BYOP: Republic Wireless now lets you bring your own phone — as long as it’s approved

By Christian de Looper Published August 12, 2016

Republic Wireless has long been an awesome concept, and while there are plenty of great phones now available from the company, to date you’ve had to buy a new phone to use Republic Wireless. As of today, however, you’ll be able to bring your own phone — as long as it’s on the list of approved devices.

The news comes shortly after Republic Wireless announced a slew of new compatible phones, including a number of flagships. The Samsung Galaxy S7, the Nexus 6P, and the Moto X Pure Edition were all included in the lineup.

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There was a time when Republic Wireless’ service required deep integration with software, and as such only a few phones were offered through the service. That’s because of how Wi-Fi calling worked with the service. Now, however, the company operates much more like a traditional mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), which means that there are more handsets that can work with the company’s offerings.

Here’s a full lost of compatible phones you can bring to Republic Wireless:

Moto G4
Moto G4 Plus
Moto X Pure Edition
Nexus 5X by LG
Nexus 6P by Huawei
Samsung Galaxy J3
Samsung Galaxy S6
Samsung Galaxy S7
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge

If you have an unlocked version of one of these phones and are interested in joining Republic Wireless, you can install the Republic Wireless app from the Google Play Store and order a SIM card from the app. Actually, the app is required and is used to verify that you do indeed own a handset approved to work on the network. Not only that, but if you order the SIM card before 9 p.m. ET tomorrow, you’ll get it for free, although you will still have to pay shipping and taxes. Even if you miss out on the free SIM card, after tomorrow a Republic Wireless SIM only costs $5.

Christian de Looper

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…

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