Straight Talk is a well-known prepaid carrier that offers service on the Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile networks. They were first launched in 2009 by América Móvil, one of the largest telecommunications companies in Mexico that also owns TracFone Wireless. Straight Talk is considered a subsidiary of TracFone Wireless.
Straight Talk currently offers 6 prepaid plans to choose from:
Our favorite plan from Straight Talk is their $45 25GB plan. It gives you a lot of data at a reasonable price, is available on all networks, and will likely be perfect for a majority of users. We feel Straight Talk’s unlimited plan is less compelling because Straight Talk notes on their website that “At 60 GB, we reserve the right to review your account for usage in violation of Straight Talk’s terms and conditions”. As such, we have qualified the plan as a 60GB plan.
Straight Talk offers a wide selection of smartphones to choose from, but the phones are being sold through their partner Quality One Wireless. Many people have reported poor experiences purchasing phones from Quality One Wireless, which they have shared on Reddit.
We think you’ll have the best experience with Straight Talk if you bring your own unlocked phone to activate on their network. Straight Talk fully supports BYOD (bring your own device) and offers SIM cards for $0.99 on their website. You can also purchase a SIM activation kit on Amazon.
You can find great deals on unlocked smartphones on a site like Swappa, with whom we have an affiliate partnership. We feel Swappa can help you save money on your new smartphone, offering discounts between 20% and 50% off.
With reasonable prices and high data-amounts, Straight Talk is great for heavier data users. It is also nice they offer the flexibility to choose whichever network you want for coverage depending on what is best in your area.
Straight Talk offers their $55 unlimited (60GB) plan for 2 lines at a discounted price of $45 per line, or $90 total per month. They also offer an auto-refill discount, but that only saves you about $1/month. Unfortunately no other discounts are available at this time.
Straight Talk offers service plans on the Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile networks. You choose which network you want when you sign up. Here are the LTE bands each network uses for coverage:
Straight Talk supports stateside international calling with all of their plans with their $10 global calling card add-on. Their $60 25GB plan also includes unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling to Canada, Mexico, China, and India, along with calling up to 15 unique destination numbers per month.
International data roaming is currently not supported by Straight Talk. Their service plans will only work within the United States.
Straight Talk adds standard taxes and regulatory fees to the cost of their cell phone plans.
You can reach Straight Talk customer service at (877) 430-2355.
Verizon’s network uses the following LTE and 5G bands to provide coverage:
The bands in bold are Verizon’s primary bands that they use for LTE and 5G coverage.
Make sure your phone supports the primary LTE and 5G bands for the best coverage, performance, and data speeds on the Verizon network. The more bands your phone supports, the better your experience will be.
Verizon’s network provides coverage to over 327 million people across 2.68 million square miles.
This means Verizon covers over 99% of the United States population.
Here’s Verizon’s coverage map, as reported by the independent third party site RootMetrics:
If you’d like, you can check Verizon’s coverage in your area by using the following resources:
You can also download and use the following applications to see if Verizon offers good coverage in your area:
AT&T’s network uses the following LTE and 5G bands to provide coverage:
The bands in bold are AT&T’s primary bands that they use for LTE and 5G coverage.
Make sure your phone supports the primary LTE and 5G bands for the best coverage, performance, and data speeds on the AT&T network. The more bands your phone supports, the better your experience will be.
AT&T’s network provides coverage to over 400 million people across the United States and Mexico.
AT&T covers over 99% of the United States population.
Here’s AT&T’s coverage map, as reported by the independent third party site RootMetrics:
If you’d like, you can check AT&T's coverage in your area by using the following resources:
You can also download and use the following applications to see if AT&T offers good coverage in your area:
T-Mobile’s network uses the following LTE and 5G bands to provide coverage:
The bands in bold are T-Mobile’s primary bands that they use for LTE and 5G coverage.
Make sure your phone supports the primary LTE and 5G bands for the best coverage, performance, and data speeds on the Verizon network. The more bands your phone supports, the better your experience will be.
T-Mobile’s network provides coverage to over 326 million people and currently offers the largest 5G network in the United States.
T-Mobile covers over 99% of the United States population.
Here’s T-Mobile’s coverage map, as reported by the independent third party site RootMetrics:
If you’d like, you can check T-Mobile's coverage in your area by using the following resources:
You can also download and use the following applications to see if T-Mobile offers good coverage in your area:
