What's the best Lumia to buy for under $120 in 2015?

[brad4560]

The 640 hands down! metropcs 39.99 in store 69.99 with mail in rebate online, of course other carriers have it too. Amazing phone.

 

[lilnickiwonder]

I've used two att go phones on cricket without unlocking them. Customer service is probably not allowed to tell you that gophones will work or they simply don't know.

The girl in the Cricket store told me to make sure if I brought a phone that it was unlocked because she said there is a code they have to put in (Im no expert, just saying what she said)

 

[downup]

Friend bought 640, it's very nice

 

[lilnickiwonder]

Since it's a phone locked to ATT, even though I'm not the original owner would they unlock it for me?

 

[libra89]

Since it's a phone locked to AT&T, even though I'm not the original owner would they unlock it for me?

In the case of a Gophone, you have to contact AT&T to unlock it. If you are the second owner to a phone, the last user might have to be the one to unlock it first? I'm not sure on this, but hopefully someone who knows more than me will answer your question.

It probably also depends on who you choose to go with. If you choose to go with a AT&T mvno, you might not have to worry about that at all.

@Yazen: I understand where you are coming from. It just seems like some of the critics of this phone have never used it, and just say what they say because it's not a flagship, so it's lesser by default. That was the reason for my statement, but the things you don't like are valid.

 

[lilnickiwonder]

So if a phone is locked to ATT can you use it on GoPhone? The only thing about GoPhone is I can't figure out how to get started as far as BYOP goes. In the ATT store they wanted to charge me $27 for the sim alone.... I just thought NOPE. What do I have to do to actually get started? Where do I get the SIM and everything that I need? I can't seem to even get a conclusive answer from the people in the store or on the chat about how much monthly bill will actually be either.

 

[dwaynebritton]

I have two Gophones that I use on Cricket, a 630 & a 635. All I did was put my Cricket simm in, and follow the setup. They both work very well!

 

[Nogitsune Micah]

It seems all customer service people from Cricket, Pure Talk, etc are telling me the phone has to be unlocked. Is there some way I could get it unlocked after I purchase? What's the best, safest way to do that (ya know without sketchy "ya want a watch" type of stuff

I used my att lumia 1520 on h20 wireless. It is locked to att. It shouldn't matter since it is an att phone and they are att mvnos. Don't take my word for it but I had no issue with the lumia 1520.

Of course I also brought my own sim and did all my stuff online since customer service with these people is useless usually


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[worldspy99]

So if a phone is locked to ATT can you use it on GoPhone? The only thing about GoPhone is I can't figure out how to get started as far as BYOP goes. In the ATT store they wanted to charge me $27 for the sim alone.... I just thought NOPE. What do I have to do to actually get started? Where do I get the SIM and everything that I need? I can't seem to even get a conclusive answer from the people in the store or on the chat about how much monthly bill will actually be either.

I have two Gophones that I use on Cricket, a 630 & a 635. All I did was put my Cricket simm in, and follow the setup. They both work very well!

Just like dwaynebritton said, you put in your SIM card and off you go. No unlocking required if you get an AT&T branded phone and use it on AT&T, GoPhone or Cricket or Straight Talk with AT&T as the MVNO. I haven't used PureTalk so I cannot comment on it. The other I have experience with.
Good luck.

 

[Witness]

Give in to the temptation!

I almost did, but it's OOS so I'm glad I didn't have to make a decision. :grin:

 

[lilnickiwonder]

The 640 on GoPhone is now in Walmarts here in Mississippi according to the employees! I called three of them and asked if they were there and they all said it was there, plenty of them, for $80. I think I'll pull the trigger on that deal because the 640 seems awesome and I cant justify the $80 vs $169.99+ of the 830.
I'll comment again when I activate and start to use the 640 on the GoPhone network, I'm interested to see how strong a signal I'll get in the places that I used to get none, like in my father's house in the woods. The only 2 companies I've seen get a signal there are C-Spire and AT&T Postpaid, I'm interested to see how the prepaid does.

 

[lilnickiwonder]

Just remembered I may be able to just pop in my Cricket SIM and use the GoPhone 640!! I'll try that when I get it and report back on whether I worked or not!

 

[Yazen]

Protip: If you guys buy a GoPhone DO NOT put the included GoPhone SIM inside. A GoPhone activated phone with a balance (even if $0) may potentially cause you a headache when trying to unlock/using a child carrier (Straightalk, Cricket, etc).

My advice is to unlock the phone for $1 on eBay just to air on the side of caution. Sounds ridiculous, but you might just save yourselves a headache, and your phone's selling value is appreciated

 

[lilnickiwonder]

When unlocking your phone on eBay and such, I'm still not clear on legal vs illegal for that. Is it legal to unlock it yourself without permission from the carrier?

 

[Yazen]

When unlocking your phone on eBay and such, I'm still not clear on legal vs illegal for that. Is it legal to unlock it yourself without permission from the carrier?

It is legal again. Last year it costed $50+ to unlock a Lumia 1520, last week I just unlocked one for $0.75 :O
Amazing isn't it?

EDIT: Enjoy it while it lasts XD

 

[lilnickiwonder]

I hope that never ends!

 

[lilnickiwonder]

Now I'm thinking if I can get my GoPhone L640 unlocked ill go to Pure Talk because they have a perfect 44.95 plan for me, I want the faster data speeds for sure. Cricket data speeds aren't that bad, but Pure Talk is ATT unthrottled, and I never hit 2 GB of data, barely 1, there's WiFi everywhere around me.

 

[lilnickiwonder]

The 640 GoPhone is starting to become available at WalMart for just under $80. That's the best deal going under $150. You can take it to any AT&T MVNO and use it without unlocking, but if you use the online form at AT&T before you activate the phone on any network they should unlock it for you for free. I am using a Lumia 635 on PureTalk and they are great. Free SIMs, cost is low for low usage, full LTE speeds now (25mbps download), no hassles.

So if I buy the 640 go phone from WalMart and fill out the att form better activation anywhere else then they will unlock it? I'd like to use it on Pure Talk.

 

[Yazen]

So if I buy the 640 go phone from WalMart and fill out the att form better activation anywhere else then they will unlock it? I'd like to use it on Pure Talk.

Just put in your Pure Talk SIM and you will be set.

____

The idea is that if you pop in the GoPhone SIM you are in trouble.
Reason being is that the phone will be tied to a new GoPhone account, and AT&T will not unlock it unless you are a paying customer for 3-6 months... Had this happen to a friend of mine, even warned him. Was really excited about his $25 L635 :evil:

But it's very easy to unlock right now so might as well take advantage of it. At the very least your phone will be worth more should you decide to sell it.
Free if current AT&T customer, $1 or less on eBay otherwise.

 

[lilnickiwonder]

Could you give me a good link for unlocking on eBay?