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:
- 1,500 minutes for $30/month
- 3GB for $35/month
- 25GB for $45/month
- 25GB for $42/month (12-month plan)
- Unlimited with 10GB hotspot for $55/month
- 25GB with international calling for $60/month
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 Discounts
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 Coverage
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:
- Verizon 4G LTE bands: 2, 4, 5, 13, 66
- AT&T 4G LTE bands: 2, 4, 5, 12, 14, 17, 29, 30, 66
- T-Mobile 4G LTE bands: 2, 4, 5, 12, 66, 71
- T-Mobile 5G bands: n71, n260, n261
- Sprint 4G LTE bands: 25, 26, 41
Straight Talk Features
- Visual voicemail
- MMS (multimedia messaging service)
- HD Voice / VoLTE
- Wi-Fi calling
- Hotspot data
- Stateside international calling
- 5G coverage (T-Mobile)
Stateside International Calling
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
International data roaming is currently not supported by Straight Talk. Their service plans will only work within the United States.
Hidden Fees
Straight Talk adds standard taxes and regulatory fees to the cost of their cell phone plans.
Straight Talk Customer Service
You can reach Straight Talk customer service at (877) 430-2355.
