ok, well either way virgin mobile is 10$ cheaper, if you can take the sprint network, you should go with VM.. most of straight talks phones run on the sprint network anyways... i suggest getting her the kyocera rise from virgin mobile.. runs android 4.0, under 100$ slider keyboard (first time android users LOVE the sliders) 3.5 inch touchscreen.. i really suggest it...
straight talk is owned by tracfone... tracfone owns straight talk, net ten, and tracfone, HOWEVER, even tracfone is a company from "telefono movil" based out of miami florida, but any call center you call to is going to be located in central america. i dont mean to sound anti latino, but if you or your wife have trouble understanding the latino accent, you will not understand a single word they say. plus their words will be garbled because of how far away they are located.. PLUS (yes theirs more lol) straight talks customer service line's hold time is on average of a half hour.. and ive had customers extremely mad while trying to work with them when at 59:59 (59 minutes, 59 seconds) of hold time, the system tells me "we are experiencing high call volume and cannot take your call at this time. if you need further assistence please..." blah blah blah.. and the customer walks away unhappy..
so please, do yourself a favor, and dont choose straight talk
Actually, only a few of Straight Talk's phones are on Sprint's network, and I don't believe any of their Android phones. The majority of Straight Talk's Android phones are on AT&T or T-Mobile, with a few on Verizon.
T-Mobile has a $30/month plan. The huge disadvantage is that it only offers 100 minutes of talk a month. The big plus is that it offers 5 GB of data at 4G speeds -- after 5 GB it is throttled to 2G speeds. Other than this plan, T-Mobile's prices tend to be a bit higher than the other prepaid carriers, though they do have a $70/month plan that is completely unlimited (talk, text, and 4G data). Another advantage, any GSM phone can be used -- personally I'd recommend the
Nexus 4 (if you are willing to pay $300 or $350). They also have voice (but not data) roaming. T-Mobile support is typically ranked as being one of the better ones for mobile phones, with people who actually speak English answering the phones.
Virgin Mobile has a $35/month plan for 300 minutes and 2.5 GB of 3G/4G data, after that it is throttled to 2.5 GB. They have a $45 plan with more minutes and a $55 unlimited talk plan, though data is still throttled at 2.5 GB. The downside is that Sprint's 3G in many metro areas is very slow, and their 4G (WiMax) will only scheduled to be operational until 2015. While they are said to be adding LTE later this year, they do not currently sell any LTE capable phones. Additionally, you are limited to the phones Virgin Mobile sells and they tend to be older and lower end. Virgin does not offer any roaming. I suppose that I should also mention that Virgin/Sprints call centers are in India, with all the normal complaints about being difficult to understand, etc.
Boost (and also Virgin Mobile) are fully owned by Sprint, so both are similar in terms of the service you get. The difference is that Boost doesn't offer the range of plans, they only offer an Unlimited plan for smartphones. The plan starts at $50 a month, though they will drop the plan cost by $5 every six months if all your payments are on time, down to where you only pay $35/month after 18 months.
Straight Talk is $45/month for "Unlimited" talk and text and data, though they limit their data to around 2.5 GB (there is no published limit, but people get warnings typically around 2.5 GB or excessive usage in one day). The network the phone is on depends on the phone (Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile); you can also use any GSM phone and just get a Straight Talk SIM card for the AT&T or T-Mobile networks. Straight Talk has voice (and again, no data) roaming. As was mentioned, Straight Talk is owned by TracFone, and many of the other prepaid providers such as Simple Mobile and Net 10 are also part of this conglomerate.
Last, I'll mention Solavei. While technically is is a mobile phone version of an
MLM, they do appear to have a good phone service. They operate on T-Mobile's network and offer Unlimited data, text and voice (though the data is throttled down to 2G after 4 GB) for $49/month. They also have voice and data roaming.
Ultimately the best plan will depend on 1) what provider's network is best in the area where she will use the phone and 2) how she actually uses her phone (amount of time spent talking and how much data she uses). To help get an idea of what networks are good in your area, you might check PC Mag's
Fastest Mobile Networks article. Though it is worth pointing out that network coverage can vary by neighborhood -- a company might provide great coverage in your city but that doesn't help if it doesn't cover the area where you live and work.
Of course, that is the advantage of prepaid, she can switch if she starts a plan and finds out it isn't working for her, which is also why I'd recommend a GSM phone if T-Mobile and/or AT&T have good coverage in your area. GSM phones are easy to switch between carriers (just change the SIM), most allow you to bring your own phone, whereas CDMA carriers typically require you to purchase a phone from them.
