If you fancy an iPhone 5 but don’t like the idea of being tied in to a lengthy service contract and don’t want to fork out a lump sum for an unlocked version, Walmart may be able to help.
The retail giant announced on Tuesday it’s about to begin offering Apple’s popular handset with Straight Talk prepaid plans. Up to now, the device has been available from Walmart with a two-year contract.
The deal, which starts January 11, gives consumers the chance to pick up an unlocked 16GB iPhone 5 for $649 (the same price as Apple is selling it for) on a $45-a-month no-contract deal with unlimited nationwide talk, text and data. For an additional $15 it’ll throw in unlimited international calling “to more than 1,000 destinations in Mexico, Canada, India, and other countries.”
An 8GB iPhone 4 for $449 will also be available, together with the same Straight Talk plans. It’s something of a mystery why Walmart isn’t offering the iPhone 4S instead of, or as well as, the iPhone 4.
If the steep cost of the phones has your wallet looking like it’s about to burst into tears, sign up for a Walmart credit card and you can make monthly payments of $25.
“We believe customers shouldn’t have to choose between saving money and having the latest technology,” Walmart’s Seong Ohm said a statement announcing the new offer. “Now customers can have the coveted iPhone with unlimited talk, text and data without a contract for $70 a month thanks to our exclusive Straight Talk plan and industry first financing offer.”
F.J. Pollak, CEO and president of TracFone Wireless – operators of Straight Talk – called the $45 monthly plan and $25 financing offer “a marriage made in heaven,” claiming it made the iPhone 5 the most affordable premium smartphone in the US today.
The offer launches on Friday at more than 2,000 Walmart stores across the US as well as online at Walmart.com.
[Source: Walmart]
At first, this sounds like a great deal. At least at first…Just some thoughts and comments:
As an unlocked iPhone 5, does this mean that there are no restrictions to what can be downloaded onto the phone from the iTunes etc. Also, who is the network carrier for these services (Verizon?) – always makes a difference in service and call quality. My only real concern in this is that at $700, a $25 a month payment (does this have interest associated), will take 7 years to pay off even without interest. What happens if you fail to pay…you still owe on the phone. 7 years from now…the iPhone 5 will be old hat..what about additioanl insurance on the phone.how much is that? On the surface, looks like a great deal..but I’ll stick to a contract that gives me a cheaper android phone for 2 years.a.nd then me and the carrier are done..and I can either upgrade to another phone after 1 year..or just go on my merry way on a month to month after the 2 years.
Sorry..got my math completely wrong :! It’ll take a little over 2 years to have phone paid..if Verizon is the backend network carrier..I’d give this consideration and switch. Oh..my last question is that I assume you can port your current number?
Unlocked and rooted (jailbroken) are not the same thing. Unlocked means it’s carrier network, or SIM network is unlocked. You can go to any carrier. Rooted (jailbroken) means you have root (admin) privileges, and can install anything you want on it. So no, you are still restricted by apple.
If someone can’t afford AT&T Sprint or Verizon then how can they afford a $650 phone. Lol
You can purchase with a Walmart cc, no interest over 24 months.
wow a flagship phone (apple no less) that just recently launched, now headed to WalMart/Straight Talk. They usually offer crap phone……You know, this Iphone 5 will fit right in.
eye-phones are just fad BS…convert your monies to @ least silver now before its too late… drastic changes are coming sheeple!!!
is the downloads of 2 gb still restricted; how many days in line? LOL
i have a smartphone on straighttalk and the “unlimited” is up to 2gb of data then your speed goes WAY down
Been a Straight Talk customer for about 8 months now, and this will be my last month with this carrier. What initially made Straight Talk attractive to me was their promise of unlimited talk, text and web for only $45/month, and being able to use my AT&T branded/locked Motorola Atrix HD Android powered smartphone.
The big problem with Straight Talk is that their service is NOT unlimited. If you exceed an unknown daily data/web usage limit, they will cut your Internet speed down to a crawling halt, making simple emails almost impossible.
I have had this happen to me after one weeks use, and all I did was write emails, check Facebook, read news articles online and download a few app off the Google Play Store.
The next problem occurs when you call their support department. First you speak with a customer rep, who’s accent is so thick you’ll barely understand the person. They’ll next tell you that you violated section 6 and 7 of the terms of service – which basically says they have the right to cut your Internet speed (throttle), or terminate your service if your data usage is ‘excessive’. Problem here being that they won’t tell you exactly what ‘excessive data usage’ means, or at what point you reach that limit. When I asked them what the daily or monthly data usage limit is, and what amount of use would be considered ‘excessive’, the Straight Talk customer rep’s answer was simply that the service is unlimited as long as your usage for data/Internet/text/calls is not excessive.
So there you have it folks – It’s unlimited talk/text/data/Internet…Except it’s not. And you’ll have no idea when they’ll cut you off, because they won’t tell you, and it’s not mentioned anywhere in their ‘Terms of Service’ (TOS).
For folks with dumbphones, this might be a good option for you, since you probably won’t consume much data if any. However, if you have an Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, Black Berry, Nokia Symbian, or any other smartphone, you’ll probably want to think twice, or trice, before going with Straight Talk, since you’ll more than likely get into trouble with them sooner or later.
For the smartphone user who wants a cheap prepaid service, there are many other options than Straight Talk, and all of those alternatives will outright tell you what your data usage limit is before throttling occurs – if it occurs.
Both Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile offer plans with 2.5GB of high-speed data before throttling, and T-Mobile just launched GoSmart Mobile, which offers a whole 5GB of data before slowing you down. With those companies, you’ll at least know where you stand, and how much data you can consume before being throttled…
I’m sure this will be a deal to a lot of ppl but at @25$ month plus interest, that phone is gonna be an antique before you can pay it off. Just sayin.
No one has ever accused Walmart of having much integrity. In light of their inappropriate behavior this morning, it’s safe to say they are far from being the sharpest knife in the retail drawer. I wouldn’t buy my toilet paper there, let alone a phone plan! Can you think of a company full of more BS than Walmart? Oh yeah, AIG. Ha. iPhone 5 prepaid plans. Ahahaha
Apparently you get what you pay for – reviews for this company are awful – do a Google search for Straight Talk reviews
Well, if you can feed off Wifi for the majority of the time, then the 2gb data cap wouldn’t be too onerous a restriction, right?
$650 up front for a phone tho..My last computer didn’t cost that much.. Gonna stick w. AT&T and re- up my Unlimited contract they grandfathered in from back in the day..
White trash with money.