Note: I’ll be taking a blogging break next week to fully enjoy the Christmas holiday. But don’t worry. Brokepedia will be back before the New Year. Have a wonderful holiday!
I like cheap cellphone plans. If you’re a Brokepedia regular, you already know this. One discount carrier I’ve heard great things about? Republic Wireless. Recently, they asked me if I’d be interested in reviewing their service for a few months. I agreed, and they sent me a fancy new Moto X phone. Check out the video below for my full review. (And subscribe to my new YouTube channel!)
Republic Wireless Plans: Republic Wireless offers four monthly cheap cellphone plans at different price points: $5, $10, $25, and $40. The $5 plan only comes with WiFi capability. Yes, you have unlimited talk, text and data–but only when connected to WiFi. At $10, you get WiFi capability and unlimited talk and text over Republic’s cellular service. For $25, you get all of the above, but also free data over their cellular 3G network. It’s unlimited, but after 5GB of data, your speed is reduced. Finally, their $40/month plan comes with all of that, but on 4G.
The Moto X: I reviewed the first generation phone, and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s a great phone with a lot of fun, useful features. I like that all of my Google accounts are synced, and one cool feature that unique to the phone was the Motorola Connect. You install it as a Chrome extension, and then you can check out texts and phone calls via your Chrome browser.
Specs: Display: 4.7 inch 720p HD. Really crisp, vivid and saturated display. Camera: 10MP rear-facing; 2PM front-facing. Takes 1080p HD video at 30fps (my YouTube video shows a sample of this). Battery: It’s supposed to hold a charge for 24 hours with regular use, but I’ve read some complaints about this. But I had zero problem with the battery life. I was actually able to hold a charge for a couple of days!
These are just some highlights. Be sure to check out the video for more detail. If there’s anything I didn’t cover in the comments, ask away. I’ll do my best to give you an answer.
EDIT: Republic Wireless also has an online tool that tells you whether or not you can transfer your old phone number to their service. Check it out here.
Managing your money is like going to the dentist or standing in line at the DMV. Nobody wants to do it, but at some point, it’s inevitable: you need to clean your teeth, renew your license, and manage your money like a grown-up.
Free phone! Woot!!!!!
Subscribed!
Thanks Will! Pretty sure I have to part ways with this phone soon 🙁 But hey, it was fun while it lasted!
How is their service in terms of coverage nationally? Do you live in an urban, suburban, or rural area? And does it reach the other areas that you do not directly live in? The reason I ask is that a friend of mine got a not-to-be-named discount carrier and it worked great in her urban setting but when she tried to use it while visting in a rural area she could not get a connection.
I live in the city, but we took a road trip through some semi-rural parts of Cali last month, and the service was actually pretty good! They use the Sprint network, so it’s the same service I have with Ting, really. But my boyfriend has T-mobile, and there were a couple of patches of our trip where I had reception and he didn’t. And I never used to get reception at his parents’ house, but this time I actually did. His reception was still spotty there. I didn’t have any issues with reception, but I have heard people complain about Sprint.
I visit rural family often and its not great service, but its not any different service than when I had Sprint or Virgin Mobile in the same areas and my phone works fine. Rural IL & rural IN have worked fine for me.
Good to know! Work pays for our phones at present, but we’re going to have to find something cheaper than the iPhone once we quit our 9-5’s.
Can you keep the iPhone and just switch plans? You can use it with Ting, and they’re pretty cheap too!
I have used Republic Wireless for 4 months on a recommendation from probably the most frugal person I know (& I am really frugal myself). I had used Virgin Mobile for the 3 years before that & it was fine, but $10??? Hard to believe. I couldn’t port my old number, so it was a hassle switching my number over with everything. Otherwise, service has been great. Where my parents live, Sprint service is terrible BUT, I can use my phone with no issues because they (& nearby businesses) have WiFi. If you switch, be sure to join with a referral from someone. I don’t know the current referral plan, but when I signed up with my friends referral code, we each got $20 credit towards service. That’s 2 months free! I am not one to recommend something unless I am completely satisfied, but based on my 4 months of usage, I would recommend. I’ll be switching my husband over as soon as his number is able to be ported.
Good to know! Yeah I can imagine it would be a hassle having to get a new number. I actually just found a tool they have that tells you whether you can port your old number. I’ll link here and update the post, thanks for the heads up!
https://republicwireless.com/tools/number-transfer