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For those that signed up for notifications, Republic Wireless, is now sending out invites to a lucky few to come and try out their upcoming beta. Those who are willing, will be placed on a wait list and once notified again, will have to pony up the cash for one of their specialty devices. And that’s where things get interesting. The rock bottom low wireless service comes with the option of 3 tiers of handsets ranging from low-end, to high-ish end devices. No concrete word on manufacturers for their device lineup, but here’s the specs we’re looking at.
- $200 Entry Level: 3.5-inch touchscreen, 600MHz CPU, 500MB of storage and a 5MP camera.
- $300 Mid-range: Supposedly, the device will come from a “well known” manufacturer and feature a 3.7-inch touchscreen, 1GHz processor, 1GB storage, 5 MP camera with front facing camera.
- $500 High-End: 4.3-inch touchscreen phone with a 1.2Ghz dual-core processor, 8GB storage and 7MP camera (typo?).
For a $20 monthly phone bill (that relies heavily on your home WiFi connection), it looks like Republic Wireless might get it right. Originally, it looked like they were only going to offer the low-end LG Optimus One, which was a turn off for most die-hard Android enthusiast, but said they’d look into more options. Just imagine if they could snag the now $400 Galaxy Nexus — would any of you consider switching? Which 3 devices do you think they should choose for their Android lineup?
I don’t get it. Why not just sign up for tmobiles 30/month plan with 100 minutes, unlimited text and 5GB of high speed data? Then just use a VoIp App like Talkatone when you are some place with WiFi. That’s what I do. Works great!
Does the VoIP app show your cell number like normal? Care to link to that $30 plan you got there? :)
It’s a non-contract plan. Actually sounds like a great deal considering I never use my 400 a month Verizon minutes. In August I may consider this along with the $400 galaxy nexus. hmm…
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans
Thanks, Johnny! :)
That plan would be amazing if they allowed unlimited WiFi Calling as well.
GrooveIP with Google Voice works pretty well.
T-Mobile themselves offer WiFI Calling on compatible devices and they give you free minutes. Any WiFi in the world is basically your personal T-Mobile cell tower. Handy when traveling internationally or if you’re not getting reception inside a building. And it’s your own regular phone number for calls/texts that people can reach you on instead of signing into a VOIP client.
WiFi Calling also gives you better life typically because your cellular radio is powered off and calls/texts/data are going through a more power efficient wifi radio.
Wifi calling still uses minutes unless they have changed something very recently.
They have a free WiFi Calling feature that they can add to any contracted rate plan. So WiFi calling won’t use plan minutes. The prepaid plans don’t have free WiFi Calling.
http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-1680
I did not know that. Thanks for the information!
I could actually live with that high-end phone. Now I’m finally interested.
Chris it shows your Google voice number. You send and receive calls using that number.
30/month plan is listed on tmobiles website but you have to go to Walmart to get it.
Walmart. Got ya. Thanks!
@ captain fap
grooveip works great too! Thats what I use on my tablet…
Idk bout the entry level phone, but i think the mid range sounds a lot like the HTC One V. Especially because of the “well known” manufacturer part. And the One S looks like the high end phone but that one is a shot out of the dark because i would imagine they would want a variety. But i definitly think that the One V will be their mid range phone. Anyone else think the same?
I thought the One V didn’t have a front-facing camera.
you are correct, I just looked that up
I am signed up and have my place in the next wave, but do their phones roam on other carriers when not on WiFi? The reason I ask is they say they use Sprint, but Sprint doesn’t have service up here in Mendocino County in Northwestern California, we have U.S. Cellular, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Metro PCS.
Assigned to Wave E…. Will see…
The problem I see, is that they are going after people with not a lot of money, and those people probably can’t buy a $200-$500 phone. Doesn’t make sense to me.
yeah-yeah, but those people mostly have $100+ monthly bills from cell carriers
I don’t think the high-end phone could be the $400 Galaxy Nexus, that’s a GSM phone that runs on AT&T or T-Mobile but Republic Wireless uses Sprint (CDMA) when wi-fi isn’t available.
If it wasn’t based on Sprint’s crappy 3G data network I’d be interested, but I’ll keep my verizon lte, thanks :)
I will say it’s a great deal for the budget conscious low data usage customer, I just don’t fit that bill. I wish them luck, hopefully they’ll shake up the wireless industry a little.
I gave RW a try back in Nov 2011, when they first opened their doors to the beta crowd. Within a month I dropped them and ended up filing complaints against them with the BBB, FCC, and FTC. Suffice it to say, STAY AWAY from this company. You will get absolutely NO customer service if anything should go wrong with your service, whether that be phone related or billing related. They will only respond to you once you file a complaint with the BBB, then they spring into action. Is this the type of company ANYONE would like to deal with? Don’t be lured in by $19/month thinking this is the greatest thing since slice bread, because it isn’t.
I have been a customer with Republic Wireless since day 1 and have the original phone. They told everyone from the beginning that this was a beta test, but even with that I have had no major issue with my phone. They are always answering questions on twitter and keep everyone fairly well informed. Perhaps the issue with what happened to you was the user and not the product.