Wind Mobile

Recently my Virgin Mobile pay-as-you-go account expired. I had the option of renewing with them again, but decided to shop around. One carrier I found that offered a great deal was Wind Mobile.

I had been paying 30¢ a minute for phone calls with Virgin Mobile. Text messages were free to receive and 20¢ apiece to send. Wind offered 20¢ a minute outgoing phone calls and free incoming. Outgoing texts were 15¢ each and free to receive. So, as you can see, it was a much better deal.

Still I had concerns - One was about their reception (even in the city). I heard from a few people that they had poor reception in the city. When I asked the salesperson about it he said I could try it for 2-weeks and if I didn't find it adequate I could get a refund or something. Actually, I can't remember exactly what he said. All I know is that the reception has been fine for me, so I don't care. I'm not bringing it back.

My other concern was the choice of phones they had. I didn't want a Smart phone, but their selection of regular cell phones limited to say the least.

My previous phone was a trusty LG flip phone. I was hoping to find a reliable, relatively inexpensive equivalent with Wind. Their only flip phone option was the Samsung C414 at $99. I looked it up online and it got terrible reviews. A few people mentioned it would shut itself off on it's own. Not good.

They offered a non-flip, regular cell phone from Huawei, the 2801, for $49. They're a Chinese company. It only had one review that I could find online and it wasn't very good. Still it was better than the C414, so I chose the lesser of two evils and picked the Huawei.

I have to say the Huawei 2801 is very basic. The interface is nowhere near intuitive as the LG. It's just not up to par. I like my old interface much better. But, to get the superior Wind plan it was a sacrifice I was willing to make. I could get away with spending $20 less a year and talk waaay more with them. That's just the way the Wind blows.