Do you cringe every time you see your monthly cell phone bill? You probably know that prepaid phones offer bargain-basement prices on monthly costs, though you have to pay upfront the full price of the phone.
Fortunately, you don’t have to settle for low-end mobile service or a severely scaled back smartphone to use a prepaid mobile plan. Verizon Wireless offers the LG Optimus Zone 3 on sale for as low as $70 (regularly $199), with service starting at $45 a month for 1 GB of data plus unlimited voice minutes and text messages.
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Verizon Wireless Has Prepaid Plans
Verizon Wireless has consistently been rated highly for their wide-reaching, reliable 4G LTE mobile network. With Verizon Wireless’s prepaid service, you still get access to the company’s robust mobile network.
However, there are no credit checks or commitments involved. Plus, you can use any Verizon phone, including the LG Optimus Zone 3, which Verizon is marketing with their prepaid plans.
Amazingly Economical Phone
You’d think that a phone that you can get for such a low price would offer the bare minimum of smartphone features. The LG Optimus Zone 3, however, boasts a compact, sleek design and a screen size of 4.5″ with 480 x 854 pixels (just a hair below the iPhone 6’s 4.7″ with 375 x 667 pixels).
It runs Android 5.1.1 (Lollipop) with a 1.1 GHz quad-core processor, 1.5 GB of RAM and 8 GB of onboard memory. If you want, you can add a microSD card of up to 32 GB. It measures 5.19″ by 2.62″ by .35″ and weighs about 4 ounces. The Zone 3’s size makes it fit quite nicely in a purse or pocket.
A downside to its size is the keyboard, which some people might find a bit hard to type on without turning the device sideways. The keyboard looks to be about the same size as an iPhone’s onscreen keyboard.
The phone’s FWVGA display offers satisfactory quality for most users’ needs, including texting, email, web browsing and popular games such as Words With Friends.
Confidently Capture Important Moments and Selfies
You can even take nice photos on the Optimus Zone 3, with its 5 MP rear flash camera and 2 MP front camera. You’ll find some cool extras, too, like gesture shot, self timer and burst mode, plus an HD rear camcorder and WVGA front camcorder.
Apps install and run smoothly, and the Zone 3 sports standard capabilities such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The best part is access to Verizon Wireless’s mobile network, which goes pretty much where ever you go. I’ve rarely found a place that Verizon’s mobile network didn’t cover.
No Phone Purchase Necessary
You don’t have to buy the Optimus Zone 3 to switch to a Verizon Wireless prepaid plan. You can bring your own Verizon phone – one that you already own or one that you buy.
And you don’t need to have credit problems to want the low prices offered by Verizon Prepaid. Anyone can jump on board and get great mobile service at a fantastic price.
In addition to the $45 plan with 1 GB of data, they offer a 3 GB plan for $60, also with unlimited texts and voice minutes. New customers (those who don’t already use Verizon Wireless as their mobile carrier) can get even better deals, sometimes offering extra data (such as 2 GB instead of 1 GB for $45 a month) or even bill credits (such as $25 per month for three months).
You’ll want to check Verizon’s web site to flesh out the current best deals. Anyone can currently get an extra 1 GB of mobile data per month by signing up for auto-pay with a credit card, debit card or bank account. There’s also a $30 a month plan that’s Wi-Fi only – no mobile data at all.
Great Deal, Minor Drawbacks
Prepaid plans won’t let you share data among family members on the same account, and you can’t access HD voice or cloud services. HD voice isn’t something most people will miss, since it only works when it’s available on both ends of a phone call. Plus, free cloud services abound, one of which will likely serve your purposes without your having to pay anything.
It’s amazing how well the Zone 3 performs given its low price point, and Verizon Wireless’s prepaid plans look like a phenomenal value regardless of what phone you bring to the table.
Prepaid plans work especially well for folks on a fixed income and for teens who have trouble keeping their data usage within certain allotments. However, if you need an extremely reliable mobile network but can’t afford the sticker price of standard mobile plans, you’ll want to check out Verizon Prepaid for the whole family.
How About You?
What mobile carrier do you use? Have you tried a prepaid plan? What did you think of it? Do you have anything to add to this review?
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