You can add a line for 10 dollars but you have to bring your own phone. Which includes figuring out which phones are compatible and buying the right sim card. Which would all fall on me. And would have to be a regular phone where he would have to figure out parental controls.

Thoughts?

[Daley]

Yup, I got some thoughts.

1) Don't bother.

2) Tracfone has its issues and its place. Not sure this is it.

3) Don't bother with 3G GSM phones at this point, T-Mobile's already decommissioned theirs, and AT&T is twilighting the network in a little over a year, however I think going VoLTE capable feature phone might be the best route.

4) Boost, post Sprint divestiture and going to Dish... plus what T-Mobile is doing to Sprint's network as part of the merger will leave this a bit of a dead-end sooner than later. A lot's going to be happening on this end, and it's gonna cost money with new handsets sooner than later.

Here's my suggestion:
There's not really PAYGO plans much anymore outside of Tracfone, and it sounds like the ability to neuter internet access might be handy from your Pop's perspective. Look into US Mobile. No per line base fees per month like Ting, just custom prepaid monthly plans for relatively cheap on either T-Mobile or Verizon's network. He could do 75 minutes, 300 SMS messages and no data for $5/month plus tax.

They also have some no-name Android flip phone on sale through the end of the month in their store for $30. The form factor alone might be enough of a disincentive for much internet usage, and Android does have some parental controls anyway. If your father's interested, he could grab one himself and switch over at the same time and potentially save even more money over what he's spending with Boost, then he can have control of both accounts and manage things with a single login.

https://www.usmobile.com/

[mozar]

Wow @Daley Thanks!

I'm not gonna lie. It does look a little bit complicated. So I will have to sit down and figure out the options. I like the idea of my dad switching too. It is time for him to get a new phone. He wants a fancy phone, but he doesn't want to pay for it of course. I think the moto g power would be good for him.
I'm not going to see him until next week so we're not going to make the half price holiday deal. 

I think we can sit down and go through the options next week and order everything. Then when we see each other for christmas we can sit together and set up both phones and new service.

[lhamo]

Is your dad 55+?  He might look at the T-mobile senior plans.  Cheap to add extra lines with unlimited calls/text and high data limits.  My DH pays $25/line for him and the kids -- I think the new rate is $30/month.  DD 15 has had their low-end smart phones (free-$99/phone depending on when we got them) for the last 4 years and they have been fine, though she is probably going to upgrade with her own money soon.

[mozar]

Thanks @lhamo he is 55+
I'll look into it.

[Daley]

Wow @Daley Thanks!

I'm not gonna lie. It does look a little bit complicated. So I will have to sit down and figure out the options. I like the idea of my dad switching too. It is time for him to get a new phone. He wants a fancy phone, but he doesn't want to pay for it of course. I think the moto g power would be good for him.
I'm not going to see him until next week so we're not going to make the half price holiday deal. 

I think we can sit down and go through the options next week and order everything. Then when we see each other for christmas we can sit together and set up both phones and new service.

It's really not that complicated, honest. Just be sure to buy unlocked handsets that are either T-Mobile or Verizon compatible if you don't want to buy from them directly as they offer SIM cards for either network. We used to use them before switching over to Red Pocket given we needed AT&T coverage and could get more for the $10/month/line we were spending already. The hardest part will probably be the number porting for your father, but that's gonna be an issue no matter where you go.

Red Pocket is also a possibility, though their plans include data and they don't have an a-la-carte option.

No matter what, there's cheaper and better plans out there than $30/month potentially. If you need more tailored advice, feel free to pick my brain.

[dang1]

Alcatel flip, $75 on ebay. 14 day returns. Buyer pays for return shipping
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Alcatel-flip-is-a-modern-flip-phone-with-the-essential-features-of-a-smart-phone/264701282033?hash=item3da16d06f1%3Ag%3AWJEAAOSwvuxel6Tf&LH_RPA=1

description says Unlocked, picture has ATT logo

is LTE https://us.alcatelmobile.com/alcatel-my-flip/


get a SIM card from Airvoice, sign up for pay as you go plan- I have Airvoice for many years now, so far so good
https://www.airvoicewireless.com/pay-as-you-go

[nemmm]

It isn't advertised, but the best plan for most is tmobile connect. $15/mo for unlimited voice and text, with 2GB data. https://www.t-mobile.com/support/plans-features/sign-up-for-t-mobile-connect-prepaid-service

For extremely low usage lines, us mobile is hard to beat starting at $4/mo.

They have a bad record of providing security updates, but the moto G series phones are the cheapest phones that support all of the US carrier brands.  All nokias are missing some of the Tmobile bands, including 71 which is used in a lot of areas. The G fast is $150 right now, the G power is about $179. G power has better battery life and screen. Both models have about 18 months of security updates yet.

[mozar]

They have a bad record of providing security updates, but the moto G series phones are the cheapest phones that support all of the US carrier brands.  All nokias are missing some of the Tmobile bands, including 71 which is used in a lot of areas. The G fast is $150 right now, the G power is about $179. G power has better battery life and screen. Both models have about 18 months of security updates yet.

Thanks for this.