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Phone suggestion

I've decided to get a "newish" phone for international travels. It doesn't have to be state of the art. It can be a model that's a couple of years old. I'd prefer not to spend more than $100-$150. It must have the following items:

1) GSM Quad band
2) Unlocked
3) Camera
4) Good Music Player (one that can automatically play "next" chapters in an audiobook without me having to manually start each one.
5) SD/MicroSD slot
6) The ability to download apps.
7) wifi
8) bluetooth
9) GPS would be nice but I could do without it.
10) Android or Windows preferred.

I'm looking for brands and models not generic information on phones. If you have a recommendation for a place where YOU got a phone, I'm interested to hear it.

Suggestions?

Posted by
8094 posts

I (and millions of others) have switched to T Mobile for their $50 all unlimited voice and data program--but without any 2 year contract. When traveling outside the U.S., international voice calls are only $.20. T Mobile is the national cell phone carrier for many European countries, and calling back and forth to the U.S. is seamless.

My GSM phone recently broke when dropped and I bought a $100 Nokia Windows smart phone over the internet.

When we were in Budapest in April, we kept getting phone calls at 3:30 a.m. from our 3 year old granddaughter. She was using speed dial on her mother's cellphone. It was just like being at home.

Posted by
5687 posts

A year ago I got a T-Mobile Prism II, a very cheap Android phone (made by Huawei) that cost me only $30 new. I don't think the phone is made anymore. T-Mobile now sells them directly as a "pre-owned" phone (whatever that means) for the same price directly on their website.

The Prism II is slow at times but I've found it very usable. (It's only a 3G phone as well.) I use it as a day to day phone. Then again, I'm not a power user when it comes to phones, so having a phone that can handle lots of apps etc. isn't important to me. If all you need is a "travel phone" it should work well for that. I had T-Mobile unlock it (had to use it for a couple of weeks first with my regular plan) and then could have bought my own SIM in Europe, but I didn't need to - I only needed T-Mobile roaming.

I've been a T-Mobile monthly customers for years. Even though the Prism II is a "prepaid phone," I've never used it that way, and once I put in my old T-Mobile SIM card I would never have known it was a prepaid phone at all - looks just like any other Android phone.

I used it in April in Germany with T-Mobile's "Simple Choice" plan and it worked quite well. Got only 2G data most places - slow but usable. The phone also supports WiFi calling, which means FREE phone calls to/from the US from Germany while you are connected to a good WiFI signal. Otherwise, it is 20 cents a minute calling back to the US or within the country you are in, if that country is part of T-Mobile's international roaming. Not all countries are on the list; check T-Mobile's list before you travel somewhere to make sure roaming is supported.

Posted by
4324 posts

I almost got a T Mobile for my recent trip, they had some specials and refurbs hidden on their site that were pretty cheap.

Posted by
14812 posts

The Moto G looks good. I just can't figure out which version to get.

One one hand, I'm thinking of signing up with T-mobile for ease of use but on the other hand, I may just want it unlocked and put in sim cards as I go.

Posted by
4324 posts

Amazon has a lot of unlocked quadbands, with the requisite reviews