Virgin Mobile has a set of no-contract Beyond Talk plans that include minutes and unlimited data. Their lowest plan currently offers 300 minutes and unlimited data for only $25 a month. Previous post with more details here, but now you can buy an LG Optimus V with Android OS for $150.
However, starting July 20th, the price will increase to $35 a month for new customers. However, if you are an existing customer or activate by July 19th, you will be grandfathered in on the $25/mo plan. Edit: The 1200 Beyond Talk plans will increase $5 a month, while the unlimited will actually decrease $5 a month. So if you’ve been meaning to switch, you can save $60 to $120 a year by doing so before 7/19. I’m not sure how long shipping takes, so you might need to act quickly and find a phone in a store like Target or Walmart.
$25 including taxes is a great deal for light talkers who still want a full-featured Android phone with apps and all that. My mother uses Virgin Mobile prepaid and the coverage seems to be adequate in most areas. Virgin Mobile uses the Sprint network, but you aren’t allowed to roam on other networks like you are if you actually are a Sprint-branded customer. Any readers use this plan?
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I use the $25 plan and it works great. The coverage is fine, and even works in the DC Metro. For about 1/3 of what most people pay for their phone plans I get unlimited data, unlimited texting, and 300 minutes a month. Most people pay more than $25 just for their data plans, which are often not even unlimited! The one pitfall is the 300 minutes a month without nights and weekends, however I just use the free Google Voice service at home on my iPad to call anywhere in the country for free.
I recommend this plan to everyone, but unfortunately most people are stuck on iPhone and other devices/providers because they are essentially status symbols. I’ll keep my extra $600/year for a decent Android phone with all the same functionality (and some better features) as an iPhone or Sprint/Verizon Android phone.
I use the $25 plan on an Optimus V in Boston.
It’s acceptable. You’re definitely getting $25 worth of service, which is most evident when you call customer service, and sometimes data doesn’t work.
But saving $65 every single month over my old Verizon contract makes it totally worth it.
I’ve got the Optimus V Android Smartphone ($130 w coupon months ago) for VM and my experience has been very good. I’m happy that I will be grandfathered in to this low price point of $25/mth considering I never go over minutes but use data frequently.
One thing I’d mention Jonathan is that if you go over 2.5GB/mth VM plans to reduce your speeds (not cut off but reduce) starting in October.
For me it’s the best middle ground between newer technology and old flip phones LOL by allowing me to view youtube, emails, and internet.
I wonder, since they use Sprint’s service, if my AIRAVE will function with Virgin’s service.
I’m in the same boat – switched from an old flip phone to VM and bought an LG Optimus V and very happy with it. I can’t use VM quite as well when traveling (the no roam thing) but Sprint’s network is generally pretty good. So, overall it’s really hard to complain about $25/month. Plus, I can tether my phone and get pretty good speeds (~750K download) which is a great internet in a pinch.
I hope that we stay grandfathered in for a while though, because at $35/month, I would consider going back to sprint
Nevermind, VM is not compatible with the Sprint AIRAVE. In fact, the AIRAVE actively blocks VM from completing calls when within it’s area. So, if you have one of these, you will want to avoid VM.
The unlimited plan is actually going down $5/month while the others are going up.
I use the Optimus V and $25 Virgin plan.
This phone (and from what I’ve read about Android in general) will suck the battery dry in just a few hours if you run a few applications in the background that try to update info from the web. When I first started out, I loaded it down and the phone would get extremely hot in my pocket and then die (e.g., 3-4 hours). Since then I’ve installed an application killer and reduced the number of background apps. It helps enormously.
Voice coverage is perfectly fine in urban areas, but don’t even think about using it in the countryside. See the Sprint national coverage map vs. the AT&T or Verizon coverage maps before buying.
Data reliability has always been spotty. I never know if I’m going to be able to send an email or complete a search, etc. Probably 50%-75% of the time it will work. Some cities work fine (e.g., San Francisco), other cities are deadzones for me (e.g., Las Vegas).
Yeah, Android does suck battery life; however, using App Killer, Task Killer and especially Juice Defender Ultimate, I have gotten, on average, about 65% longer life.
I have the Blackberry plan which is $35 a month unlimited, and have been pleased with the service. I’ve had a few hiccups with texting not being avail at the beginning of a new pay period, but customer service fixes it quickly.
Their customer service menu is annoying since you cannot get to a rep easily, but I’ve learned to pick an option, then hit # # # a few second apart, and it will say, ‘Sorry I can not hear you, I’ll connect you to an agent’.
The unlimited data and text is great though and I’ve never had a problem with that. Their website is great too, and you can usually get any info you need from it. Phone service has been fine for me, though I am in the city. I would recommend.
James said that you can tether this device for internet but the virgin mobile website FAQ section for the LG Optimus V says the following:
“Can I use my Optimus V as a mobile hotspot (aka tethering)?
Virgin Mobile doesn’t currently offer mobile hotspot (tethering) functionality. But we’re always working to improve and expand our service, so stay tuned.”
Is tethering really available? If it is, this is tempting…
When our contract was up, I looked at various prepaid plans. Verizon Mobile was the cheapest with the best text/data plan. But it’s coverage is also the smallest on the Sprint network. Cricket came in second. Their Sprint coverage is better, but their plan is more expensive.
Can you use iPhone on VM?
As a former Virgin Mobile customer I can promise you that no matter how cheap their plans are it’s not worth the frustration of having to deal with their customer service. Virgin Mobile staff are trained to hang up on you if you ever need to resolve a billing error. Be warned. Awful company.
I’ve been on the $25/month plan for about a year now. I only have an LG touch though, so I don’t actually use the data, but this has been pretty much the cheapest phone plan I could get. I use it in combination with google voice. I like the prepaid system because it provides the “feature” that you can let your plan expire and then just pay the $25 when you need to call out. In combination with google voice and skype, there has been a couple months where I haven’t actually needed to call out using my cell for a couple weeks after my plan expired that month, for which I then don’t have a phone bill for that time. I find that the 300 anytime minutes is just about right, so I really liked this plan. With this price change, it looks like my good deal is going away, so its probably back to the prepaid burner phones for me. I wish they would provide a voice and txt only plan for the same price going forward. So long Virgin Mobile, you were good while you lasted.
LargeTalons – the price point remains the same so long as you are already a VM customer. No need to cancel.
@Manny – No iPhone on VM — see the website for the quite limited selection.
@David – Most of my customer service experience with VM has involved terse emails. Not great by any means. However, when I migrated from a plain VM phone to the smartphone I changed my number at the same time. Customer service was fine. The low price comes with the weak Sprint network and minimal customer service. In this case you do in fact get what you pay for. I’m ok with it though.
I love love LOVE my $25 Virgin Mobile plan. I’ve got the Optimus V, and was about 80% satisfied with it until I rooted it, at which point I became 100% satisfied. I haven’t had any issues that required talking to Customer Service yet, so I can’t speak about that…but my experience with other mobile companies has been pretty abysmal, too. I think that’s just a disease of the industry.
I highly recommend VM to anyone who’s considering making the jump to Android. At that price, it really can’t be beat.
My boyfriend just got me the Optimus V and the $40plan. Target had a coupon last week (in St. Louis) for $20 off a new Virgin Mobile phone.
Just another alternative if you need Verizon coverage and are a light user – I bought a used Droid Incredible and activated it with Page Plus Cellular. It uses Verizon networks. I usually have wi-fi access, so I have the data turned off until I know I need to use it. I am on the 10 cents/minute plan plus something like .18 cents per kb. You can also get on their $30/month plan for 1,200 minutes/
2,000 text/MMS messages/
100 MB of Data. Coverage is excellent (thanks to Verizon).
That Target coupon for $20 off a new phone is valid through September-ish I think. It was in the Target Back-to-School mailer.
I’ve been pretty happy with mine but I’ve only had it a couple months. My only complaints would be the same ones others have mentioned. The battery life is short and the web goes out at least a couple times a week. It is still a good deal for $25.
I used it for a few months and thought it was great (now on a family plan with a few others to make things cheaper). The coverage was fine in Texas, Virginia and New York/New Jersey. I loved the Virgin Mobile GPS navigation too, really miss it now that I’m using Android Google Nav, which doesn’t work nearly as well IMO
I’d like to switch my wife to this plan once her contract with Sprint expires in Nov. can she use her curent sprint phone – LG Rumor? we don;t want to switch now and pay an early termination fee to sprint. Any suggestions?
I also am an existing customer with the $25 plan and the LG Optimus. I use Juice Defender to increase battery life. Once you get accustomed to it and remember to kill apps you are not using, it’s OK. This is not the kind of phone that you only charge ever 4-5 days. I charge my phone every night and depending on what I do with it, the charge will be between 20 and 80% by the next night.
According to the press release, “Existing Beyond Talk Virgin Mobile customers as of July 19 can keep their current plan pricing as long as they don’t let their account expire, and they can upgrade to new devices without incurring additional costs.”…. sooo… for existing customers…. Make sure you don’t let you account expire!
Whew.. that headline scared me…glad to hear I’m grandfathered. I have VM with a Samsung Intercept and have been extremely happy with the service and the phone(after hacking it). So I plan on keeping it for the foreseeable future.
I recently purchased an Optimus V switching from AT&T and I love it. The unlimited text & data, along with 300 min of talk time, it is the best phone/plan I’ve purchased. Coupling it with my GV number, I get even more talk time.
@drdomore. Even though Sprint now owns Virgin Mobile you cannot use Sprint phones on VM as far as I know. They edit the ESN and only allow those ESNs in their data base to be activated on VM. The ESNs need to come from VM phones.
@drdomore
I had 1 month remaining on my Sprint contract (I was paying $70/month) when I switched to Sprint. I was told I would be charged $50 for canceling my service. So it was pretty much a wash to cancel and go with Virgin ($25/month). Your early termination fee may not be as bad as you think (maybe only $50 or $60??), and if you can get in on Virgin at the lower rate, it might be worth it…you might want to look into it more. Here is a link I found about the early termination fees: http://shop2.sprint.com/en/services/termination_fee/early_termination_fee.shtml?ECID=vanity:etf If you decide to give it a try, you might want to open a Sprint chat (on their website) and ask the rep how much your early termination fee would be…and save that chat session somewhere…. just in case they charge you something different.
Also, I do not believe Sprint phones will work…I think you have to purchase VM phones.
Good luck!
oops…I meant to say I switched from Sprint to VM
@bprice – I have this with a samsung intercept too. what do you mean by hacking it? how does that improve it, and how do you do it? i’m slightly ignorant but it sounds cool.
@Mike, thanks! Your comments are very helpful. I am chatting with Sprint rep on the other window. Any suggestions on where to purchase the VM phone from? I see someone has recommended Target in an earlier post ($20 coupon – not sure if I can find it).
It would be nice the Sprint phones work. My wife’s LG Rumor is virtually brand new as she hardly uses her phone (hence the reason to switch to a cheaper VM plan)
@drdomore No problem, I hope you end up saving money! 🙂 I was the one that posted about the coupon being in the Back-toSchool Target mailer. I have not been able to find that coupon online anywhere. I bought my Optimus V at Target for $150 (without the coupon a month ago)…though I think you can find VM phones at other places like Radio Shack or Best Buy. Good luck!!
I just switched today to get locked in. Going to get the Motorola Triumph which will be a nice upgrade from my iphone 3g.
@nate I think he’s talking about rooting it. If you google “rooting samsung intercept” you’ll come up with a few guides (I linked the results to my name). The only thing to watch out for is if the guide is older and you are on a newer version of software, the exploit to gain root access can be different. You’ll probably need to spend some time reading, but once you root (I rooted my Evo 4G) you’re phone it will last much longer. Gingerbread (Android OS 2.3) is much better in terms of battery life and all the customizations possible along with removal of bloatware are totally worth the time it takes to learn how to root your phone.
I use the $25 plan with the Optimus V and really enjoy the service and the phone. Coverage is better than AT&T in San Francisco and the price is a fantastic value. I added a 16GB flash card for $25 and it does everything I need. Surprised VM does not advertise more aggressively. I use PDANet for tethering, you need to pay for the app, but it works well.
I’ve been on the $25/mo VM plan for about a year now — and love it. I’ve always hated contracts, fees, and taxes. Not much of a talker, so this plan is great for me. I don’t like texting, but I appease others. But I need internet. Unlimited, baby! Yes, the connection will cut out more often than most people can handle, but since I’m glued to Facebook more than should be allowed, then this weens me. I’ve downloaded Opera Mini as my browser, which I like better than the default. (I just have an LG. But I’ve never been much concerned about keeping up with the Joneses. It’s about the Benjamins.)
I travel through the country, over mountains, to the shore, and to islands. I use GPS religiously on it. Reception is super! I just know that I will not get reception for a few miles in the mts of MD/WV and on a natural reserve in Chesapeake Bay. I can deal with that. Hell, it’s $25.
Oh, and I’ve never had to use customer service. Ever. Battery: Charge it every night. Full in the AM. Lasts me all day.
I got the $25 plan but I am also charged a sales tax of $2.31. Does anyone know why? BTW, I live in California. Thanks.
@Al, there is State tax charged on your $25 purchase. Go to callingmart.com and purchase your refill card there. No tax and you get a 1% discount. And if you use code ca3p-1207, you will get 3% off of the balance. They will send you a 16 digit code that you enter at the VM webiste and that’s it. I save $2.50 a month using this method versus buying your minutes from VM.
@BB All you need is a settings app, and within the app is the option to make your phone a Wi-fi hotspot. VM just took the option off the phone 🙂
I have an old VM phone and Im on the 25/mo plan. I need to upgrade my phone. I was thinking about the optimus. If I switch over to that will I be charged the new 35/mo rate or can I keep my current 25/mo plan?
WOW, I literally just ordered an LG Optimus V and I had no idea that Virgin Mobile had jacked their rates up. I was comparing the price of the old 300 minute plan to my current Tracfone plan and it wasn’t really much more than I was paying monthly already (maybe $10 a month more), which I was willing to take. However, the new pricing puts their plan beyond what I am willing to pay. Thanks, Virgin Mobile, for making this decision easy for me. I’ll be sticking with my Tracfone.
Missed the cut off date, I’ll have to stick with t mobile prepaid but definitely going to pickup this phone on their network. I believe it’s the optimus T, going to use the wifi app hotspot and drop my home internet.
Saving money and putting it in your pocket is actually making money!
i have a sprint phone(THE HTC P3450 TOUCH) but i no longer want their service. Can i still use the phone but use the virgin mobile plan?
yes you can i hate vm service sucks and now $35 seeya you guys made a bad decision!!
I am ditching them. Atrocious foreign customer service for anything remotely complicated. Spotty service in major metro area. Now they are forcing smart phone users into monthly plans, I was able to use pay as you go before since I rarely use voice & prefer wifi over 3g. They can’t maintain crappy service then expect people to pay more
I have an Optimus V and was planning on upgrading to a Triumph. But now…probably not. I’m also pretty pissed that they’ve sent me 10 or so texts telling me VMpix is going away (who cares) but not a damn one saying my plan was going up? Wtf? Or a single message about the Data change in October. Not a Damn one.
I only went with Virgin because it was Cheap and it did the job. Suddenly I regret it
Snurgle, if you have a plan already, I don’t think the change will affect you, since it says that current customers are grandfathered into their existing plan. So, no point having VM tell you that other customers are going to pay more.
yo tenia el plan 25 pero lo subieron a 35 + tasx me cambie a Pague plus que me da la oportunidad de usar la red de Verizon , puedo utilizar cualquier telefono smartphone de verizon y sus aplicaciones por tan solo 29.99$ NO pagas tax no fee ocultos justo pagas 29.99 por 1200 minutos. y 2000 mensajes 100 mb de datos http://www.pagepluscellular.com
I’m a grandfathered in with the $25/month plan. But, if i were to buy a new phone from VM, does that invalidate this? Will i be forced to pay $35/month then?
I have the $25 plan with the OptimusV, and I love it ! no complants. I went on a road trip from PA through North Dakota, up through Canada and back, and the only place in the US I lost my phone bars was in northwestern North Dakota, which i expected. The phone doesn’t work in Canada, except in Niagra Falls, but I expected that as well. I stream Pandora through it at work every day ! Try that with a limited data plan ! For $25 its a bargain, couldn’t ask for more at this price point.
Does anyone know if I buy a used phone that was on the $25 plan, will I be able to stay on that plan?
Thanks.
@Ed, you need to have an existing $25 plan with Virgin Mobile. I have been with VM for 4 years on the $25 plan. I am grandfathered to this low price as long as I pay my bills on time. I am a light user, so I am very happy.
UPDATE/NOTICE: i am also grandfathered on the $25 beyond talk plan. I was just recently emailed by Virgin Mobile saying they are changing they policy. After late May, people who are grandfathered at the lower rate will NO LONGER stay at the low rate IF they switch to a new phone/device. Until now, I guess we have been able to change phones. I’ve been using an ancient intercept so I think I will upgrade before the cutoff.
That’s good news to know. Have they set a definitive date for when you can’t switch to a different phone on the grandfathered $25/month plan?
Yes you have been able to switch phones on the old $25 plan and keep that plan. I upgraded to the Triumph and love it. Sure it has it’s flaws but it’s a hell of a lot better than the Intercept. What I think is going to happen is shortly after the cut off date they will release a new phone that may have dual core and a better battery to try to get people to switch over to the $35 from the $25.
My husband has VM and I have Boost, I talk a lot, hubby doesn’t. He has had VM for 3 years and has never had to call customer service, changed phones multiple times, he was quite upset with the data slow down that happened in Oct, but he got 5 emails and 15 text messages to tell him about it.
He is grandfathered to the $25 plan currently and for his b-day I bought him the 180 dollar phone…hopefully that will last him awhile, as I really like his $25 plan…he also has tethered all his smart phones a lot (hence why he was upset at the data cap/throttle), and in some areas we got comparable to 4g speeds…he loves it and I love it so we are all happy!